Part I. Introduction: 1. Health and society: contributions to improving healthcare from the social sciences Richard Williams; Part II. Schooling: 2. Six features of the human condition: the social causation and social construction of mental health Steven R. Smith; 3. Social sciences and health: a framework for building and strengthening social connectedness Catherine Haslam and S. Alexander Haslam; 4. The social identity approach to health S. Alexander Haslam, Jolanda Jetten and Catherine Haslam; 5. The relevance of social science to improving health and healthcare Daniel Maughan, Susan Bailey and Richard Williams; Part III. Scoping: 6. The social determinants of mental health Kamaldeep S. Bhui, Oliver Quantick and David Ross; 7. Laidback science: messages from horizontal epidemiology Alarcos Cieza and Jerome Bickenbach; 8. Parity of esteem for mental health Susan Bailey; 9. Belonging Peter Hindley; 10. Families and communities: their meanings and roles across ethnic cultures Hinemoa Elder; 11. The nature of resilience: coping with adversity Richard Williams and Verity Kemp; 12. The value of tolerance and the tolerability of competing values Jonathan Montgomery; 13. Towards partnerships in health and social care: a coloquium of approaches to connectedness Richard Williams, Susan Bailey and Verity Kemp; 14. Commentaries on core themes in Part III Jonathan Montgomery, S. Alexander Haslam, Adrian Neal and Richard Williams; Part IV. Sourcing: 15. Crowds and cooperation John Drury, Hani Alnabulsi and Holly Carter; 16. Emergencies, disasters and risk reduction: a microcosm of social relationships in communities Tim Healing, Anthony D. Redmond, Verity Kemp and Richard Williams; 17. Shared social identity in emergencies, disasters and conflicts John Drury and Khalifah Alfadhli; 18. Complex trauma and complex responses to trauma in the asylum context Cornelius Katona and Francesca Brady; 19. The mental health of veterans: ticking time bomb or business as usual? Deirdre Macmanus, Anna F. Taylor and Neil Greenberg; 20. Violent radicalisation: relational roots and preventive implications Kamaldeep S. Bhui and Rachel Jenkins; 21. Ways out of intractable conflict John Alderdice; 22. Agency as a source of recovery and creativity John Drury, Tim Healing, Richard Williams, Catherine Haslam and Verity Kemp; Part V. Scaffolding: 23. Making connectedness count: from theory to practising a social identity model of health Stephen Reicher; 24. Public health values and evidence-based practice Jonathan Montgomery and Richard Williams; 25. Social scaffolding: supporting the development of positive social identities and agency in communities Catherine Haslam, S. Alexandser Haslam and Tegan Cruwys; 26. Synthesising social science into healthcare Daniel Maughan and Richard William; 27. Relationships, groups, teams and long-termism Peter Aitken, John Drury and Richard Williams; 28. Caring for the carers Adrian Neal, Verity Kemp and Richard Williams; 29. The importance of creating and harnessing a sense of 'us': social identity as the missing link between leadership and health S. Alexander Haslam, Niklas K. Steffens and Kim Peters; 30. Smithtown as society Verity Kemp, Daniel Maughan, Richard Williams, Richard Mills and Tim Healing; Part VI. Sustaining: 31. Suit the action to the word, the word to the action Richard Williams.