Take Two Friends and Call Me in the Morning. There’s a little town in England that’s done a remarkable thing. In a reasonably short amount of time, the township of Frome has been able to reduce emergency hospital admissions by 15%. Meanwhile, hospital admissions in neighbouring towns rose by 30%. What is Frome’s secret life-saving technology? The local medical practice … Read More
The Social Prescribing Revolution is Here
Nursing one of his beloved daughters to her death at age ten led Charles Darwin to consider the role of suffering and compassion in natural selection. He would later theorise in Descent of Man that sympathy, a word probably closer to what we understand today as empathy, is an instinct even stronger than self-interest. Darwin’s work offers insight as to why the act of suffering together – … Read More
Loneliness vs Solitude – How looking inward can bring out our best
In the summer of 1956, a young lawyer was led, handcuffed, into a tiny jail cell devoid of bedding or plumbing. His communication with the outside world was restricted to writing and receiving one letter every six months. He was permitted to receive a single visitor for half an hour, once per year. It would be another 27 years before … Read More