Health and Well Being - A Community Affair
Monday, September 14th, 2009Jolanda Jetten et al. in a magazine article entitled “The Social Cure”, Scientific American Mind, once again report on a conclusion reached by some staff of KACL years ago: “Belonging to social groups and networks appear to be an important predictor of health”
Commenting on one 2003 study by Psychologist Sheldon Cohen,
“indicated that the least sociable people in their sample were twice as likely to get colds as those who were the most sociable-even though the more sociable people were probably exposed to more germs…There is now compelling evidence that the health risk of social isolation is comparable to the risks of smoking, high blood pressure and obesity, even after controlling for other variables knowmn to affect health”.
This article quotes everal studies that back up conclusions found in Oliver Sach’s book The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a hat and Robert Putnam’s book Bowling Alone which indicate that quality of life, physical and mental health and perceived well being are enhanced by participation in group life.