A person’s health is shaped not just by their genes or habits, but by the people around them—partners, family, friends, and online networks. This project tackles a gap in public health: while we know that social relationships influence everything from smoking to mental health, we rarely design interventions that deliberately harness those connections. Most behaviour-change programmes treat people as isolated individuals, ignoring the fact that a person trying to quit drinking may be embedded in a social circle that encourages it. The researchers will first study how relationships transmit health risks and benefits, using surveys and interviews with groups at higher risk of illness. They will then develop and test interventions—potentially including smartphone apps or social media tools—that mobilise social networks to support healthier behaviour. If successful, this could shift public health strategy from targeting individuals to strengthening the social ties that keep people well, reducing health inequalities in the process.
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Social relationships (in families, intimate or sexual relationships, or based on broader friendships/social networks and communities) are fundamental to the development of our attitudes and behaviour from childhood and throughout life. Relationships shape health at various levels, both as a source of risk and as a protective factor. Understanding how social relationships affect health and are related to other biological, social, and environmental factors is crucial to informing intervention development. Interventions that target relationships and social networks also have the potential to influence other people who may be connected to these which could be a factor in helping people to maintain behaviour change, the ‘holy grail’ of behaviour change research. We will study the processes through which our relationships influence health and wellbeing using a mix of qualitative and quantitative research. We will then use this information to develop and test interventions that could improve health and reduce health inequalities. We will examine the characteristics and influence of relationships among groups at risk of ill health and health inequalities, with a particular focus on the role of social support and social networks. Technology is rapidly changing social networks and relationships, and we will explore how this influences health and how social media and smartphone apps can be exploited to mobilise social networks and improve health.
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