The Science of Belonging

The Science of Belonging

Research-backed strategies for overcoming the modern crisis of social isolation

A range of peer-reviewed studies over recent years has demonstrated that social isolation can impact diverse health outcomes, including not only anxiety and depression, but also stroke, dementia, and cardiovascular disease.

Yet the impacts go beyond our mental and physical health. There is growing evidence that social isolation undermines the capacity of whole societies to communicate, make good decisions, and to be resilient in the face of collective challenges and change.

Author, educator, and movement leader Kim Samuel has devoted her career to the question of how people can organize to overcome social isolation. In preparing to write her recent book, she interviewed more than 150 experts across disciplines to better understand the meaning of belonging and best practices for cultivating it.

In this session for the UCL Big Ideas in Healthcare Engineering series, Kim Samuel will explore the science of belonging and why it matters now more than ever. She will lay out practical ideas for how individuals, communities, businesses, governments, civil society, and healthcare systems can help overcome today’s crisis of social isolation and achieve what she calls our “Right to Belong.”