Social Relationships and Health Improvement Programme

社会关系（在家庭、亲密关系或性关系中，或基于更广泛的友谊/社会网络和社区）是我们从童年到一生的态度和行为发展的基础。关系在各个层面影响健康，既是风险来源，也是保护因素。了解社会关系如何影响健康以及与其他生物、社会和环境因素的关系，对于为干预措施的制定提供信息至关重要。以人际关系和社会网络为目标的干预措施也有可能影响与这些关系有关的其他人，这可能是帮助人们保持行为改变的一个因素，这是行为改变研究的“圣杯”。我们将研究通过使用定性和定量研究的混合我们的关系影响健康和福祉的过程。然后，我们将利用这些信息制定和测试可以改善健康和减少健康不平等的干预措施。我们将研究健康状况不佳和健康不平等风险群体之间关系的特点和影响，特别侧重于社会支持和社会网络的作用。科技正在迅速改变社交网络和人际关系，我们将探讨这对健康的影响，以及如何利用社交媒体和智能手机应用程序来调动社交网络和改善健康。

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.