Effects of psychosocial interactions at a cellular level

Abstract

Psychosocial interactions can affect physiological functions at a cellular level, resulting in increased longevity for people who have had heart attacks or who have acquired immune deficiency syndrome or cancer as well as for healthy individuals. Although social work pioneers and practitioners have always believed that social work intervention can help people feel better, recent studies show that the benefits can be measured quantitatively and qualitatively. In fact, these studies show that lack of psychosocial interaction may be a risk factor for disease progression.