Mental health, substance use and gambling affect many Nova Scotians, yet available data does not fully capture the challenges people face nor the factors that support well-being. Recognizing that reliable data is essential for informing policies, programs and services, Cape Breton University and Nova Scotia Health have partnered to launch the WellNS survey in hopes of addressing these gaps. WellNS, a team of researchers led by Samantha Hodder, Assistant Professor with CBU School of Nursing and Affiliate Scientist with Nova Scotia Health, Research Innovation and Discovery, aims to collect province-wide information to build a more complete picture of local mental and substance use health trends.
Samantha teaches Health Promotion and Population Health nursing, areas that directly align with the principles of the WellNS survey. "As a nurse passionate about health promotion, prevention and early intervention, I have always supported efforts to improve community well-being," she says.
The initiative is a joint effort between CBU and Nova Scotia Health, so Research Coordinators from both institutions have been essential in shaping the survey's design. The design was also enhanced through collaboration with community organizations and experts at the local, provincial and national levels. A team of Student Research Assistants were also hired through CBU to further extend the outreach of the survey.
As the Research Project Community Coordinator for WellNS at CBU, Rebecca Todd's responsibilities include finding different ways the team can connect with community groups and organizers to increase participant engagement. "I work directly with our provincial team of Student Research Assistants to increase our reach through in-person activities like hosting pop-ups to help folks access the survey," she says. "By getting out into the community, we hope to reach people who usually don't reply to a mail-out survey. Better representation in the data means a clearer, more complete picture of the real Nova Scotia."
"Our main objective was to develop a clear, data-driven overview of mental health and wellness across all age groups in Nova Scotia," Samantha says. "We designed the survey to recognize that a person's mental wellness is made up of both challenges and strengths such as resilience and quality of life we ensured that our questions meet high scientific standards and reflect the true state of mental well-being."
To address gaps that are often missed by national surveys, including important local trends and the impact of social factors, WellNS was crafted using three distinct modules, a parent-reported module for those aged 4-12, a youth ages 13-17 can be parent-reported or self-reported, and an adult module for those over 18. Traditional surveys can sometimes overrepresent some groups while missing others entirely. To ensure the data truly reflects the diverse needs of Nova Scotians, questions related to equity-deserving groups and those who have faced barriers to accessing mental health or substance use services are included.
"We are confident that the findings from WellNS survey will lead to meaningful changes," says Samantha. "Once analyzed, the findings will be made available for use by policymakers and community organizations. The survey data will provide a strong foundation for enhancing health and social systems, services and supports across the province."
Another key element researchers hope encourages Nova Scotians to participate is the inclusion of social determinants of health, such as rising rent and food costs. "I think we all personally know someone impacted by these things, and this survey is a chance to have these experiences counted," says Rebecca. "We want to be sure we end up with a realistic representation of the mental wellness challenges that come with facing housing and food insecurity, among other factors, and emphasize the importance of up-to-date, relevant data."
"We invite every Nova Scotian to participate, whether or not you have faced mental health, substance use or gambling challenges," Samantha says. "Every response is essential, and by participating in the survey and encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to do so too, you can help us in building a complete dataset that informs effective policies, programs and services."
You can support this project by completing the survey at WellNSSurvey.ca and sharing the link with your networks. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or addiction issues, please visit this webpage for a list of resources, call 911 if it's an emergency or dial 988 for the Suicide Crisis Helpline.
