Social connection improves physical health and mental and emotional well-being. When it comes to looking after ourselves, we know eating well, exercise and getting enough sleep is important, however many of us know our social connections are just as critical?

One landmark study showed that lack of social connection is a greater detriment to health than obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. On the other hand, strong social connection, leads to a 50% increased chance of longevity, strengthens your immune system, helps you recover from disease faster, and may even lengthen your life (Stanford University)!

Our community harnesses the power of social connectedness to help people achieve their health goals. We design and promote health programs, events and volunteering activities that bring together people with common interests, sporting backgrounds or health & life goals. Our community aims to create a social movement that shifts our focus away from conventional ways of treating disease (suppression of symptoms) to addressing and preventing the underlying issues. We take responsibility for own health, share our stories and inspire those those around us to help grow a healthier, more thriving community around the world.

The Healthful Connection Community

Our intention is to improve the health and wellbeing of our community by:

• Sharing free simplified health information that encourages people to actively participate in their own health care.

• Promoting a holistic approach to health by focusing on the key areas of the mind, body and spirit.

• Increasing social connectedness to bring together people with common interests, health issues or health journeys.

• Providing individual and group-based health programs that cultivate positive transformations.

• Connect people to leading holistic health professionals, tools and resources for managing their health.

• Liaising with other health and government agencies to positively impact community health policies.

• Provide community support, motivation and accountability to help people reach their health goals.

Community is The Best Medicine for Change 

This community-based group approach is a rapidly growing movement in the health space. It solves many enormous obstacles to reversing this epidemic faced by our health care system. Even though doctors are the main place where people receive health care with chronic diseases, they have no training in lifestyle change, lack the time, resources, and support team, and they do not get paid for helping patients create sustainable, long-term lifestyle change. Currently physicians and health care organisations have nowhere to refer patients and have no clear, well documented proven solution to provide their patients. Telling their patients to eat better and exercise more is just not enough.

People need to build themselves a support system or team to succeed long term. This might be just one person such as a Health coach, or a self-guided support group led by a health coach, wellness champion or community health worker, or a health professional, or even an online community that can support, encourage and guide you. Find people who will do your health program with you and provide the support through the process. Ask your friends, family, coworkers, and spiritual community members to join you. Some may find success in embarking on their heath journey alone, however it will be more fun, powerful and sustainable when done with others in community.

This is the very essence of the Healthful Connection Community. We are human beings that thrive on connection. We facilitate opportunities for people to meet, share their stories and create positive relationships to help them on their journey. We source, simplify and share healthful information in the areas of nutrition, movement and lifestyle to guide our community towards positive change. We use evidence based science and learn from leading holistic health advocates to create programs that bring people together with common interests and health goals. Our community provides the important support system to keep people motivated, engaged and accountable to achieve their goals.

Research Shows Community Support Works Better than Medication

There is a growing body of research that proves the effectiveness of community-based programs. Here are what some of the studies have shown:

1. The landmark 2002 study based on the Diabetes Prevention Program (i) and a ten year follow up study (ii) sponsored by the National Institutes of Health proved that lifestyle intervention is much more powerful than any other treatment such as medication to prevent diabetes in those with prediabetes. With regular lifestyle support and education, participants lost 5 percent of their bodyweight and reduced their risk of diabetes by 58 percent.

2. This lifestyle-based approach was also proven very effective in the large Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study. (iii)

3. The current Look Ahead Study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a 13-year study of 5000 people comparing an intensive group lifestyle change program for diabetes prevention and treatment has been show to be remarkably more effective in lowering weight, cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure than conventional medical care. (iv)

4. Group models of intensive lifestyle change like the one modeled by Dr. Dean Ornish for heart disease (v) and prostate cancer, (vi) are more effective and will save more lives and more money than using medication and surgery for diseases caused by lifestyle and environmental factors.

5. The Montana Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes Prevention Program (vii) proved diabetes prevention research could be applied successfully in real world setting in groups of 8 to 30 people supported by a trained health care team. Education was delivered in 16 weekly classes and optional twice a week exercise classes. The average weight loss was 7 percent of body weight, and blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar all dropped significantly.

6. The Healthy Living Partnerships to Prevent Diabetes (HELP PD) (viii) study in North Carolina trained community health workers (patient’s peers) to support long-term lifestyle change. The community health workers received a 36-hour training program given by registered dieticians. These community health workers help groups of patients succeed in a 16-week core curriculum using videos, handouts, a treatment manual, and a toolkit. After the initial 16 weeks of meetings, there is weekly phone support for 8 weeks and monthly support for 18 months. The program addresses not only nutrition, exercise and lifestyle, but ways to transform obstacles to behaviour change rooted in beliefs and attitudes about self-efficacy and self-care. The initial results of this National Institute of Health sponsored study of 300 people found that the people who had the usual care of individual counseling lost only 1 percent of their body weight compared to 7 percent of body weight for people who were in community health worker supported groups. The cost to deliver this program was only $400 a year.

7. The DEPLOY study (ix) successfully partnered with local YMCA’s, trained their staff and started group programs based on the Diabetes Prevention Program.

8. Group programs have also been delivered with success via a large academic hospital. (x)

9. The Logan Healthy Living Program (xi) successfully used telephone delivered support for dietary and physical activity to socially disadvantaged patients with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. They provided a workbook and 18 calls over 12 months.

