Social Support Contributes to Health
In a famous study, epidemiology researcher James House (no relation to Gregory) and his team conducted a prospective study of 2,754 residents of Tecumseh, Michigan, observing their social ties and group activities for ten years. This was a…
Practice Relationship-Building
A healthy social support network is essential for the health of all people, and especially for those of us living with chronic illness. It provides a sense that we can trust and count on other people for friendship, emotional and problem-solving…
Caring for A Loved One At Home
LB: Hello, I’m Larry Berkelhammer bringing you more information about living well with chronic illness. This is the first of a five-part text interview with Steve Olian. I’ll return to video interviews after this five-week series.
LB:…
Healthy Support For Those Living With Chronic Illness
The Need for Support
People living with chronic health challenges rarely receive the type of emotional and psychological support they need. They need to feel seen and appreciated, and both are hard to achieve when one is no longer well enough…
Practice Connection and Service to Others, Part 2
Many studies have shown that the healthiest and happiest people are commonly the first people to offer helping hands to coworkers and strangers in particular. In her extensive study of happiness, research psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky found…
Social Support Improves Health
Most behavioral medicine studies involving heart patients focus on the efficacy of lifestyle changes to reduce atherosclerosis and reverse ischemic heart disease. World-renowned cardiologist Dean Ornish’s behavioral medicine program includes…
Who Gets Well?
What science studies the effects of mind on immune function?
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) researchers explore the relationship of cognition and emotion to nervous, endocrine, and immune system functioning. This field was born in the early…
Social Support and Health
Around the world and in all cultures, the healthiest people belong to some type of community, have close friends, often feel a connection with all humanity, provide social support to others, and are able to ask for it for themselves when they…