Give your social health a decent workout

Next year will mark a turning point when people around the world finally realize that their health is not only physical and mental, but also social. Social health focuses on relationships; it’s the dimension of your overall health and well-being that comes from connecting with family, friends, colleagues, and community.

The focus on social health has accelerated in recent years. In particular, the Covid-19 pandemic has drawn attention to our social life and its decline. According to a Meta Gallup survey, 24 percent of people in the world they feel lonely. The Affiliation Barometer Survey by the American Immigration Council also found that 74 percent of Americans do not feel connected to their local community.

This feeling correlates with changed behavior: today, people spend an average of 24 hours more alone and 20 hours less with friends each month compared to two decades ago; participation in community groups, membership in local clubs and membership in religious organizations have declined; and the percentage of single-person households has doubled since 1960. this way. Another study found that there has been a startling decline in the number of close friends that adults have: in 1990. only 3 percent of Americans had no close friends; today that figure is higher than 12 percent.

This crisis has spurred initiatives such as the US Surgeon General, which has elevated loneliness as a public health priority, and the World Health Organization, which has created a global commission focused on human connections.

However, most people still underestimate how vital relationships are to their longevity. In fact, social health is related to a 50 percent boost in longevity, making it just as important to our life expectancy as avoiding smoking, managing excess weight and exercising regularly. We urgently need to prioritize and invest in social health. Here’s how.

Make social health a priority

To be physically fit, you fuel your body by aiming to take 10,000 steps a day or sleep eight hours a night, for example. To stay mentally healthy, you can meditate every day or go to therapy every week. Being socially healthy requires similar intention and consistency. Try the 5-3-1 guidelines: aim to communicate with five different people each week, maintain at least three close relationships, and spend one hour a day communicating, preferably face-to-face. Just as each of us needs to consume a different number of calories, these numbers may be higher or lower than what you personally thrive on; use them as a starting point to explore what social health looks like for you.

Start small

Simple actions can make a significant difference to your social health. For example, studies show that people tend to underestimate how much a kind message via text or email will be appreciated, and even short phone calls a few times a week can measurably reduce feelings of loneliness. So try connecting first: instead of scrolling through headlines while waiting in line or playing a podcast on your commute, send a photo to a friend or call a family member for a chat. Unlike taking care of your physical and mental health, taking care of your social health also directly benefits the people you connect with.

Think big

With the mental health industry booming, the next health frontier in our economy will focus on social health. Entrepreneurs and investors are already zeroing in, with innovations like social gyms, friendship coaches and AI companions becoming more common. But regardless of your profession, you have opportunities to shape a more socially healthy future. For example, educators can teach relational skills in the classroom; doctors can check for isolation during appointments; architects can incorporate gathering spaces into their designs; city ​​governments can support local community builders; and employers can create connected workplace cultures.

Flex your social muscles

Depending on your particular life stage and circumstances—like you’ve recently moved to a new city and need to build a community in your new home, or you work a remote job and crave more face-to-face communication, for example—you may need to stretch your social muscles to expand your social network. But how? Research shows that friendships grow from regular contact and shared experiences: that the more time you spend with someone, the closer you become. One study, for example, followed students’ social networks for a year and a half as they transitioned from high school to university, finding that new friendships fell apart unless they regularly socialized and did activities together. Similarly, another study found that for an adult who had recently moved to a new city, it took a minimum of 50 hours to turn a new acquaintance into a friend; the longer you are together, the closer the friendship becomes.

Deepen existing relationships

Stretching is about increasing the amount of connection in your life; toning is to improve the quality of the connection. It requires curiosity and vulnerability. In a meta-analysis, researchers concluded that people like you more when you trust them—and you like the people you trust more. Choose the right context: revealing personal information is perceived favorably by people you already know and new acquaintances in private conversations, but not necessarily by strangers in a public setting. Go for depth over breadth: sharing something intimate gets more likes than sharing a lot of information. A survey of more than 4,600 people in the US, India and Japan found that people across cultures find interactions more meaningful when they go beyond talking to provide value through emotional connection, knowledge sharing or practical assistance.