Community Centers and Their Role in Supporting a Whole-Health Approach

Visit a modern community center and you might see an electronic schedule board scrolling through the day's many activities and classes. The lobby is bustling with people of all ages; from older adults to young families. It’s all part of the evolving concept of the community centers as hubs of whole-health care.

Community centers are well established as affordable places to access exercise equipment and group classes as well as recreational activities and instruction. Maureen Neumann, senior program manager at the National Parks and Recreation Association (NRPA), said she sees a shifting role for community center programs. “What has traditionally been called the community center (or rec center), we’re now hoping to leverage the work as community wellness hubs.”

Community centers are evolving to fit the changing needs of their local citizens by providing programs and locations that support physical and mental well-being. These are factors that impact overall quality of life, or whole health, and community health — just as public libraries can be a vital source of health information, partnerships, and programs.

Professor Troy Glover, department chair of Leisure and Recreations studies at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, said the modern community center provides a multi-layered, benefit-rich environment. “Just step through the door and take that leap I think is step number one on your path to well-being in many ways,” Glover said.

There are significant wellness benefits linked to even low levels of engagement in community center fitness or arts programs, Glover said. “In many ways, these sorts of activities are just the carrot that you dangle in front of people to draw them in,” he said. “But what we really focus on are the important [aspects] of social connectedness.” 

Community centers support more than physical fitness and leisure activities: Improved mental health status is a prime example of the value of simple attendance. “When we think about social isolation and loneliness, we [often] think about older adults” Glover said. “There are a lot of older adults who just don’t have much of a social network, or access to their friends, upon which to rely. But actually, quite fascinatingly, and particularly during the pandemic, it was younger people who felt the most isolated and the most lonely.”

Whole health is supported by a wide spectrum of information and inspiration. Contact and interaction create opportunity for developing trust that allows for sharing of experiences and resources. According to Glover, opening those interpersonal channels also introduces learning and growth opportunities: “Community centers play a really important role in the sense that they draw people together who often share a similar identity and shared interest, and that can lead to strengthening their social ties which has positive implications for their health.”