Social Connections and the Cancer Community

January 19, 2021

Information

January 17, 2020

Yale Cancer Center

visit: http://www.yalecancercenter.org

email: canceranswers@yale.edu

call: 203-785-4095

ID6088

To CiteDCA Citation Guide

00:00Support for Yale Cancer Answers comes
00:03from Astra Zeneca, a biopharmaceutical
00:05business that is pushing the boundaries of
00:08science to deliver new cancer medicines.
00:11More information at astrazeneca-us.com.
00:15Welcome to Yale Cancer Answers with
00:17your host doctor Anees Chagpar.
00:20Yale Cancer Answers features the
00:22latest information on cancer care by
00:24welcoming oncologists and specialists
00:25who are on the forefront of the
00:28battle to fight cancer. This week,
00:30it's a conversation about social
00:31chemistry and the cancer community
00:33with Doctor Marissa King.
00:34Doctor King is a professor of
00:37organizational behavior at the Yale
00:38School of Management and Doctor Chagpar
00:40is a professor of surgical
00:42oncology at the Yale School of Medicine.
00:46So for all of our listeners,
00:49you may not know this, but I did my
00:52MBA at Yale School of Management,
00:54and one of the classes that I took was
00:58actually your class Marissa on social
01:00networking and it got me to thinking
01:03that there's a lot of aspects that are
01:06pertinent in terms of social networking
01:09when we think about the cancer community,
01:11I know that many people think about
01:14social networking in business
01:16and having relationships and
01:18how they can build on that in terms
01:21of their network and finding jobs
01:23and climbing the corporate ladder.
01:25But for cancer patients,
01:27I think that that's also true.
01:29Have you kind of thought about that?
01:32Or what are your thoughts on that?
01:35Absolutely.
01:35We oftentimes
01:36think of the idea of networking,
01:38and for many people that idea in
01:40and of itself is just morally off
01:43putting that there's kind
01:44of a feeling of like, oh,
01:46this is icky, or it doesn't apply.
01:48And part of that is people are
01:50oftentimes having in mind an idea of a
01:52very instrumental type of networking,
01:55and particularly professional networking.
01:56So the idea that they're going
01:58to try to meet someone to get
02:00something in a professional context,
02:02and we know from a lot of research that that
02:05oftentimes is really off putting
02:07to people and impedes their ability
02:09to form effective networks.
02:12And what I've shown in my research
02:14and what I think is important
02:16to understand is the difference
02:18between networks and networking.
02:20So we all have networks, networks
02:23are simply the traces of interaction
02:25that we have on a daily basis.
02:28It's the person you've bumped
02:30into at a coffee shop,
02:32your relationship with your physician.
02:33Your more enduring relationships
02:35with your closest friends and family.
02:37So all of us have networks and those
02:40networks have profound implications.
02:42They are strong determinant of
02:44emotional well being and support.
02:46They also impact our physical
02:48health and well being.
02:50The type of network you have is a
02:52strong predictor of premature mortality,
02:55and they certainly also impact
02:57their professional success.
02:58But when thinking about the cancer community,
03:01it's really important to
03:02understand that your network has
03:04extraordinary implications for your
03:06emotional support, your ability to
03:08help others and also your ability to
03:10get information that you may need and
03:13navigate the situation that you're facing.
03:15So thinking about the idea
03:17of your own network,
03:18it's really important to try to
03:20understand what are your current strings.
03:23How might your network be changing
03:25if you're navigating a cancer diagnosis,
03:27and how can you build a more
03:29effective network to help you
03:31meet the demands that you're
03:33currently facing?
03:34Yeah, I love that concept because
03:38so many people
03:41when faced with a cancer diagnosis,
03:44it's kind of like you've
03:46just been splashed with cold water,
03:49deer in the headlights look of, Oh my gosh,
03:52what just happened to my life and I
03:55find that oftentimes people when faced
03:58with that diagnosis will start looking
04:02to their network, to their friends.
04:05Their next door neighbor,
04:07people at church,
04:08people in their work context,
04:10who may have had the same experience
04:14and from that they start gleaning
04:17information that helps to
04:20inform some of the
04:22decisions that they make,
04:23but talk a little bit more about how
04:26that works because I find that part
04:28of it might be that some
04:30patients are very good at that and
04:33they're very open with their diagnosis
04:35and they talk to almost everybody that
04:38they can find who can kind of give
04:41them some more advice and guidance
04:43and tell them about their experience.
