Influencing existing affairs with friends and family may be a more real way to improve patients' health and inspire new healthy customs and behaviors than growing interactions with physicians. In a new viewpoint published by the New England Journal of Medicine, Penn Medicine social economists propose a five-step ladder to efficiently engineering social activities that encourage health and to test their tolerability and efficiency.

Social Medicine Is A Study That Alternative Healing Comes With Peer-To-Peer Contact

"Spouses and friends are possible to be around patients when they are making choices that affect their health - like taking a walk versus watching TV at home, or what to eat at a restaurant. Patients are also more likely to accept healthy behaviors - like going to the gym - when they can go with some friends," explains co-author David Asch, MD, MBA

"Though people are more heavily persuaded by people around them every day than they are by doctors and nurses they cooperate with only rarely, these cost-free relations remain largely unused when engineering social motivations for health. That's a missed an opening."

"Although we don't usually think of rivalry or teamwork among patients are part of managing chronic illnesses like high blood pressure, heart failure, or diabetes, study shows that behavior is infectious, and programs that take gain of these naturally occurring affairs can be very effective," said co-author Roy Rosin, MBA, chief innovation officer at Penn Medicine.

"Most health care involvements are intended for the individual patient, but there's a growing body of research that shows how health care groups can use social engagement strategy to improve health for patients who want to be into collaborative group activities or team rivalries aimed at improving health."

For example, where social enticements are designed with mutual support, the authors point to a study in which some patients with diabetes were asked to talk on the phone weekly with peers -- a method known as reciprocal mentorship -- and others usual more typical nurse-led supervision. Results showed that those who worked straight with peers saw a more significant waning in glycated hemoglobin levels than those who worked with clinical personnel.

"Sure, health care is serious business," Asch says, "but who says it can't be social alternative like medicine?"