Social Health, What Is It About?

Well-being covers different fields, one of them is social health. We will deal with it precisely in this article. We will show you what it is about, what are the effects of socialization to improve our quality of life and the relationship of this area with other health areas.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is psychological, physical and social well-being. Hence, interaction with others is a factor that mediates our development and social integration. But what is social health? Let’s go deeper.

Definition of social health

It is about everything related to our social world, that is, all those interactions, habits, thoughts and emotions with which we bond with others. It is influenced by culture, by parenting patterns and by our personality, among other factors.

The social health of each person will be different because each human being is unique. So, some of us will have a social health that benefits us, others will not. To cultivate it, we must be in tune with ourselves and with others, so we can reinforce this pillar of health.

On the other hand, it happens that, c hen we talk about health, we tend to emphasize the physical and sometimes mentally. The social is in the background, when it is no less important. Our well-being is compromised when we neglect this area.

Socialization, key to our health

To have a healthy lifestyle, it is an obligation almost to go beyond illness or discomfort. In fact, taking into account the semantic breadth of the term is what ultimately invites us to intervene from prevention. Thus, we could focus on feeling better, beyond preventing disease.

One of the issues that enhances our social well-being is socialization, which according to the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language is ‘the action and effect of socializing’, and socializing is ‘making a life of social relationship’. It is essential, then, that the interaction is part of our lives. But how do we make it healthy?

We show you some ways:

• Build healthy relationships.
• Ask for help.
• Cultivate our social skills.

• Be empathetic.
• Practice compassion.
• Knowing how to set limits.
• Avoid excessive kindness.

So, it is necessary that we learn to establish relationships with people who nurture us. In this will mediate our social skills, our self-esteem or our emotional intelligence. That is, variables of the environment, but also personal.

Research precisely indicates the relevance of socialization for our health, not just social. For example, Vankim and Nelson, in their article published in the  American Journal of Health Promotion,  show us that benefits for physical health can arise from social interactions, for example, thanks to the motivation to perform physical activity that can arise among students university students.

In addition, socialization improves the quality of life, because we can nourish ourselves with the relationship with the other, either to build roads, or to say goodbye at some point in our trip and remember it as learning. From each person, we can take something that helps us grow, and give them something to do so.

Thinking that we can do everything alone, leads us to miss the opportunity to share with the other. With this, we do not mean that we should never be alone, rather, that there is room for everything, both for ourselves and for others. And, to strengthen each of the areas of our well-being.

Social health and its relationship with other areas of health

Let us remember that health is a matter with participation at different levels and that it depends on many variables. This allows us to intervene on it from very different angles. In this sense, in addition, it is vital that we do not see each aspect of health as something separate, but rather as dynamic areas that are in constant relationship.

Therefore, one aspect influences the other. For example, emotional intelligence that has to do with psychological health is also essential for the development of social skills. Also, for physical health, although not always directly.

In short, social health is part of what we must attend, care for and develop, if we want to have well-being in our lives. To do this, we can emphasize not only disease, but also how to prevent it, and we could achieve this if we see health as an integral dimension and if we have conscious practices. That would give us a better quality of life.