{"id":17419,"date":"2025-10-16T11:45:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T15:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/?page_id=17419"},"modified":"2025-10-16T15:13:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T19:13:54","slug":"community-and-quality-of-life","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/en\/community-and-quality-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Community &amp; Quality of Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Community-Quality-of-Life-1024x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17421\" style=\"width:400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Community-Quality-of-Life-1024x1024.webp 1024w, https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Community-Quality-of-Life-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Community-Quality-of-Life-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Community-Quality-of-Life-768x768.webp 768w, https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Community-Quality-of-Life.webp 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>People living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) often experience significant challenges that affect their health, daily life, and overall well-being. They are about three times more likely to be in poor health compared to the general population and more likely to face difficulties with everyday activities such as preparing meals, attending medical appointments, shopping, or doing household chores. In fact, only 71\u201377% of people with MCS report no difficulty with daily activities, compared to over 90% of the general population.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"752\" height=\"452\" src=\"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17444\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image.png 752w, https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-300x180.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Canadians living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) report lower well-being and social connection than the general population. About 27% have considered suicide, compared to 11% of all Canadians. Only 74% report no difficulty with daily activities, compared to over 90% of others. Additionally, 12% feel a weak sense of community belonging, a figure that is notably higher than the 7% observed in the general population. Data sourced from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Access to appropriate care is also a challenge. People with MCS are 1.5 times more likely to need to consult a medical specialist for a diagnosis and twice as likely to experience difficulties obtaining specialized care compared to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These barriers extend beyond health care. People with MCS report lower satisfaction with their housing, with many describing a lack of safe living environments that do not trigger their symptoms. Social and emotional well-being are also affected \u2014 12% report a weak sense of community belonging compared to 7% of the general population, and they report lower emotional security and recognition of competence.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"410\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-1-410x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17446\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-1-410x1024.png 410w, https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-1-120x300.png 120w, https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-1-768x1920.png 768w, https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-1.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Data sourced from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cumulative effects of isolation, disbelief, and lack of support take a severe emotional toll, sometimes pushing individuals toward thoughts of hopelessness. About 27% of people with MCS have considered suicide, more than double the rate of the general population (11%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Together, these findings paint a clear picture of the broader challenges faced by people with MCS \u2014 not only in managing their health but also in achieving safety, stability, and a sense of inclusion in their communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Community &amp; Quality of Life People living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) often experience significant challenges that affect their health, daily life, and overall well-being. They are about three times more likely to be in poor health compared to the general population and more likely to face difficulties with everyday activities such as preparing meals, attending medical appointments, shopping, or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17419","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aseq-ehaq.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}