Darryl and Laurie Drummond describe wellbeing as the way people live: “It’s everything to do with living well, so access to exercise facilities, healthcare, and social activities in the neighbourhood.”
The Drummonds, who are UBC alumni and graduated with degrees in geological engineering and nursing respectively, have lived in the University Neighbourhoods Association (UNA) for twenty-two years, and have been involved with volunteer opportunities at the UNA.
“One of the things that Laurie and I did was we volunteered to assist ‘Seniors and Friends’,” said Darryl.
As part of this program, they were matched with ESL residents and helped to improve the residents’ English skills.
While the Drummonds enjoy living on UBC campus, they think there are steps the university can take to better prioritize wellbeing for residents. One issue they feel will arise is a parking problem for those needing to drive to the new Wesbrook Community Centre. Since the centre currently has a parking lot, and a lot of spots will be used by people shopping at Save-on and other stores in the area, this could lead to a problem.
“I don’t know if they’re really thinking about the demographics of the people that are living here. Because there are maybe a lot of people who are older,” said Laurie.
“And I do find that because we’re older, that there is maybe some discrimination going on when older people try to complain, make comments, or something else,” she added.
Additionally, the Drummonds think the transportation within the university and the flow of traffic leading into UBC need to be improved. Because they live in Hampton Place, they find it cumbersome to walk to the main campus to access resources.
Finally, they think the UNA can take steps to ensure information is properly communicated to residents.
“I wouldn’t know how to go about finding a doctor out here, which is part of wellbeing,” said Laurie.
“You can go to urgent care and have a short-term thing, but if you wanted your own doctor, that may be a real problem,” Darryl added.
The Drummonds balance wellbeing with their daily lives by exercising, eating well, and not smoking.
“It also helps that we’re retired!”
Post by: Kaavya Lakshmanan, Communications Assistant