Chapter Outline

CONCEPTS OF HEALTH

• The so-called "good life" has created sedentary living, dietary excesses, stress, obesity, and alcohol/drug abuse.

• A high percentage of disease and disability is preventable---a consequence of unwise behavior.

• Health promotion activities attempt to create healthy policies, supportive environments, and a reorientation to personal lifestyle choices as a way to sustain health and well-being.

LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH

• The preventive aspects of health have become increasingly clear.

• Healthy People 2010 provides goals and objectives for improving the health of all people in the United States.

UNDERSTANDING RISKS

• Risk factors for the leading causes of death and the most common chronic diseases have been identified as a result of ongoing population studies.

• The lifestyle practices that are most often linked to well-being and longevity include: engaging in regular exercise; avoiding tobacco; limiting dietary fats; eating a lot of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; managing stress; limiting alcohol; maintaining a healthy weight, fastening seat belts; practicing safe sex; and balancing work and personal time (including getting 7-9 hours of sleep every night).

HIGH-LEVEL WELLNESS

• Wellness is "an integrated and dynamic level of functioning oriented toward maximizing potential, dependent on self-responsibility".

THE DIMENSIONS OF WELLNESS

• There is a strong interdependence between the seven dimensions of wellness; balancing all dimensions is important:

Physical - deals with the functional operation of the body.

Intellectual - involves the ongoing pursuit of knowledge.

Emotional - deals with awareness, acceptance, and management of emotions.

Social - deals with the ability to get along with and accept others.

Spiritual - involves the development of the inner self and soul.

Occupational - involves deriving personal satisfaction from a career/job.

Environmental - deals with the preservation of natural resources and wildlife.

GROWTH IN WELLNESS

• Growth in wellness is influenced by several factors:

Awareness of wellness options

Assessment of self

Knowledge

Skills and management techniques

Motivation

Support

• Assuming self-responsibility for lifestyle decisions is at the center of wellness growth.

SOCIETAL NORMS

• Societal norms are those behaviors or practices that are expected in a culture, as well as accepted and supported by its members.

• Many of our current norms promote unhealthy ("unwell") practices.

CHANGING TIMES: MAKING WELLNESS THE NORM

• A mindset/attitude of preventive health and personal responsibility for well-being is necessary for societal growth in wellness.

• As wellness permeates our society, more and more resources must support this lifestyle.

• All available resources (individual, community, media, schools, corporations, and government) need to draw together to bring about changes in societal norms.