Assessing mental health and psychological well-being within a community for policy and social service planning

Mental health and psychological well-being are important factors in assessing overall quality of life within a community, especially when establishing policy. Using community-participatory techniques, a cross-sectional study assessing quality of life was conduced in 2006 with a random sample of 643 (response rate of 42% with a sampling error of 3.8%) community members. Based on assessment survey results, 11.3% of adults (below 65 years of age) and 3% of seniors (65 and older) reported that they had experienced serious psychological distress during the past 30 days compared to 6.6% of adults and 4.4% of seniors in 2001. Both adults and seniors stated that family and friends were their primary source of social support. Self-reported alcohol consumption among both adults and seniors increased. Alcohol consumption among adults increased from 30.2% in 2001 to 57% in 2006 and in seniors from 11.3% in 2001 to 31.7% in 2006. Based on the 2006 assessment findings, mental health and psychological well-being have been identified as areas of priority in policy planning, allocating resources, and disseminating health-care services within the community.