Introducing: Social Health with Kasley Killam
Welcome!
This is a newsletter + community for anyone interested in the art and science of connection. Because the future of health is social.
What is “social health”?
Social health is the aspect of overall health and well-being that comes from connection. Simply put, if you think of physical health as about your body and mental health as about your mind, social health is about your relationships.
If you’d like to explore this theme further, you’re in the right place!
Who writes this?
Hi there, I’m Kasley. I’ve been passionate about social health for many years, working to advance the concept as a researcher, writer, speaker, advisor, and founder.
Here are a few highlights:
2013: Came across the term “social health” while doing research for a Stanford-funded human connection campaign, but couldn’t find many resources on the topic. Realized that whereas physical and mental health were well-established, social health was almost entirely missing from mainstream language.
2018: Advocated for social health publicly for the first time in an article for Scientific American, writing:
“It’s time to establish a dedicated discipline to further study, develop initiatives around, and promote social health—how well a person forms and maintains relationships, receives and reciprocates support, and feels connected to others. In the same way that mental health has risen up in prominence, yielding more and better research, treatment, and advocacy, so too should social health.”
2019: Quit my job in Silicon Valley to do a master’s at the Harvard School of Public Health, focusing on the loneliness epidemic—a real-world problem that I knew social health as an idea and practice could help solve.
2020: Launched the Social Health Blog for Psychology Today. Began advising and speaking for organizations across sectors to build socially healthy products, workplaces, and communities. Founded the nonprofit Social Health Labs to promote connection through events, publications, and partnerships.
2024: Coming soon… my book on this topic will be published by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins. I can’t wait to share it with you!
You can learn more about my professional journey on my website and LinkedIn and read the archive of newsletters from 2020-2023 (before relaunching on Substack) here.
What can you expect if you subscribe?
Look forward to regular updates delivered straight to your inbox with:
Actionable tips for how to understand and improve your social health
The latest scientific findings related to social health
Innovative ways that people around the world and organizations across sectors are fostering connection and community
“Ask Me Anything” opportunities to submit questions
Exclusive sneak peeks of my forthcoming book!
Over time, I hope to expand the ways in which we—as a community of people interested in the art and science of connection—can interact and collaborate, using this platform as a springboard.
Now I’d love to hear from you.
Why are you interested in this topic? What do you do to be socially healthy? Where are you based? Feel free to leave a comment below introducing yourself.
I look forward to connecting with you.
Killam with kindness,
