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What Is Social Connection in the Context of Human Need: An Interdisciplinary Literature Review

Author

Listed:
  • Kyla L. Bauer

    (Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA)

  • Rachel Johnson-Koenke

    (College of Nursing, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA)

  • Meredith P. Fort

    (Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA)

Abstract

The U.S. Surgeon General made an impactful declaration in the 2023 advisory on America’s loneliness and social isolation epidemic that social connection, or human relationships, is a human need equivalent to water, food, and shelter. After witnessing the impact of social isolation measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a global urgency to better understand social connection in public health responses. However, meaningfully effective interventions for social isolation or loneliness have yet to be identified, and the consensus that social connection is an equivalent human need is unclear. To understand what social connection, oxygen, water, food, and shelter have in common regarding population health, we conducted an interdisciplinary literature review between September 2021 and October 2024, seeking to find commonalities between research literature advocating social connection as a human need critical to survival and key concepts across population health disciplines that explain how oxygen, water, food, and shelter function as human needs. We integrated the concepts of evolution, resource, environment, ecosystem, exposure science, embodiment, homeostasis, allostatic load theory, and interdisciplinary from 44 core publications to develop a unified conceptual model and definition for social connection as a human need. We believe a holistic understanding of social connection within the shared context of oxygen, water, food, and shelter can better support health researchers across a variety of disciplines to find common ground in developing evidence-based interventions within public health.

Suggested Citation

  • Kyla L. Bauer & Rachel Johnson-Koenke & Meredith P. Fort, 2025. "What Is Social Connection in the Context of Human Need: An Interdisciplinary Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(3), pages 1-22, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:3:p:363-:d:1603259
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Krieger, N., 2016. "Living and Dying at the Crossroads: Racism, Embodiment, and Why Theory Is Essential for a Public Health of Consequence," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(5), pages 832-833.
    2. Roger O’Sullivan & Annette Burns & Gerard Leavey & Iracema Leroi & Vanessa Burholt & James Lubben & Julianne Holt-Lunstad & Christina Victor & Brian Lawlor & Mireya Vilar-Compte & Carla M. Perissinott, 2021. "Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Loneliness and Social Isolation: A Multi-Country Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-18, September.
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