Maintaining Your Social Health
June 11, 2024
Maintaining your social health is a critical part of wellness. Social health encompasses the relationships we cultivate with those around us and our ability to foster positive and supportive connections. To maintain our social health, it is essential to make a deliberate effort to think about your social life in balance with your professional or academic life.
Here are some ways to stay socially connected:
Cultivate strong relationships—the links you have to others can protect your health and potentially lengthen your life.
- Prioritize quality time with family and friends.
- Use phone calls, video chat, or social media to keep in touch.
Balance social and alone time—understand how much social interaction you need and work to keep your emotional battery full.
- Avoid overcommitment and try not to overextend yourself with too many social obligations.
Take care of yourself while taking care of others—being in the veterinary industry it is important to reflect on your own care as well as the care you provide your patients and clients.
- Engage in activities that reduce stress and promote mental well-being.
- Seek help if you find yourself struggling.
Get active together—enlist others to participate in activities of interest to stay motivated.
- Participate in group sports, book clubs, or other communal activities.
Volunteer—giving back to a cause you care about can help you feel connected to your community and boost social health.
- Find an organization that offers the level of volunteering you are comfortable with and fits into your schedule to avoid feeling stressed.
The National Institute of Health is a great resource to learn more about ways to stay socially connected.
At Vetcor, fostering a cohesive network of hospitals and teams is important to cultivate a nurturing atmosphere. Our team members benefit from various channels to connect with each other such as VetLife, TechLife, and HMLife collaboration circles. Additionally, Vetcor provides an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that enables confidential access to counselors, allowing employees to address any social health concerns they may have.
We encourage all of our team members to contact our Employee Experience team at hr@vetcor.com if they need support. Or as a Vetcor team member, you could reach out to your hospital or regional manager to find out about our employee assistance program that includes more resources on wellbeing.
