In the wake of Fort Hood tragedy, the significance of friends and family has been brought home to all. But in everyday, less dramatic fashion, friends have always played a considerable role in health, and promoting social support should be a key element of your wellness program. Here’s why:

• Of nearly 7000 Californians studied over 17 years, researchers found those lacking social connections were 2-3 times more likely to die prematurely than their more socially connected counterparts.
• A study of nearly 1400 people with heart disease indicated those with a spouse or confidant died at about 1/3 the rate of those who had no one to confide in.
• Researchers who exposed 276 healthy volunteers to a cold virus discovered those with more diverse social networks were somehow more disease resistant: only 35% of participants with 6 or more social relationships actually came down with a cold, as opposed to 62% of those with 3 social relationships or fewer.
• In 28 studies totaling more than 105,000 employees, the Gallup organization found that having a best friend at work was one of 13 employee circumstances most likely to signal a highly productive workplace, as reported in the best seller First, Break All the Rules.
• A random national survey by Aon Consulting’s Loyalty Institute just weeks after the 9-11 attacks found employee commitment or desire to stay with the same employer had jumped to a 5-year high. The third most powerful influence was the workers’ sense of affiliation, or connectedness on the job. Friends are the connection.

For more background on social support, read our white paper: Social Support: Impact on health and the bottom line.

Fostering friendships

You don’t need a background in psychology to help participants create and strengthen friendships. Try these approaches:

• Offer buddy programs. Regardless of the intervention, you can almost always build a buddy component. Consider buddies-only participation for your next incentive campaign, counseling sessions, healthy cooking classes, or smoking cessation course. You may limit participation a bit, but you’re likely to enhance success.
• Highlight friendships. Feature healthy friendships on your website or in newsletter articles, perhaps a couple who have walked together over the noon hour during a program or on their own. Use the story as a lead-in to promote your next buddy program.
• Give recruit-a-friend discounts or random prizes. Design registration forms for 2, enticing pals to register and receive 50% off or a chance at a prize.
• Structure clubs and teams. Group functions put people of like interests together, allowing them to make their own friends. Any sport or fitness-related activity could work — walking, weight lifting, aerobics, healthy cooking, weight loss, or book clubs/teams.