04:45Other people,
04:46on the other hand,
04:47really try to keep that
04:49very much to themselves.
04:50How does that work?
04:53And if you're having difficulty
04:56engaging your network,
04:58what advice do you have for people?
05:01It's a really
05:02important point that you make and
05:05what's interesting is we know that often
05:08times when people are faced with a crisis,
05:11whether that's the pandemic itself, or
05:13what happens after Hurricane Katrina,
05:16or for instance, what happens after a
05:19diagnosis when people are in a moment
05:22of crisis or uncertainty, networks
05:24actually in general tend
05:26to what we call Turtle in.
05:28People tend to gravitate to the people that
05:31are closest to their inner circle.
05:33The people that they would tend to
05:36rely on routinely for help or support.
05:38For most people,
05:39this is around two to five people,
05:42and our networks really focus
05:43on this inner circle.
05:45In many ways this makes perfect sense.
05:47It's highly adaptive in the sense it's
05:50really from your inner circle that you get
05:53the strongest emotional and social support.
05:56The challenge with that natural tendency
05:58that happens for so many people is
06:01exactly the flip side of this that you
06:03pointed to is it many times when
06:06we're trying to navigate a diagnosis,
06:09we really need new information and we
06:11also may be looking for someone who has
06:13a shared experience that wouldn't be in
06:16this inner circle and just probabilistically,
06:18that's quite unlikely,
06:19and because we all have a certain amount of
06:23time in a certain amount of cognitive energy,
06:25we really have to
06:27be cognizant about these trade offs.
06:29Are we focusing really on our inner
06:31circle or are we reaching out to people
06:34who could provide new information?
06:36Who may be able to have a similar experience
06:40that we wouldn't normally talk to?
06:42And so this natural tendency to turtle
06:45in and focus on our inner circle while
06:48it's adapted from an emotional standpoint,
06:50it can have pretty significant drawbacks
06:53in terms of information seeking.
06:54And so you ask an important question.
06:59What does this mean for how you can
07:02navigate this moment and there's
07:04been work that was done
07:06by Ned Smith and Tanya Menon,
07:08who first identified
07:09this tendency to
07:11focus on our inner circle during
07:13times of stress and uncertainty,
07:15and what they found is that
07:17not everyone experiences this.
07:18As you mentioned that it particularly is
07:21people who have a sense of a lack of control,
07:24they tend to focus in on this inner circle
07:28but at the same time you
07:31need new information and you need to
07:32be able to identify people who you
07:34wouldn't normally talk to to help you
07:36through this moment and in order to
07:38think about that part of your network,
07:40one of the most powerful things
07:41that you can do is actually to try
07:43to induce a more controlled sense
07:45of your environment in yourself.
07:47So there are a couple of ways
07:49of thinking about doing this.
07:50One of the most powerful ways that they
07:52found is actually to have a sense of
07:54reaffirmation of your own sense of self.
07:56So who you are and what you value.
07:59And in thinking about that before you reach
08:01out and you think in before trying to
08:04figure out who might be able to help you.
08:07It allows you to over come this
08:09natural tendency to focus inward when we
08:12feel out of control and reaching outward can
08:14be really important for forming new ties,
08:17getting new information,
08:18and navigating a landscape that's
08:19really uncertain.
08:23I think that that's so great,
08:26but I think the other thing is that
08:28you know it's sometimes difficult
08:31because so many cancer patients
08:33really do feel out of control in
08:36that kind of sense of I'm going
08:39to have some self affirmation
08:42about myself and about what I value
08:44might be difficult in the moment,
08:46but I wonder whether
08:49that inner circle that you turn
08:52to, those two to five people,
08:54they may have a much stronger sense of self
08:58and may actually be kind of linkers to
09:01help you to expand your circle and
09:04provide you a safe space to get to
09:08information or to connect to other
09:11people who might be able to help.
09:14Kind of this idea of 6 degrees of separation.
09:18It's a beautiful suggestion, and an important one,
09:21and I often think of this as
09:24trying to find a network
09:26partner in many circumstances.
09:27There is a patient in this circumstance.
09:29In particular, you may feel out of control.
09:32It may feel very hard to have this sense
09:35of self affirmation and really be able to
09:37tap into a sense of stability and control,
09:41but instead, if you're able to ask for
09:43help and ask for people within your
09:45inner circle to reach out to their network,
09:48it's extraordinarily powerful.
