Building community and connection: A key to health and wellbeing
From the desk of Dr Fiona Crichton, health psychology specialist and VP of Behavioural Science at Groov.
Key points
Community is the theme for Mental Health Awareness Week 2024, which is timely given the 2023 declaration by the World Health Organisation that loneliness now constitutes a “global health threat”.
Loneliness and social isolation are associated with increased risks of health problems, such as anxiety, depression, diabetes; dementia; stroke; heart disease; and premature death.
Addressing isolation and loneliness requires a concerted effort at the individual, organisational (e.g. workplaces; schools; social organisations); and societal (e..g. communities; health care and public health systems) levels.
For individuals feeling close and connected to others is associated with improved mental and physical health, enhanced wellbeing, and resilience through challenging times.
Social connection at work is linked to a range of workplace benefits - including increased worker wellbeing (inside and outside of work); reduced absenteeism; elevated engagement; higher work quality; improved productivity; and enhanced job satisfaction - demonstrating that building community and connection is more than a nice to have, it is a business imperative.
Higher social connectedness within communities is related to improved population health, lower community violence, and better outcomes in the wake of emergency events.
Over the course of Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 Groov will provide information, discussion, and science-backed strategies to build community and connection for individuals, for workplaces, and for society in general.
Community: The theme of Mental Health Awareness Week 2024
The theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is: “Community”... And, as Mental Health Foundation Chief Executive Shaun Robertson attests, “Coming together as one and staying connected to one another are powerful ways to protect our mental health and wellbeing”. (1)
The emphasis on community is timely given evidence of what has been termed a “worldwide loneliness epidemic” experienced over the past five years. In 2023 the World Health Organisation declared that increasing levels of loneliness now constitute a pressing global health threat (2). This is because loneliness and social isolation are associated with a range of poor physical and mental health outcomes, including anxiety; depression; dementia; diabetes; heart disease; stroke; and early death. (3,4,5). In fact, the risk of premature mortality due to a lack of social connection is comparable to risks due to maintaining an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, alcohol misuse, or smoking 15 cigarettes a day (6,7).
If we are to address the negative impacts of creeping loneliness and isolation, the evidence points squarely to the need for a concerted effort at the individual, organisational (e.g. workplaces; schools; social organisations); and societal (e..g. communities; health care and public health systems) levels (8). The potential for organisations, such as schools and workplaces, to drive meaningful improvement feels like an impactful way forward. Put succinctly by Vivek Murthy 19th US Surgeon General:
“To truly solve loneliness requires the engagement of institutions where people spend the bulk of their time: families, schools, social organizations, and the workplace. Companies in particular have the power to drive change at a societal level not only by strengthening connections among employees, partners, and clients but also by serving as an innovation hub that can inspire other organizations to address loneliness.”
The positive impacts of building social connectedness are manifold. For individuals, social connectedness, which is the experience of feeling close and connected to others, is related to improved mental and physical health and wellbeing. Of note are research findings that social connection is associated with resilience during difficult times, which evidence suggests is partly because there is someone you can lean on when times are tough. (9).
The role of community and connection at work
In workplaces, creating a community of connection is associated with enhanced worker mental health and wellbeing (inside and outside of work); reduced absenteeism; better work quality; improved retention; elevated engagement; increased productivity; and higher job satisfaction (e.g. 10). In other words, social connection at work is linked to a range of benefits, demonstrating that effort put into building community and connection is more than a nice to have - it is a business imperative.
For instance, evidence reveals employees who feel socially isolated are absent from work as much as five times more than their connected co-workers. (11). They are also significantly more likely to consider leaving their current place of employment. The impact of social connection on productivity was highlighted in a fascinating experiment in which workers wore electronic badges designed to track their movements and interactions to assess behaviours, such as efficiency (12). Researchers discovered that even slight improvements in social cohesion significantly boosted productivity. It is notable that productivity improved even when interactions with colleagues were of a purely social nature. It was the fostering of relationships that made the difference, indicating the power of social connectedness to create the conditions for more efficient, effective, and satisfying work.
At a societal level higher social connectedness within communities is linked to improved population mental and physical health, lower community violence, and improved resilience and responsiveness in the face of emergency events. Better outcomes following emergency situations occur in connected communities because there is an increased likelihood people will support each other, share knowledge and resources, comply with emergency procedures, and engage in coordination of emergency response efforts after the event (6).
Over the course of Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 we look forward to providing information, discussion, and science-backed strategies to build community and connection for individuals, for workplaces, and for society in general. And in the words of Vivek Murthy (6):
“Each of us can start now, in our own lives, by strengthening our connections and relationships. Our individual relationships are an untapped resource—a source of healing hiding in plain sight. They can help us live healthier, more productive, and more fulfilled lives. Answer that phone call from a friend. Make time to share a meal. Listen without the distraction of your phone. Perform an act of service. Express yourself authentically. The keys to human connection are simple, but extraordinarily powerful.”
References
The Mental Health Foundation (2024): Celebrating the power of community this mental health awareness week
WHO, 2023 https://www.who.int/news/item/15-11-2023-who-launches-commission-to-foster-social-connection
Hawkley, L. C., & Capitanio, J. P. (2015). Perceived social isolation, evolutionary fitness and health outcomes: A lifespan approach. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 370(1669)
Richard, A., Rohrmann, S., Vandeleur, C. L., Schmid, M., Barth, J., & Eichholzer, M. (2017). Loneliness is adversely associated with physical and mental health and lifestyle factors: Results from a Swiss national survey. PloS one, 12(7), e0181442.
Rico-Uribe, L. A., Caballero, F. F., Martín-María, N., Cabello, M., Ayuso-Mateos, J. L., & Miret, M. (2018). Association of loneliness with all-cause mortality: A meta-analysis. PloS one, 13(1), e0190033.
Office of the Surgeon General. (2023). Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation: The US Surgeon General’s Advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community [Internet].
Suragarn, U., Hain, D. and Pfaff, G. (2021) Approaches to Enhance Social Connection in Older Adults: An Integrative Review of Literature. Aging and Health Research, 1, Article ID: 100029
Moors, S. (2023) Loneliness epidemic looms over the U.S. https://www.dhinsights.org/news/loneliness-epidemic
Nitschke, J. P., Forbes, P. A., Ali, N., Cutler, J., Apps, M. A., Lockwood, P. L., & Lamm, C. (2021). Resilience during uncertainty? Greater social connectedness during COVID‐19 lockdown is associated with reduced distress and fatigue. British journal of health psychology, 26(2), 553-569.
Holt-Lunstad, J. (2018). Fostering social connection in the workplace. American Journal of Health Promotion, 32(5), 1307-1312.
Bowers, A., Wu, J., Lustig, S., & Nemecek, D. (2022). Loneliness influences avoidable absenteeism and turnover intention reported by adult workers in the United States. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 9(2), 312-335.
Olguín, D. O., Waber, B. N., Kim, T., Mohan, A., Ara, K., & Pentland, A. (2008). Sensible organizations: Technology and methodology for automatically measuring organizational behavior. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part B (Cybernetics), 39(1), 43-55