Two years after nearly 1,500 people gave New Canaan its first detailed baseline on mental health, access to care, parenting stress and personal well-being, the town is preparing to ask the same question again: How are residents doing now?
The New Canaan Behavioral Health Alliance will open its second Community Health & Well-Being Survey on Oct. 1 and keep it open through Oct. 31. The anonymous survey is open to residents 18 and older and takes about five to 10 minutes.
The first survey, fielded in October 2024, drew 1,697 submissions. After 207 incomplete responses were excluded, 1,490 remained, representing about 10.5 percent of New Canaan’s adult population, according to the final report prepared by Chanana Consulting.
The findings showed significant gaps in residents’ knowledge of where to seek help. Forty-seven percent said they were unsure or unaware of where to turn if they or another adult in their household were struggling with a mental health issue. For substance use, the figure was 55 percent.
Seven percent said they had gone without needed mental health care during the previous year. Among residents caring for both a child and a parent, the figure rose to 16 percent. Adults ages 30 to 59 reported lower well-being than older residents, and those ages 40 to 59 reported the lowest life satisfaction.
Parents also reported uncertainty. One-third said they did not know or were unsure where to seek help if their child had a mental health problem. Nearly two-thirds said the same about substance use. Sixteen percent believed their child had experienced persistent anxiety during the previous year.
The survey also found that about 9 percent of respondents had felt some degree of threat or lack of safety around someone in their home. The original report found 34.3 percent were unaware of local domestic-violence supports and services.
The findings led to a series of local responses. The New Canaan Community Foundation awarded six grants through its Community Behavioral Health Fund, supporting parent workshops, caregiver groups, childhood independence initiatives, mindfulness programs and other services.
The Alliance also created an Outreach and Awareness work group to increase awareness of available resources. New Canaan Human Services and community partners pursued additional work on older residents’ needs and domestic violence, including the 2026 launch of the DV Survivor Support Fund.
“We asked residents to tell us what they were experiencing, and then we followed the data with real dollars and real programming,” said Lauren Patterson, president and CEO of the New Canaan Community Foundation and an Alliance representative. “Now we need to know whether any of it is working, and if needs are shifting.”
The new survey is designed to provide that comparison.
It will be available at NewCanaanBHA.org. Paper copies will be available at the New Canaan Library, New Canaan YMCA, Lapham Center and Walter Stewart’s. Every eligible adult in a household is encouraged to respond. Results will be released after October.
