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Supportive
Cultures are Key to Health
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Supportive cultural
environments have a profound influence on health. For
example, research has found that a sense of community is at
least as important to morbidity, mortality, recovery from
illness and quality of life as other lifestyle practices
such as smoking, healthy eating and physical activity. In
his book Love and Survival cardiologist Dean Ornish offers a compelling review of hundreds of medical and sociological studies that link
the social environment to health outcomes. |
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Humans evolved as highly social creatures that require
interpersonal connections for health and survival. Except in
cases of some forms of mental disability, individuals are
influenced by all the cultures they come in contact with.
For example, we are influenced by our family’s subculture,
friend’s subculture, coworker’s subculture, community’s
subculture and our nation’s subculture. For the most part,
lasting and positive change depends upon the capacity to
join with others to understand and change cultural
influences.
Ornish D. Love and
Survival: The Scientific Basis for the Healing Power of Intimacy. (1997). New York: HarperCollins.
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