Stop and say “Hello.”
That’s what a Burnaby initiative wants you to do when you encounter fellow community members.
“Say Hello Burnaby” is a campaign being run by the Burnaby Primary Care Networks (PCNs), a collaboration between community groups, Fraser Health and the Burnaby Divisions of Family Practice. In a presentation, organizers sought support from Burnaby city council.
The PCNs, so far set up in Metrotown, Edmonds and Hastings/Brentwood, are intended to enhance primary care in those communities, to expand from health into wellness. With physical health taking the front seat during the pandemic, mental health has been set aside, as COVID-related measures leave people feeling isolated.
“We have, in some ways, become less connected than we already are,” said Jeff Malmgren of the Burnaby PCNs. “This process hasn’t simply created these issues – it’s shone a light on them, or it’s exacerbated them.”
Malmgren said the community needs to come together and enhance its social connections now “because the need is now.”
“The mental health issues that we’re seeing around our lack of connection are clear and obvious. The number of overdose deaths is an indicator of that,” he said, adding that despite bolstered mental health services, demand has still pushed the system to capacity and beyond.
The PCNs’ social isolation working group – one of several working groups that set up in response to the pandemic – is seeking to develop a strategy to deal with the issue, and Malmgren cited annual Vancouver Foundation surveys showing Burnaby residents tend to feel less connected than in neighbouring communities.
“They understand this to be a long-term issue,” Malmgren said of the working group. “But in the meantime, they wanted to do something that could really help at the moment, that could overcome the reticence that we’ve all developed to just reach out to one another.”
Malmgren said the challenge with masks and physical distancing has been that it often also means social distancing – “we don’t connect in any kind of meaningful way, and we’re becoming more and more distanced.”
“Issues around racism and racial diversity just multiply it and add to that,” he said.
The “Say Hello” campaign is intended to bridge those gaps to “encourage simple connection,” according to Malmgren’s presentation to council.
The idea has “been a bit of a revelation” even for the people in the working group planning the campaign, Malmgren said.
“A couple of the people (in the working group) said, ‘You know, ever since we’ve been talking about this, I just say ‘hello’ to people, and it’s amazing how well they respond to that.’ And I think it just comes down to: it’s such an easy thing to do,” Malgrem said. “And at the end of the day, nobody ever went to bed saying ‘I wish that person hadn't been kind to me.’”
The campaign is “collecting hellos” – videos of people just saying “hello” – to be distributed online.
The group is planning an “online gala” to launch the campaign on Jan. 28, 2021 to fundraise for necessary technology for the campaign. Excess money will be going toward the Coldest Night of the Year event, an annual event that raises money for charities serving the homeless community.
Mayor Mike Hurley told Malgrem council and staff would be looking at ways the city can participate in the campaign.
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