10. The Healthy Lifestyle Change Program (xii) in California found that in over 400 developmentally disabled participants with obesity or at high risk for diabetes they could achieve significant improvement in weight, waist circumference and an increase in physical activity in a seven-month, twice weekly group education program. What was most remarkable was that peer “mentors” led this group intervention.

11. The PATHWAYS study (xiii)delivered a 14-week weight loss program aimed at diabetes prevention for African American women at risk for diabetes delivered through churches and led by lay health facilitators (or community health workers). The women lost an average of 5 percent of their body weight, enough to reduce their risk of diabetes by 58 percent.

12. In other studies scientists also effectively implemented a group model for diabetes prevention and weight loss using both volunteer health care professionals (xiv) and lay people (xv) in African American churches.

13. Group school lifestyle change programs in the poorest, most overweight states like Mississippi have shown significant improvements in weight, body, fat, fitness level and eating habits. (xvi)

References:

(i) Knowler WC, Barrett-Connor E, Fowler SE, Hamman RF, Lachin JM, Walker EA, et al. Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. N Engl J Med 2002;346 (6):393–403.

(ii) Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group, Knowler WC, Fowler SE, Hamman RF, Christophi CA, Hoffman HJ, Brenneman AT, Brown-Friday JO, Goldberg R, Venditti E, Nathan DM. 10-year follow up of diabetes incidence and weight loss in the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study. Lancet. 2009 Nov 14;374(9702):1677-86.

(iii) Ilanne-Parikka P, Eriksson JG, Lindström J, Peltonen M, Aunola S, Hämäläinen H, Keinänen-Kiukaanniemi S, Laakso M Valle TT, Lahtela J, Uusitupa M, Tuomilehto J; Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study Group. Effect of lifestyle intervention on the occurrence of metabolic syndrome and its components in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study. Diabetes Care. 2008 Apr;31(4):805-7.

(iv) Look AHEAD Research Group, Wing RR. Long-term effects of a lifestyle intervention on weight and Lahtela J, Uusitupa M, Tuomilehto J; Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study Group.cardiovascular risk factors in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus: four-year results of the Look AHEAD trial. Arch Intern Med. 2010 Sep 27;170(17):1566-75.

(v) Ornish D, Scherwitz LW, Billings JH, Brown SE, Gould KL, Merritt TA, Sparler S, Armstrong WT, Ports TA, Kirkeeide RL, Hogeboom C, Brand RJ. Intensive lifestyle changes for reversal of coronary heart disease. JAMA. 1998 Dec 16;280(23):2001-7.

(vi) Ornish D, Magbanua MJ, Weidner G, Weinberg V, Kemp C, Green C, Mattie MD, Marlin R, Simko J, Shinohara K, Haqq CM, Carroll PR.  Changes in prostate gene expression in men undergoing an intensive nutrition and lifestyle intervention. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Jun 17;105(24):8369-74.

(vii) Amundson HA, Butcher MK, Gohdes D, Hall TO, Harwell TS, Helgerson SD, et al. Translating the diabetes prevention program into practice in the general community: findings from the Montana Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes Prevention Program. Diabetes Educ 2009;35(2):209–4. 216.

(viii) Katula JA, Vitolins MZ, Rosenberger EL, Blackwell C, Espeland MA, Lawlor MS, Rejeski WJ, Goff DC. Healthy Living Partnerships to Prevent Diabetes (HELP PD): design and methods. Contemp Clin Trials. 2010 Jan;31(1):71-81.

(ix) Ackermann RT, Finch EA, Brizendine E, Zhou H, Marrero DG. Translating the Diabetes Prevention Program into the community. The DEPLOY Pilot Study. Am J Prev Med 2008;35(4):357–363.

(x) McTigue KM, Conroy MB, Bigi L, Murphy C, McNeil M. Weight loss through living well: translating an effective lifestyle intervention into clinical practice. Diabetes Educ 2009;35(2):199–204. 208.

(xi) Eakin EG, Reeves MM, Lawler SP, Oldenburg B, Del Mar C, Wilkie K, Spencer A, Battistutta D, Graves N. The Logan Healthy Living Program: a cluster randomized trial of a telephone-delivered physical activity and dietary behavior intervention for primary care patients with type 2 diabetes or hypertension from  a socially disadvantaged community–rationale, design and recruitment. Contemp Clin Trials. 2008 May;29(3):439-54.

(xii) Bazzano AT, Zeldin AS, Diab IR, Garro NM, Allevato NA, Lehrer D; WRC Project Oversight Team. The Healthy Lifestyle Change Program: a pilot of a community-based health promotion intervention for adults with developmental disabilities. Am J Prev Med. 2009 Dec;37(6 Suppl 1):S201-8.

(xiii) McNabb W, Quinn M, Kerver J, Cook S, Karrison T. The PATHWAYS church-based weight loss program for urban Aftrican-American women.  Diabetes Educ 2001; 27(2):231-238.

(xiv) Quinn MT, McNabb WL. Training lay health educators to conduct a church-based weight-loss program for African American women. Diabetes Educ 2001;27(2):231–238.

(xv) Boltri JM, Davis-Smith YM, Seale JP, Shellenberger S, Okosun IS, Cornelius ME. Diabetes prevention in a faith-based setting: results of translational research. J Public Health Manag Pract 2008;14(1):29–32.

(xvi) Greening L, Harrell KT, Low AK, Fielder CE.  Efficacy of a School-Based Childhood Obesity Intervention Program in a Rural Southern Community: TEAM Mississippi Project. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011 Jan13.

(xvii) United Health Center for Health Reform and Modernization, The United States of Diabetes, November 2010 (accessed online).