A tale of two communities

In 2007–2008, new funding was received from the Province of Nova Scotia and the Provincial Department of Health Promotion and Protection, Kings County Council, Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation, Cape Breton County Economic Development Agency, and Annapolis Valley District Health Authority for the purpose of compiling Community Profiles for Glace Bay and Kings Co [...] Measuring Sustainable Development 5. Stress In the previous chapters, we noticed the somewhat puzzling phenomenon that rates of self-rated health, happiness, and life satisfaction were similar in Glace Bay and Kings County, despite the fact that Glace Bay residents had significantly higher rates of pain, discomfort, activity limitations, smoking, and a range of chronic diseases. [...] For example, residents of Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island regularly report the highest rates of self-rated excellent and very good health in the country, despite the fact that their physical health profiles (including rates of chronic disease, longevity, and risk behaviours) are below average. [...] Measuring Sustainable Development In sum, the data now available to Kings County and Glace Bay can not only be used to identify causes of stress and ill-health in those jurisdictions, and therefore the types of social programs that might effectively help alleviate such stress, but serve as an important model of the kind of information that would be useful to communities throughout the country. [...] While the unemployed are more likely to face the stresses of poverty and livelihood insecurity, the employed are more likely to experience the stresses of work overload, time stress, and excessive demands.