Relationships Australia has released the latest Neighbour Day report, independently evaluated by the Australian National University.
Findings show that in addition to reducing loneliness across the nation, Neighbour Day is particularly beneficial in promoting resilience and protecting the mental health of Australian community members during times of collective change or crisis.
“Our research shows connected individuals and communities are more resilient in times of crises and that people involved in Neighbour Day across the years experience better mental health, sustained reductions in loneliness and reductions in psychological distress, which are all signs of ongoing resilience”, said Mr Nick Tebbey, National Executive Officer, Relationships Australia.
Identifying with one’s neighbours and neighbourhood diversifies people’s networks and creates stronger individuals and communities when crises strike.
“We now have 4 years of independent research demonstrating that Neighbour Day is a useful model for building communities to reduce loneliness and promote wellbeing. When considered together with previous evaluations, we can be confident that Neighbour Day represents a scalable, grass-roots approach to building community connection that benefits wellbeing.
“Neighbourhood identification is a key to achieving and improving respectful relationships throughout an individual’s life, and in turn addressing loneliness and increasing resilience across the nation.
“Neighbour Day engages in awareness-raising and capacity-building to increase neighbourhood identification across Australia – creating the connected communities we all want to live in, one relationship at a time.
“Relationships Australia encourages all Australians, in every community, to participate in the 20 year anniversary Neighbour Day”, said Mr Tebbey.
Join us this Neighbour Day, March 27 neighbourday.org.
