Social relationships: Key to health and health policy

The Editorial this month argues for the need to fundamentally rethink how societies can look beyond the "medical" causes of disease in an effort to promote health and well-being. This follows a systematic review and a meta-analysis by Julianne Holt-Lunstad and colleagues published in PLoS Medicine in July finding that individuals' social relationships have as much influence on mortality risk as other well-established risk factors for mortality, such as smoking. Such a level of risk deserves attention at the highest possible level in determination of health policy, says the Editorial. Despite the fact that many governments have decided to cut to public spending drastically in order to reduce deficits, findings such as those by Holt-Lunstad and colleagues offer an opportunity to reorganize services to meet the needs of an increasingly complex society.

More information:
The PLoS Medicine Editors (2010) Social Relationships Are Key to Health, and to Health Policy. PLoS Med 7(8): e1000334. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000334

Provided by Public Library of Science