As contagious as a bad habit, apparently. Many of us have heard of the “Social Contagion Theory”, which basically means that our friends’ bad behaviours like smoking, eating too much and bad language can be ‘contagious’.

This theory inspired Microclinic International (MCI) founder, Daniel Zoughbie to test whether good behaviours can be contagious as well.

Zoughbie decided to apply what is called a ‘microclinic model’ to various health problems like diabetes. This consists of small groups of peers gathering and encouraging better health. After eight years of running clinics covering a range of health issues in countries like Kenya, Japan and the US, there has been remarkable success.

In Kenya, for example, participants eventually became comfortable enough to disclose their HIV status, to communicate freely about HIV prevention as well as the success and challenges they were having with treatment. This is a major break through in a country where their are major struggles with attitudes towards stigma towards the disease.

News just in time for New Years Resolutions, hey?

[Source : FastCoExist]