NHA’s Resident Wellness Strategy: Research, Findings, and Next Steps
This year, NHA staff and our Board agreed that a priority for the year would be to consider resident wellness from each angle to ensure we continue to evolve and do our best to provide a safe, welcoming, and supportive home for those who make theirs with us.
Being so closely tied to the day-to-day work of the organization – and our residents – we recognized it as a good opportunity to have someone outside of the organization do a deep dive and provide us with a list of suggested improvements, a toolkit if you will, for how NHA can better support residents moving into 2024.
Thank You to the Community Housing Transformation Centre (CHTC)
In order to conduct this work, and hire outside support, NHA applied for and received a generous grant from CHTC to do the research, collect best practices, and provide NHA with a toolkit for increasing resident wellness.
CHTC works with housing organizations across the country to drive transformation, sustainability, and growth in community housing, with a mission to support other organizations in sector-wide transformations that meet the needs of Canadians and building organizational capacity. Grant funding covered cost of facilitation, research into best practices, honorariums, engagement & surveying, events and compiling of final reports and recommendations.
Why Develop a Strategy in the First Place?
But why did we feel the need to develop a strategy for resident wellness at NHA?
First of all, staff have witnessed a rise in need for social supports, connection, and overall improvement in resident wellbeing over the last few years.
Secondly, we want to be prepared for the future and understand what investments and resources need to be allocated to maintain high satisfaction rates amongst residents and ensure they can age with Norfolk.
And finally, it’s important to NHA to deepen our understanding of current and future needs of residents so we can better serve them - as well as share that knowledge with others!
Defining Wellness: The Research
The research included surveys with residents and staff, investigation into known and understood models of wellness, and research within the housing sector and Canadian landscape overall.
The findings were not overly surprising – but having our ideas confirmed is going to make a big difference moving forward in terms of how NHA allots resources and supports residents.
Here were the findings, in a nutshell:
What’s Currently Supporting Wellness at NHA
Mixed Income Model
Agency & Work Culture Supports Staff and Residents
Inviting Input from Residents and Communicating
Respect for Resident Autonomy and Self-Determination
Location & Quality of Buildings
Resident Engagement – CAG, YYC$, Events, Newsletter
NHA Community of Residents
What’s Currently Blocking Wellness at NHA
COVID Impact
Interpersonal Conflicts
Staffing Considerations
Physical Building & Safety
Events & Programming
Personal Issues
Socio Economic Barriers
“I feel a sense of belonging at Norfolk more than any other place I’ve ever lived.”
Next Steps: Implementing the Findings
Of course, the next step is turning findings into action! Staff are already developing an implementation plan to incorporate the following recommendations:
Building Retrofits & Site Updates
Policies, Operations & Resource Investments
Community Cohesion – Wellness Supports
Community Cohesion – Wellness Programming
(We’ll be sure to share more on how we implement these into 2024, so stay tuned!)
Among the plans for 2024 will be to hire a wellness coordinator – someone whose specific role is both connected to the organization but designed to provide some comfortable distance for residents between “landlord” and “support”. It’s a step that’s been under consideration for a long time, and one that this study has proven it’s time for NHA to take.
NHA will also look for more opportunities to apply for grants that support resident wellness, start activating certain “quick wins” immediately, such as hosting more events like we did pre-COVID, and continuing to invest in community initiatives such as Calgary Dollars.
In the near future, we hope to be able to share more of this resident wellness study and toolkit with the sector and beyond, as we are sure that the findings can support community housing providers across the country.
If you have any questions or are curious to know more, feel free to reach out to us!