Increasingly, if you need help boosting your social skills, you’ll be able to choose from a plethora of options.
In contrast, as our collective understanding of health expands from the physical to the mental, mental health companies flood the market and taking care of our minds in addition to our bodies becomes mainstream. Today, the mental health industry is booming, with a global value of more than $380 billion in 2020 and expected to exceed $530 billion by 2030.
We’re about to see a similar influx social health, as people realize that health is not only physical and mental health, but also social health, people’s awareness continues to increase. Social health is an important dimension of your overall well-being and comes from your relationships with family, friends, co-workers, and your community.
The first sign of this emerging trend is the rise of organizations aimed at solving the problem of loneliness. Back in 2013 I built an app that helped people deepen relationships, and more recently advised technology leaders, so I have a special focus on technology solutions and have tracked hundreds of startups. These include digital platforms that help isolated seniors find community and apps that help employees feel less lonely while working remotely. Beyond technology, governments, education and other sectors around the world have launched thousands of initiatives to tackle loneliness.
A growing number of products and services are helping people actively cultivate social wellness and prevent them from becoming lonely in the first place. Let’s explore some examples that will be available to you in the coming years.
social fitness gym
If you want to work out in North America, there’s no shortage of places to go, from energetic gyms to peaceful yoga studios. But where can you go to find a dedicated space to enhance your social skills? Community centers and social clubs come to mind, but they generally don’t train you for social fitness the way exercise classes train you for physical fitness.
I predict that within the next five years you will see the rise of social gyms for this purpose. They will provide classes and other opportunities for adults to make new friends, learn how to connect more meaningfully, and generally practice relationship skills. Like fitness gyms, social fitness gyms charge a monthly membership fee.
Peoplehood is an example of an entity approach that has done just that. In 2023, the founders of SoulCycle opened a “modern community center” in New York City for people to try “exercising relationships.” Peoplehood’s signature hour-long classes focus on guiding people to share openly and practice mindful listening.
Relationship personal coach
If you want to get in better shape or meet with a therapist to improve your mental health, you can hire a personal trainer. But who can you turn to for personalized support for your social well-being?
Kat Vellos is one of the world’s original connection coaches. Formerly a UX researcher and technical designer who made software user-friendly, she is now a certified coach and facilitator who works on making friendships user-friendly. For example, Kate leads Plato Action Lab, a two-month boot camp for people who want to cultivate meaningful friendships in their local communities. Members meet weekly to attend Kat’s virtual workshops and support each other in taking conscious, proactive steps to become healthier socially.
Just like social gyms, I predict you’ll see a proliferation of connection coaching over the next five years.
In particular, they are offering social wellness classes and programs in the workplace as an employee benefit, as more and more companies recognize that social wellness benefits the bottom line: People who have a best friend at work are seven times more engaged and Produce higher-quality work—and each lonely employee costs employers an average of more than $4,000 per year in absenteeism and lost productivity.
community prescribing
Soon, you too will be able to seek help from your doctor.
practice social prescription is when a doctor or other health care professional refers a patient to seek resources for basic needs beyond the scope of typical health care, such as housing, food, and, increasingly, connections. Volunteering, community gardening and ballroom dancing are all examples of social activities that may be “prescribed”.
In the UK, where 76% of GPs say multiple patients visit them every day because of loneliness, social prescribing is a “key component” of the national healthcare strategy. People living in the United States, Canada and countries around the world will also increasingly have access to such support. Research shows patients receiving social prescribing feel less lonely and more connected, resulting in reduced use of primary care services.
Just like social fitness gyms and contact coaches, your doctor will ask about your social fitness status during future visits. I expect this to be the norm over the next decade.
As the mental health industry takes off, social health becomes the next frontier for entrepreneurs and innovators.
Adapted from The art and science of connecting Carsley Killam. Reprinted with permission from HarperOne, a division of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright 2024.
