BEND, OR -- A new study from OSU-Cascades in Bend reveals how a sense of belonging is connected to a person's overall health and well-being. While "belonging" is a pretty subjective concept, Associate Professor Brianne Kothari says her team was able to define it as, "A fundamental human experience. It's a feeling of acceptance and value that comes through sharing experiences or characteristics with others."
They surveyed more than a thousand Central Oregonians over the past two years to measure belonging and resilience. Kothari tells KBND News, "One of the lower scoring items across the board was the item 'I feel like I belong in the community.'" She says they found people with a greater sense of belonging also reported better physical and mental health, "When they're lacking a sense of belonging, they tended to rate their health as not as good."
Kothari is excited about the results, "What we know is that belonging and connectedness are important antidotes for key critical social problems of our time: things like loneliness and social isolation. And what we found from these survey results is that authentic relationships and meaningful social connections facilitate belonging and connectedness."
The report, available HERE, also outlines recommendations for community groups, employers and policymakers. "Discrimination and exclusionary practices and behaviors are also barriers to people feeling a sense of belonging," says Kothari, "So, figuring out how we remove and eliminate those barriers is going to be key to making sure that everyone, no matter their identities or the place and spaces they show up, can be included."
She says increasing access to hobbies and recreation could also help, "We heard a lot about pickleball and we heard a lot about hiking and all the other things that people choose to do with the people that they enjoy and love in this community. And I think that those things really matter when we're thinking about health and mental health and overall well-being."
The study was conducted through a partnership with OHSU and funded by the Central Oregon Health Council and United Way.
