Social Health from the Heart…#1

By Barb Young 

As a founding member and President of the HNN, I would like to take this opportunity to personally reflect  on why our organization is choosing to focus on social health.  

It isn’t the influence of respected institutions like the World Health Organization whose definition of health  has, for a very long time, given equal status to social health. Nor is it the current mainstream buzz alerting us  to the fact that poor social heath can lead to serious health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, type 2  diabetes, and dementia that has been my driving force. What does excite me and fuel this all-in level of  commitment to the HNN is that I feel we are finally on the precipice of an opportunity for discovery – one  that will lead to the realization that it is possible for healthcare to take a huge leap forward – a discovery that begins with a simple acknowledgement - social health, not necessarily advanced from the knowledge realm,  must be looked at in a whole new way.  

I spent much of my life, often walking alone on a road less travelled, immersed in the personal lives of those  most vulnerable. My workplace for 20+ years was home, far removed from the respected and supported  institutions of mainstream health. I give it much credit for being the environment that allowed me to gain a  depth of understanding and wisdom about social health, otherwise unattainable. It was also where many  life-changing experiences shaped the core of who I am. Memories, forever etched in my brain are enough to  fill a book if I could find the time and the words to share them. Some are beautiful while others are  heartbreaking. All have made me who I am today and fuelled HNN’s incredible journey into the future. 

I’d like to share one of those precious memories with you. It is a story about a lonely and forgotten senior, so  addicted to alcohol that he began hallucinating, hearing angels singing outside his door. Time and time  again, he called the police, insisting that they make the angels stop. Those in mainstream healthcare  services determined that his growing and complex needs could be best met by placing him in a psychiatric, long-term care facility. I looked at his situation through an entirely different lens and came to the conclusion  that his best chance could come by taking him home with me.  

To make this long story short, I did just that and helped him stay sober for five years. Yes, five years! I am no  angel. Instead, I understood what this man needed most - a sense of belonging - a friend to say good  morning to so that the cheap bottles of wine he had become so dependent on weren’t his only source of  companionship. He needed boundaries that he was unable to set for himself, guidance and encouragement to find his own strengths, and resources to help him build on them. Home was the perfect place to make this  all happen – naturally. 

The Highlands North Network and the hamlets we serve are poised and ready to start us on a path to better social health awareness with this grassroots, community-level approach. Planning, supporting, and providing social activities and events in our small, rural, isolated hamlets - where people are at a higher risk for social  isolation - will ensure we live up to our motto: “Happy Matters”. This along with increased support,  understanding, and appreciation for those who provide social health services (often volunteers) will shine a light on our Lanark Highlands contribution to a more balanced healthcare system for all. We need your light,  too! Please join us.