As we develop a greater understanding of how to meaningfully partner in our communities and support our fellow community members, the interconnectedness between different social issues becomes apparent. When we go deeper into the work addressing a specific social issue, we learn more about systemic factors and non-medical drivers of health as root causes of

As our heads and our hearts tell us, there is a strong connection between health and social connection. Research shows a direct correlation between loneliness, isolation, and negative health consequences. People with high quality social connections fare better physically and mentally than those of us who experience isolation and low quality connections, with impacts including

While we can find out quite a bit about the resources in our community through some straightforward internet research, the people in our communities are much fuller, dynamic sources of knowledge. So how do we go about developing a more comprehensive picture of the mental health resources in our communities? This blog entry outlines several