Fascinating article in The Guardian – in support of social health.
Kasley Killam, MPH (a social health expert and author) states “Research has proven that social health – wellbeing that comes from connection – is as essential as food and water, but it is vastly underappreciated”
“The problem with traditional health advice is that it overlooks one of the most important ingredients: human connection.”
What is social health?
Social health is the aspect of overall health and wellbeing that comes from connection – and it is vastly underappreciated. Whereas physical health is about your body and mental health is about your mind, social health is about your relationships. Being socially healthy requires cultivating bonds with family, friends and the people around you, belonging to communities, and feeling supported, valued, and loved, in the amounts and ways that feel nourishing to you.
At Daring to Dream, we are about making space to talk:
- 1-1 conversations and listening so that someone we know who lives with physical illness is able to talk about what it feels like and its emotional impact
- Creating spaces in hospitals that support patients, their families and the staff who care for them, when they are at their most vulnerable. Rooms that are safe spaces for those really tough conversations with clinical teams and where family members can also support each other emotionally.
- Social spaces: living with illness undermines social connections and it is really important that we encourage all of us to maintain social space and connection with those we know living with illness – in ways which work for them
We are encouraged to read this article about social health from Kasley, supporting our approach.
For Lleswyl 2024 – we were fortunate to receive support from The National Lottery Community Fund in Wales Awards for All for us to develop the concept of social space with Lleswyl Watch Parties.
It led to our narrative of ‘Making Space to Talk’ which was the theme of Lleswyl 2024:
Thank you so much to The National Lottery Community Fund in Wales Awards for All for your support and also for showcasing Lleswyl 2024 and how your grant helped with the video below:
