Fast Takes -
Major role of social engagement in MS warrants new emphasis for clinical interventions - Ep41
KesslerFoundation.org

LAUREN STROBER
00:10
[music] For me, and I think for the research world, it's also about addressing the social
isolation and loneliness that we know is common among individuals with MS.

BANKS-SMITH 00:20 That was Dr. Lauren Strober, Senior Research Scientist from our Center for
Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Research. And this is Kessler Foundation's Fast
Takes, research that changes lives. I'm your host, Joan Banks-Smith. In this episode,
Dr. Lauren Strober talks about her peer-reviewed article, "Keeping it together: The
role of social integration on health and psychological well-being among individuals
with multiple sclerosis." This was published on March 24th, 2022 in the journal Health
and Social Care in the Community. Funding source was the National Institute of
Health, grant number K23HD069494 and the Robert E. Leet & Clara Guthrie Patterson
Trust. Dr. Strober, can you share with us the main takeaways of this study?

STROBER 01:14 This was an exciting study for me. I've been interested in the role of social
connectedness and integration on health for some time, but this is not novel or new.
This has been around for decades. We've known about the role of social activity on
health. What sparked it for me was a 2010 meta-analysis by Julianne Holt-Lunstad
among tens of thousands of people in which they found that social connectedness or
one's social integration had a larger effect on one's health and mortality than the
normal culprits we would think of, such as smoking, or exercise, or diet, or if someone
got the flu vaccine. This really sparked my interest, and I've been wanting to see if
these findings were [reputable?] in MS populations. So using a not as large of a data
set, we had 183 individuals with MS that had been in a longitudinal study with us. But
we were able to look at the role of social support and integration on their health and
well-being. And what's interesting, we also included measures of psychological wellbeing, which is more of a positive psychology aspect, in particular because we know
that health is not just defined as an absence of illness but also flourishing, or living
well, or living a full life. So that was our measure of well-being. And what we found
that while factors such as diet, and exercise, and cardiovascular risk did contribute to
self-reported health, so did social integration across the board, and social support and
social integration also played a role in mental health. And then finally, not surprising,
we found that social integration and support were important for well-being across all
aspects. So the main takeaway is that one's social engagement or activity can play a
large role on health and one's well-being and should be considered when treating
individuals with MS.

BANKS-SMITH 03:01 What is the impact and next implications of this publication to the field?

STROBER 03:06 Certainly, this would alert practitioners to the importance of asking about social
activity. What are people doing with their time? Who do they spend their time with?
What engagement do they have in their community? Do they go to church? Do they
volunteer? Do they have intergenerational families at home? And what does their
support network look like? That's the first thing. But really for me, and I think for the
research world, it's also about kind of addressing the social isolation and loneliness
that we know is common among individuals with MS. It's estimated that 50 to 70
percent of individuals with MS experience loneliness or social isolation, particularly older individuals. So it's really important for us to think about efforts and developing
interventions and sort of policy to help make sure that people do not become isolated
with MS and how we can best help that.

JOAN BANKS-SMITH 04:00
To learn more about Dr. Strober, the Center for Neuropsychology and Neuroscience
Research, and her peer-reviewed article, links are in the program notes. Tuned into
our podcast series lately? Join our listeners in 90 countries who enjoy learning about
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your podcasts. This podcast was recorded remotely on June 7th, 2022 and was edited
and produced by Joan Banks-Smith, creative producer for Kessler Foundation. [music]