How to Talk to Your Family About Social Distancing

By the end of the year, “social distancing” may be the most important phrase you’d never heard of before 2020.

As a preventive measure to contain the spread of disease—such as COVID-19—social distancing is the simple practice of maintaining a distance (in this case, at least six feet) between you and other people. This also entails minimizing contact with people, such as avoiding public transportation or social gatherings. Social distancing has proven to save lives in the past, such as during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and the 2009 flu pandemic in Mexico City, and is expected to save lives today—if enough people adopt the practice.

“Every single reduction in the number of contacts you have per day with relatives, with friends, co-workers, in school will have a significant impact on the ability of the virus to spread in the population,” said Gerardo Chowell, chair of population health sciences at Georgia State University.

Unfortunately, we all know groups that—out of ignorance or obstinance—are willfully avoiding this essential public health practice. Here’s how to talk to various family members about how they can stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution. Read More