The Art and Science of Connection

In SOCIAL HEALTH, psychologist Kasley Killam explains how good health isn't just mental or physical: having close connections and community are as beneficial for us as healthy foods, regular exercise and a good night's sleep. Through scientific insights, personal stories, and expert interviews, Killam will invite readers to discover what social health looks like for them.

With a combination of experience and original research, Killam demonstrates how to establish an optimal balance between social activity and alone time for introverts and extroverts alike. She also explores some of the astonishing benefits that can come when we work to improve our social connections, including stronger immunity, slower cognitive decline, reduced inflammation and a longer lifespan. With data-driven tools for improving our social health, Killam's book reveals the wealth of benefits we unlock when we connect with each other.

Kasley Killam has had a lifelong passion for helping people build social connection and in THE ART AND SCIENCE OF CONNECTION, she turns her research and wisdom into a manual to help you find your people! -- Emma Seppälä, Yale lecturer and bestselling author of SOVEREIGN and THE HAPPINESS TRACK
As a buttoned-up Brit I thought I would hate this book for its upfront approach to reaching out. I loved it! This inspiring read wakes us up with new concepts - social health, social muscles, social fitness gyms - which may seem strange at first but are profound, practical, and urgently needed by us all -- Paul Cann, Chief Executive Officer, Global Initiative on Loneliness and Connection
A riveting blend of science and story that will teach you countless innovative ways to build a greater community for yourself and others. A culture-changing book -- Marisa Franco, author of PLATONIC
In this important book, Killam does something new and significant by adding the concept of social health to our current focus on physical and mental health. She shows us how connections and community are an essential aspect of health -- Thomas Insel, Former Director of the National Institute of Mental Health and author of HEALING
Social connections are the key to sustainable flourishing in an uncertain and changing world. Killam not only accurately diagnoses our human need for connection, but also offers concrete solutions for creating better conditions for global social health so that we can flourish together -- Robert Emmons, Editor-in-Chief of THE JOURNAL OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, author of THANKS!
This book is a much-needed corrective for humanity's trajectory, guiding us from overemphasis on selfhood toward a socially healthy future. THE ART AND SCIENCE OF CONNECTION offers clear insights from research and practical strategies for strengthening bonds throughout the lifecourse. For leaders in positions to shape policy, this book is a catalyst for initiatives that will advance progress, innovation, and world peace -- Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Science Director at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF CONNECTION is more than a book. It's a call to action for our times, reminding us to nurture what is at the heart of human existence and that we should value most: our relationships with one another. In an age of loneliness, dislocation, discrimination, and division, Kasley Killam has articulated something we all intrinsically understand, but which increasingly few of us practice: that sharing time, experiences, and community is what life is about. Most impressively, Killam brings together decades of research, science, and learning into an elegant phrase and accessible prose that will rally people to the universal cause of how we all inhabit this world together, and how we do so meaningfully. And, perhaps most importantly, she provides inspiring examples of what good connection looks like - and practical tools to help us all feel part of our changing world, rather than left behind by it. I hope leaders, neighbours, community members, and individuals everywhere will read and learn from this book, and pass its lessons down the generations -- Alex Smith, Founder of The Cares Family and Obama Fellow

A social scientist by training, Kasley Killam earned a master's at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, a bachelor's at Queen's University in Canada, and professional certificates from Stanford Business School and Columbia University. In past roles, she oversaw a national community engagement strategy and partnerships for Verily, the health tech sister-company to Google; conducted research on mental health at Queen's University and positive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania; and developed an award-winning campaign to promote empathy and kindness through technology.

Kasley has been featured in the New York Times, Scientific American and Washington Post, among other outlets, and she writes the Social Health Blog for Psychology Today. She is a sought-after keynote speaker, regularly giving talks for audiences at Google, Stanford University, Harvard University, the World Economic Forum, and various organizations, conferences, and podcasts.

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