Increasingly, if you want help strengthening your social muscles, you’ll have a wide range of options to choose from.
To draw a parallel, mental health companies have flooded the market as our collective understanding of what it means to be healthy has expanded from the physical to the mental – and as the idea of taking care of our minds in addition of our body has become common. Today, the mental health sector is booming, estimated to more than $380 billion globally in 2020 and is expected to exceed $530 billion by 2030.
We are about to see a similar influx with social healthas awareness grows that health is not only physical and mental but also social. Social health is the vital dimension of your overall well-being that arises from your relationships with family, friends, colleagues and the community.
The first sign of this emerging trend is the rise of organizations that are embarking on the fight against loneliness. Having developed an app to help people deepen their relationships in 2013 and informed technology leaders more recently, I have paid special attention to technology solutions and followed hundreds of startups. These include digital platforms to help isolated seniors find community and apps to help employees feel less alone when working remotely. Outside of technology, thousands of initiatives have been launched around the world in government, education and other sectors to combat loneliness.
Countless other products and services are coming to help people proactively cultivate social health– and prevent them from feeling alone in the first place. Let’s explore some examples of what will be available to you in the years to come.
A gym for social fitness
In North America, there’s no shortage of places to go if you want to work out your body, from high-energy gyms to quiet yoga studios. But where can you go as a dedicated space to strengthen your social muscles? Community centers and social clubs come to mind, but they generally don’t train you to be socially fit in the same way that an exercise class trains you to be physically fit.
I predict that over the next five years you will see the rise of social fitness gyms for this purpose. They will offer classes and other opportunities for adults to make new friends, learn how to make more meaningful connections, and generally practice their people skills. Like fitness gyms, fitness gyms will charge monthly membership fees.
Peoplehood is an example of a physical approach that already does this. In 2023, the founders of SoulCycle opened a “modern community center” in New York City for people to try a “relationship workout.” Peoplehood’s signature hour-long sessions aim to guide people to share openly and practice attentive listening.
A Personal Trainer for Human Connection
You can hire a personal trainer if you want to get in better physical shape or meet with a therapist to improve your mental health. But who can you turn to for personalized support for your social health?
Kat Vellos is one of the world’s first connection coaches. Formerly a user experience researcher and technology designer who made software friendly, she is now a certified coach and facilitator who makes friendship friendly. For example, Kat runs the Platonic Action Laboratory, a two-month bootcamp for people who want to cultivate meaningful friendships in their local communities. Members meet weekly to participate in Kat’s virtual workshops and support each other as they take intentional, proactive steps to become more socially healthy.
Just like with social gyms, I predict you’ll see a wave of connection coaches over the next five years.
In particular, they will offer social health courses and programs in workplaces as an employee benefit, as more companies recognize that social health benefits the bottom line: people having a best friend at work are Seven times more engaged and produces better quality work, while each single employee costs their employer on average more than $4,000 per year in missed days and lost productivity.
A prescription for the community
Soon you will also be able to ask your doctor for help.
The practice of social prescription It’s when a doctor or other healthcare professional directs a patient to resources for essential needs that fall outside the scope of typical medical care, like housing, food and, increasingly, connection . Volunteering, community gardening, and ballroom dancing are examples of social activities that could be “prescribed.”
In the United Kingdom, where 76% family doctors say that several patients visit them every day because of their loneliness, social prescribing is a “Key element» of the national health strategy. People living in the United States, Canada, and other countries aroundthe world will also increasingly have access to this type of support. Studies have shown that patients who received social prescriptions felt less alone and more connected. decreases their use of primary care services.
As with social fitness gyms and connection coaches, expect your doctor to ask you about your social health during your next visits. I predict this will become the norm in the next ten years.
Following the rise of the mental health sector, social health is the next frontier for entrepreneurs and innovators.
Adapted from The art and science of connection by Kasley Killam. Reprinted with permission from HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright 2024.
