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Social Connection and Heart Disease & Stroke

Poor social relationships, social isolation, and loneliness can increase your risk of heart disease by 29% and risk of stroke by 32%. ^1, ²

1. Valtorta et al., 2016.
2. Surgeon General

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Social Connection and Good Health

People with strong perceptions of community belongingness are 2.6 times more likely to report good or excellent health than people with a low sense of belongingness. ^1, ²

1. Surgeon General
2. My Health My Community, 2018.

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Trees Lower High Blood Pressure

Spending time around trees and looking at trees reduces stress, lowers blood pressure and improves mood by reducing the stress-related hormones cortisol and adrenaline. ^1, ²

1. Donovan, G. Butry, D. Michael, Y., Prestemon, J., Liebhold,A., Gatziolis, D., Mao, M. (2013).
2. Mao G.X., Cao, Y.B., Lan, X.G., He, Z.H., Chen, Z.M., Wang, Y.Z., Hu, X.L., Lv, Y.D., Wang, G.F., Yan, J. (2012).

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Social Connection and Depression

Adults who report feeling lonely often are more than twice as likely to develop depression as adults who report rarely or never feeling lonely. ^1, ²

1. Mann et al., 2022.
2. Surgeon General

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Social Connection and Hypertension & Diabetes

Social support from friends and family is associated with improved hypertension and diabetes management. ^1, ^2, ^3, ⁴

1. Surgeon General
2. Magrin et al., 2017
3. Shahin et al., 2021.
4. Pan et al., 2021.

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Social Connection and Diabetes

Smaller social network size is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and of other diabetic complications including heart attacks and kidney disease. ^1, ^2, ³

1. Surgeon General
2. Brinkhues et al., 2017.
3. Brinkhues et al., 2018.

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Social Connection and Stress

Being more socially connected can improve stress responses and minimize the negative health effects of stress. ^1, ^2, ³

1. Cohen & Willis, 1985.
2. Southwick, et al., 2016.
3. Surgeon General

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Social Connection and Heart Attack & Kidney Disease

Smaller social network size is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and of other diabetic complications including heart attacks and kidney disease. ^1, ^2, ³

1. Surgeon General
2. Brinkhues et al., 2017.
3. Brinkhues et al., 2018.