09:49Like if we think about our own network,
09:52right? Most people on average have around
09:54600 to 900 people within their network,
09:57but if you think about relying
09:59on that inner circle
10:00just the people that you know all
10:02of a sudden you may go from 600
10:04people to 3000 people and then,
10:06as you mentioned,
10:07you think about the number of people
10:09that they are friends with
10:11and then all of a sudden there's
10:13extraordinary reach into the amount
10:14of information that you're able to
10:16access and potentially being able to
10:18identify people who can help you with
10:20either the right piece of information
10:22or even a shared experience.
10:23I've been through this too and
10:25let me tell you what
10:26that experience was like for me.
10:28Yeah, and as I think
10:30about kind of going through
10:31that cancer experience there are people
10:34who you may come in contact with who
10:38can link you to other people, right?
10:40So talking to your doctor or a
10:44nurse or a social worker and the
10:47concept of even support groups
10:49to kind of expand your
10:53circle can sometimes be helpful,
10:55but I find that there are other again
10:58other people who find that support
11:01groups really are not so helpful.
11:04Particularly when people in that
11:06support group may have experiences
11:09that are not exactly like yours.
11:12So for example,
11:13if you have a diagnosis of an early
11:16breast cancer and somebody has
11:19metastatic pancreatic cancer and is
11:22telling you about their experiences,
11:25sometimes that can be actually far
11:28more scary than having somebody
11:31in a support group who really
11:34can share experiences
11:36that are more in line with
11:38what you're going through,
11:39but at the same time some people
11:41find that these support groups,
11:43regardless of how mixed they are,
11:46are still helpful.
11:48How would you kind of contextualize
11:50that and
11:52is there a way to kind of think
11:56about people's own situations and
11:58what they would benefit most from,
12:00or how they should filter information
12:02that they get from their networks?
12:05I think that that's
12:07one of the most challenging pieces when
12:10you're trying to think about from a
12:13support group standpoint is figuring out
12:15for you where that boundary lies and
12:19I think one piece of the
12:22support is oftentimes going to come
12:24through being able to identify
12:26with others in the group and have a
12:28sense of shared experience and that
12:30in many ways is easier to navigate
12:33when you have some group composed
12:35of people who are in a similar
12:37situation, right?
12:39So for instance,
12:40if the group is primarily composed
12:42of people with early stage breast
12:44cancer versus later stage pancreatic
12:46cancer it's going to be
12:48easier to find those points
12:51of identification and connection,
12:53but I think there's also for
12:55people who are sort of particularly
12:58feeling uncomfortable with respect to
13:01how much they feel comfortable
13:03sharing or disclosing,
13:04people also have very different
13:07preferences and tendencies
13:08to navigate boundaries about
13:10how much can I hear about someone
13:13else's experience while still protecting
13:15myself and being able to empathize?
13:18But not become engrossed
13:20in someone else's situation,
13:21so those are easier to navigate
13:23when you have groups that are
13:25more similar with respect to where
13:27people are with the disease, but
13:30particularly if you NOTE Confidence: 0.849451
13:32know that that's not
13:35a challenge for you being able to be
13:37a part of a broader group and just
13:40connecting regardless of your
13:42experience is different from mine.
13:44They were all in many ways going
13:46through a challenging time and talking
13:48about what those challenges are
13:50instead of the specifics,
13:52the medical specifics can generally
13:54be really helpful for everybody.
13:56I think it's so
13:58cool to think about how social connection
14:00really affects the cancer experience,
14:02and we're going to come back to
14:05all of that right after we take a
14:08short break for a medical minute.
14:10Please stay tuned to learn more about
14:13social chemistry in the cancer community
14:15with my guest Doctor Marissa King.
14:18Support for Yale Cancer Answers
14:20comes from AstraZeneca,
14:21a biopharmaceutical business with
14:23a deep rooted heritage in oncology
14:26and a commitment to developing
14:29cancer medicines for patients.
14:31Learn more at astrazeneca-u.com.
14:35This is a medical minute
14:36about head and neck cancers,
14:38although the percentage of oral
14:40and head and neck cancer patients
14:42in the United States is only about
14:455% of all diagnosed cancers,
14:47there are challenging side effects
14:49associated with these types
14:50of cancer and their treatment.
14:52Clinical trials are currently
14:53underway to test innovative new
14:55treatments for head and neck cancers,
14:57and in many cases less radical
14:59surgeries are able to preserve nerves,
15:02arteries and muscles in the neck,
15:04enabling patients to move, speak
15:06breathe, and eat normally after surgery.
15:09More information is available
15:11at yalecancercenter.org.
15:12You're listening to Connecticut Public Radio.
