Engage Nova Scotia quality of life dataset highlights pre-pandemic loneliness, isolation

Engage Nova Scotia (ENS) has the largest single data set on well-being and quality of life in North America,. The data, from 2019, is from 13,000 Nova Scotians and looks at their wellbeing, pointing to the issue of loneliness and isolation even before the pandemic kept people apart. ENS says the top issue that shows up as alarming relates to people's self-reported mental well-being prior to the pandemic, made worse because of the pandemic. Those with an income less than $40,000 a year are also struggling. The numbers point to another more discrete demographic profile of people who are lonely and who feel disconnected from their communities, society and relationships that doesn't get discussed as much. ESN will do another survey in 2024 to can get a better picture of how the pandemic impacted people's quality of life.