The displacement of social interaction: variation in community belonging in urban and rural areas

Background

Community belonging and wellbeing have been linked in various populations, geographic locations and contexts. We investigated how community belonging, an individual’s connection to their local community and geographical place, contributes to wellbeing in older adults in Norway.

Methods

Adopting a mixed method design we used population-based survey data (Trøndelag Health Study 4) for participants aged 60+ years (n = 19,000) linked to place of residence (Statistics Norway). We identified 131 individual communities ranked by aggregated level of community belonging. The “community” unit was operationalized as a contiguous geographic area within a municipality. Secondly, we selected 2 case study communities (1 top decile/1 bottom decile) and in each conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 participants 60 + (5 male/5 female).

Results

Residents in the top decile areas in terms of community belonging reported better health than those in the bottom decile (good health 70,3% vs 64,3%, p < 0.01). All 13 communities with the highest community belonging were located outside city centers (mean, centrality=626), while those with the lowest were typically city centers and suburbs (mean, centrality=787). Participants from rural communities reported valuable social interactions within their community. Peri-urban residents, with lower local community belonging, had more extra-community social interaction. Suggesting community belonging is an indirect measure of how people value where the live.

Conclusions

Differentiating between successful and less successful communities based on community belonging misses key aspects of older people’s wellbeing; social interaction and social capital are significant complementary measures. Social interaction often occurs beyond community borders and is an individual not necessarily a community characteristic. Policies relating to place and community development should consider the distinction between social and geographic community.

Key messages

• Social interaction is associated with community belonging and good self-reported health but occurs more in rural than urban communities this has implications for both policy and practice.

• Urban and rural communities had different patterns of social interactions and the former often relied on spaces beyond community boundaries.