15:16Welcome
15:16back to Yale Cancer Answers.
15:18This is doctor Anees Chagpar
15:21and I'm joined tonight by my
15:24guest Doctor Marissa King.
15:25We're talking about social
15:27chemistry and the cancer community
15:29and right before the break,
15:31Marissa, we were talking about
15:33the power of social connection,
15:35especially when going
15:37through a crisis like cancer.
15:39And there were a few points that I
15:42wanted to just kind of bring up again.
15:45One of the things that you mentioned
15:47in passing was that there are
15:50data that social connection can
15:52actually affect your longevity.
15:53Can you talk more about that?
15:58Our interactions
15:59in a moment to moment basis and our
16:02ability to connect with one another
16:04impacts our physical health and it does
16:07that in many ways through
16:10stress in particular.
16:11So if humans were really built for
16:14social connection and because of
16:16that there are many biomarkers that
16:18change when we're in a high quality,
16:21supportive interaction. For instance,
16:22when you're in a supportive interaction,
16:24your cortisol levels,
16:25which is a biomarker for stress,
16:27will decrease and overtime
16:29those stress levels,
16:30whether they are lower because
16:31you're in supportive interactions or
16:33their higher because you're feeling
16:35more isolation and loneliness,
16:37it's through those channels
16:40and stress is a more
16:42immediate factor that impacts longevity.
16:46I think that's so interesting
16:48that you bring it back to
16:50kind of a biological basis.
16:52I mean, we think about how
16:55when you get a hug your oxytocin
16:58levels go up and it's that
17:01feel good hormone
17:02that makes people feel more comfortable,
17:06more safe, but I think that now,
17:10especially in the pandemic,
17:12when we are
17:15physically distancing, socially isolating,
17:17especially for people going through
17:20cancer that can be particularly
17:22problematic and difficult.
17:24So even if you have a network,
17:28if you can't physically
17:32engage with that network
17:34what can you do to really reduce
17:36some of that stress and still
17:39benefit from that social connection?
17:41One of the
17:42most powerful things that you can do
17:45is actually just have a conversation
17:47in which you feel heard and we know
17:50that listening has an extraordinarily
17:52powerful effect on health and well
17:55being both physical and mental.
17:57There have been clinical trials
17:59after clinical trials that have shown this.
18:00In fact, feeling
18:02listened to reduces pain,
18:04and it also reduces recovery time.
18:07And one of the things that for me is so
18:09interesting about listening is studies
18:11that have asked people whether or not
18:14they feel like they're a good listener.
18:16The vast majority of people,
18:1896% of people,
18:19will tell you that there are good listener,
18:22but most of us,
18:23if we've been in conversation,
18:25know that's simply not true.
18:26And even for people who do actively
18:29think about what they're doing in
18:31conversation in terms of listening,
18:32most of the time there's an
18:34emphasis on active listening,
18:36asking follow up questions.
18:38Perhaps jumping in with your own story,
18:40nodding in affirmation,
18:41but there's another type of
18:43listening that
18:45particularly has deep healing effects,
18:46and that's deep listening.
18:48And in that modality of listening,
18:50the idea isn't so much to be
18:52engaging with the speaker,
18:53but it's just to give them space,
18:56and one of the ways to see how much space
18:58that you're giving someone in a conversation,
19:01if you just simply ask someone,
19:03hey, how are you doing today?
19:06And let them begin talking.
19:08And in the meantime just be silent
19:10and notice what your tendencies are.
19:12Do you want to jump in with your own story?
19:15Do you want to ask a follow up question,
19:18but just don't
19:19act on that,
19:20but just give the other person space.
19:22And particularly when people are going
19:24through challenging times in many ways,
19:26they just want to be heard,
19:28but for a lot of people,
19:30there's a tendency to want to give advice.
19:32So in conversations,
19:33actually even asking someone whether
19:34it's a patient or someone trying
19:36to support the patient, which
19:38also can be quite a difficult role
19:39to simply even ask,
19:41do you want to just be listened to
19:43or do you want advice and oftentimes
19:46you'll be amazed how often people
19:48will say that they actually just
19:50want to be listened to.
19:52I think that that's
19:55so important because I think we've
19:57all been in situations like that where
20:00somebody is going through a crisis,
20:02whether it's a cancer diagnosis
20:04or losing a job or
20:07facing another health crisis like Covid.
20:09I mean, we've all been through
20:11all of those situations
20:12I feel like in the last year.
20:16And people just want to vent.
20:20They just want to feel heard.
