Connections First

A Guide to Building Naturally Supportive Communities 

The overall goal of the Connections First Fellowship has always been to better understand how natural supports can influence the well-being of children during their middle years. Over the course of the project, we have listened to youth and families to better understand what outcomes they believe are most meaningful to alter life course trajectories, and how to improve outcomes for children and youth in the middle years between 6 and 16. We have also engaged with a range of stakeholders to listen to their thoughts, learn from their experiences and determine useful ways to make the implementation of natural supports strategies a reality in their lives.

From the research and engagement work we have done to date, we have compiled a knowledge mobilization kit for community service organizations on how to organize, deliver and evaluate a family-focused, community-based support that will advance resiliency and relational networks. We call it “The Guide”, and we hope it will provide a way for people to:

1. Identify what they are currently doing to support themselves or others who may be struggling with adversity in their lives.

2. Have a better understanding of how natural supports can act as a prevention strategy to improve well-being for children in their middle years.

3. Understand what is currently happening in terms of natural supports research and how that might help them strengthen their own supportive networks.

4. Observe some examples of how communities are using natural supports.

5. Establish some achievable natural supports goals.

6. Access further resources for information and support regarding natural supports.

A copy of the Guide to Building Naturally Supportive Communities is available below to view and download.

Natural support indicators

So what now? What do I do with all of this information and research? We’ve created some indicators that provide some real and tangible actions that community organizations, community leaders and members of the general public can take to create supportive environments in which natural supports can thrive.

The indicators are by no means hard and fast rules to follow, but we think of them more as suggestions on which a community could build or scaffold ideas. Feel free to implement them just as they are or use them as a platform to create something that is impactful or meaningful for your community!

Policy recommendations

Our hope is that the use of these policy recommendations will become the ‘go to’ tool for policy makers in Alberta to facilitate and implement evidence based policies. The policy recommendations we set out in our document below, ultimately seek to inform the decision maker of policy options that are evidence based, robust and will achieve the desired result in various scenarios to advance the goal of building and strengthening community based natural supports.

Currently in Alberta, there is a real opportunity to align these policy recommendations with a number of other core provincial documents to create a foundation for real change. With the concepts, approach and language already being used in several policy documents, the recommendations that follow focus both on broadening the uptake in additional policy documents and across other areas of government.

The recommendations are intended to further support implementation and evaluation of the approaches we now find embedded in numerous frameworks and strategies. Please feel free to use and share widely.