20:22But at the same time you want to help.
20:27So how
20:28do you kind of overcome that?
20:32I think that piece about
20:34wanting to help is right.
20:36It is important to recognize,
20:38if this is your tendency,
20:40it's most likely because you
20:42actually want to be of help,
20:44and so I think asking people at the
20:47beginning of a conversation,
20:49do you just want to be heard or are you
20:52actually seeking advice helps both
20:54parties set expectations and the second
20:56piece t NOTE Confidence: 0.8345081
20:59mention asking for help you think,
21:01particularly during times of crisis.
21:05And understanding and being able to
21:07differentiate are you just listening,
21:09are you asking or offering
21:11help is really important
21:12because those are two very different
21:14support functions.
21:16But for many people it's extraordinarily
21:18difficult no matter what the circumstances.
21:20But one of the things that I
21:22think is powerful to think about,
21:24and overcoming that resistance,
21:25is also engaging in perspective taking.
21:27So if you're the
21:29person who needs help,
21:31if you're the patient or the person
21:33who just received a diagnosis and
21:35you do feel like you need help,
21:37but are reluctant to ask for
21:39it to imagine what it's like
21:41to be on the other side,
21:43to be a friend or family
21:45member who so wants to help but
21:48oftentimes doesn't know how to.
21:49Imagine that and thinking about
21:52your asking for help is in many
21:54an opportunity for them to
21:56be of service for them to feel
21:59that they have some purpose.
22:01It can be extremely gratifying,
22:03so no matter who is asking for help,
22:05oftentimes there's a reluctance to do that.
22:08But one of the most powerful ways to
22:10overcome it is actually to think about
22:13what it would be like for the other
22:15person to be able to provide help.
22:18And particularly in this moment
22:19in the pandemic.
22:20So many of us need a sense of purpose
22:23that in many ways you're giving a
22:26gift to the other person.
22:27Yeah, I think that is really,
22:30really on point, because
22:31we've all seen it right.
22:33Cancer patients oftentimes will retreat.
22:36They'll try to do it all,
22:39and they'll find that they really can't.
22:42And yet they are reluctant
22:44to ask anybody for help.
22:46And meanwhile,
22:47the people who are their support
22:50circle don't really know what to do.
22:53They want to help,
22:56but then they don't want to,
22:59and they want to give people space but
23:03they want to be of service and I
23:05think that your concept of,
23:08think about the fact that if
23:10the shoe was on the other foot,
23:12you would so want to help and it
23:15feels so good to help other people.
23:17You just need that permission to do so.
23:21What other advice do you have for
23:25people who are trying to
23:28navigate these stressful situations
23:29and are feeling isolated and
23:32truthfully are physically isolated?
23:34I'm thinking more about at the
23:37end of life.
23:41We've seen these tragic pictures
23:44on the news of people with Covid.
23:47They may or may not have cancer.
23:50They can't have their loved ones around.
23:53How do you deal with that?
23:57In particular, in those moments
23:59when oftentimes we would really
24:02be like relying on touch and touch
24:05is so powerful and so healing,
24:07but particularly in those moments,
24:09right now, it's just not possible.
24:12Oftentimes people default
24:14to video and mthere's a lot
24:17of reasons why we're doing this,
24:19and it's helpful
24:21oftentimes to be able to see someone else,
24:24but we know from
24:26a lot of research that voice
24:28only rather than sort of voice
24:30and video at the same time,
24:32that voice only is much
24:34better at conveying emotion,
24:35and it's much better at conveying
24:37empathy and so it's something
24:39to think about and keep in mind.
24:41And perhaps experiment that if you
24:44perhaps have been trying to keep in
24:46touch only through video and voice,
24:48the video actually can be distracting.
24:50Video also can make people much more
24:53self conscious about how they're
24:54looking or focus on the situation at hand.
24:57And in many ways it's easier to
25:00connect on an emotional level
25:02by just hearing someone's voice.
25:04It's far more humanizing and it
25:07also is able to convey empathy in
25:10a way that voice in video at
25:13the same time can't.
25:15Wow, I would have never thought that
25:19I guess because I always
25:21thought about communication.
25:22You know, being in part,
25:24we always think about this nonverbal
25:27part of communication, but
25:28the data
25:31really doesn't support that.
25:36A couple reasons that this is true,
25:38the data seems
25:39to suggest that if we're focusing
25:41just on emotion and empathy,
25:43that voice only tends to be
25:45better and our
25:47natural tendency is to
25:49default fto video like we're trying
25:51to recreate the thing that feels as
25:53close to normal life as possible.
25:55But in reality, the idea is
25:57exactly what you said that the more
26:00we can get more nonverbal cues,
26:02the problem is that video
26:03conferencing is actually pretty bad at
26:05conveying nonverbal cues.
26:06So I have a choice.
26:10Essentially, I
26:10can either look at your eyes or
26:12I can look at my webcam and not
26:15that's a signal of distraction.
26:17Our eyes also tend to gravitate
26:19towards mouths instead of eyes in video
26:21conferencing and our ability just to
26:23convey nonverbal cues
26:25on video is pretty poor and so that
26:27is actually making the cognitive load
26:29higher and making it more difficult
26:31to connect 'cause we're trying to
26:33monitor something that we don't
26:35actually have an ability to do well.
26:37The second piece of this is it also
26:40can create barriers to interaction,
26:41so if I'm not feeling well one
26:43day
26:45or perhaps I've been through
26:46treatment and I'm just also not
26:48looking my physical best,
26:49I may not want to be seen and
26:52so I may actually avoid interaction in
26:54a way through video that I wouldn't
26:56otherwise if it were voice only.
26:58So just a phone call and so both
27:00from an issue of self presentation,
27:02but also our ability to really hone
27:05in on what's going on with someone else.
27:07The evidence seems to suggest
27:09that just hearing voice can be more
27:11powerful?
27:14That is so so interesting and something that I think a lot of
27:19our listeners probably didn't know and
27:22can really benefit from.
27:26What other tips do you
27:29have for perhaps healthcare providers
27:31and connecting with patients?
27:34Because this is hard on them as well.
27:37I mean, I think everybody right now
27:40is going through so much stress and
27:43the idea of a really kind of trying
27:47to step up even more your game as
27:50a health care provider.
27:53Normally you're trying to deal with patients.
27:56You're trying to get the best
27:59outcome for them.
28:00Connect emotionally with them,
28:01and now on top of all of that,
28:04you also are dealing with all
28:06of your own stresses, right?
28:08You're in a Covid rich environment.
28:11You've got kids at home who
28:13are trying to home school.
28:15You may have had a partner who
28:19just lost a job or whatever.
28:22What advice do you have for health
28:25care providers in terms of maintaining
28:28their own social connections and
28:31being there not only for their
28:33patients but also for themselves?
28:37I think one of the most important
28:39things to realize is that
28:41social connection really happens in
28:43the minute and the quality of our
28:45social connections is determined
28:47in a very small time scale.
28:52Whether you're a health care provider
28:54or patient or just a person trying
28:56to get through day to day life
28:58in Covid everyone is extraordinarily
29:00stressed and particularly if it
29:01is in a healthcare setting.
29:03You're also extraordinarily busy,
29:04and we know from a lot of research
29:07there's a beautiful study that looked at
29:10The Parable of the Good Samaritan,
29:14and they randomly assign people to walk
29:17by someone who is in need of help
29:19and these were all theologians,
29:21and on the one hand,
29:22they ask people to either prepare
29:24the parable of the Good Samaritan's
29:26sermon or something random,
29:28and then they were interested in
29:30seeing who stopped to help the person
29:32in need and it turned out that it
29:34didn't matter if they had
29:36prepared and thought about the
29:37parable of the Good Samaritan or
29:39they read something random
29:41what mattered the most was
29:43whether or not they were told
29:44they were in a hurry when
29:47they were walking by the person in
29:49need on the way to another building.
29:51And I think that's true for all of
29:54us in the moment that it was really
29:56the people who were were not told
29:58to hurry that stopped to help.
30:00And our ability to help one another
30:03and also help ourselves depends on
30:05being able to be present in a really
30:07small period in the moment to be
30:09able to make eye contact when we
30:11can to be able to simply be heard
30:14and listened to by another person.
30:16And it doesn't take a lot of time.
30:18Everything we know from research is
30:20that it doesn't matter whether or
30:22not you're spending an hour a day
30:25connecting with people or simply 5 minutes,
30:27it's really the quality of that
30:29moment that matters for everyone's
30:30health and well being.
30:32Doctor Marissa King is a professor
30:34of organizational behavior at
30:36the Yale School of Management.
30:38If you have questions,
30:39the address is canceranswers@yale.edu
30:41and past editions of the program
30:43are available in audio and written
30:45form at yalecancercenter.org.
30:47We hope you'll join us next week to
30:49learn more about the fight against
30:52cancer here on Connecticut Public Radio.