Wellness and Wellbeing of Children in the Six Dimensions of Health - Essay Example

Running Head: Wellness and wellbeing of children in the six dimensions of health Wellness and wellbeing of children in the six dimensions of health Name Date Table of contents Cover page……………………………………………………………………...1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………..3 Background……………………………………………………………………...4 Discussion…………………………………………………………………….…6 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….…8 Recommendation………………………………………………………………...10 Wellness and wellbeing of children in the six dimensions of health Introduction Catering for a long day care for children is often a very difficult, yet a crucial process in the development of the wellness and wellbeing of the child. This is because children in the school going age in long day care programs often give a unique opportunity for services which provide safe and holistic care for themselves and their families in the community. Although long day care for children is a very crucial aspect of the education and care of the child in the community, it should not be seen as an ‘add on’ service to the parents and teachers who provide these services. So as to maintain a unique wellness and wellbeing program, it is important to separate children according to their unique capabilities and age groups. So as to provide a long day care for the wellness and well being of the children, it is important for the providers like staff and parents to have some knowledge and understanding about the development of the children and their needs especially when they are in their middle childhood. The essentials of a log term care like the environment, the relationship between the caretaker and the children and activities which the children are involved in so as to reflect this knowledge should be taken into consideration when planning for the wellness and wellbeing of a long term child care (Bender and Sorrentino, 2000). It is very crucial for the staff to get to know the characteristics that the older children possess. The purpose of this report is to describe a long day catering for the wellness and well-being of children by using the six dimensions of health. The first part of the report will define the terms which will be used in the report and the next part will discuss about the general wellness and wellbeing of a child in a long day catering center. Finally the paper will give a conclusion and some of the recommendations that are needed so as to provide a better long day care for the children. The purpose for writing this report is to help the care individuals including teachers, parents and other care individuals to understand what they need to do so as to be able to provide a quality program which follows the six dimensions of health. Background (Donatelle, 2006) This report is very essential since it gives the relationship between the six dimensions of health and the wellness and wellbeing program which is essential for every health care provider in every healthcare home. Some of the terms which will be used the report include; community, health and wellness. Health refers to the ever changing process or a dynamic process of achieving some potential growth in several areas of life (Donatelle, 2006). These areas will be categorized as dimensions of health. The community refers to the society or population which is influenced in a great way by issues of health and is in most cases regarded as a having a mutual responsibility of exercising care so that issues which do not promote health are minimized. Wellness and wellbeing refers to the state when children or a particular group are exposed to a situation where they enjoy services that promote health and care programs. It’s the state of achievement of the highest level of health in each stage or dimension. The six dimensions of health therefore include; physical, emotional, mental, social, environmental and spiritual. The physical dimension refers to the activities in the health dimension that are particularly concerned with the physical development of an individual. Everybody ought to practice ways that are geared towards having a good physical development (Donatelle, 2006). A healthy body is maintained by regular exercise, a good nutrition, making informed decisions concerning health choices, avoiding habits that are harmful and seeking assistance when it is necessary. Since the child is in the initial stages of development, there is need for proper wellness and wellbeing program so that they can develop in this dimension. Children for instance, who do not get a good physical program will have an impact in their later development which may hinder their education life and their lives generally as they embrace issues which come up in the society. The emotional dimension covers issues which include accepting the limitations that an individual has and identifying ways of coping with it, understanding ones own feelings and emotions, developing a point of contentment with ones emotions and achieving a stable point emotionally (Donatelle, 2006). This aspect is very important in the development of an individual because we often encounter many issues in life which may damage our mood and happiness. Although young children are still in their tender years and cannot be in a position to identify their emotions and act towards it, it is important for care providers to develop wellbeing and a wellness program so that they can be able to help these young ones to develop a positive self esteem about themselves. The influential groups whom the child meets are therefore very crucial since they will influence them either positively or negatively. Mental dimension refers to aspects which concern the brain. Mental development can be described as the state of the mind of an individual at any given time when he or she interacts with the world. It involves the mental process like reasoning and thinking in a direction that is desirable so as to come up with a solution to a particular problem. The development of the mind of an individual involves continued learning, being creative and developing problem solving techniques. Individuals should be able to develop some of these virtues so as to be able to give a sound mind in making decisions. A wellbeing and wellness program should be developed in such a manner so as to enable the childcare program to be holistic and beneficial for the children. This is because the development of the child mentally is very important since it determines the way the child will be able to grasp things in the classroom and at the same time apply this knowledge to solve problems in the community. The social dimension involves at understanding the relationship that exists be oneself and others, both in the family and outside the family. Social dimension involves initiating a better communication with others in the community as well as providing a healthy contribution to the community through supporting a d healthy environment for living. Children at an earlier age often develop their friendships with other children through activities like play in school. When at home, parents need to show a lot of care and concern for these children so that they can feel comfortable in the environment where they are in (Donatelle, 2006). A wellbeing and wellness program which promotes the social development of the child should therefore be developed by caretakers so that children can develop better communication strategies in the future as well as enjoy the environment where they are living. The environmental dimension which is also known as occupational dimension concerns itself with how the entire planet is so much attached to the development of the personal health of a person. Environmental wellness is about getting educated about how to protect one against such hazards which come as a result of environmental influence. The environment in which the child is exposed is very crucial for his or her development. This implies that when the child is exposed to an environment which breeds negativity then the behaviours that such children will develop will be negative. If the child is exposed to an environment which breeds positivity, then that kind of environment will help the child to develop positively in all dimensions. The spiritual dimension concerns about how life can be meaningful and creating a purpose for everyone. Spirituality is about the ethics, the morals and values that give and guide direction and meaning to life. It is important to understand where we have come from so that we can be able to know where we are. All communities tend to have their own spiritual ways of doing things which is normally based on the religion and norms that the community holds. Although some of the norms may vary, there exists a common aspect in these norms and values. Every child in each community should be brought up in ways in which he or she follows a given pattern of norms and values. It is essential that the school or the community that the child is brought up in holds the child in a manner that is convenient for the child to understand the meaning of the values and the norms that they are supposed to follow. Such programs which are developed should influence the child to act positively so that they can internalize some of these norms and morals (Bender and Sorrentino, 2000). Discussion The long day care service that I will develop will provide a well being and a wellness program which will support children in several ways. The physical dimension, for instance, will involve taking action so as to promote the health of the child. The child will be exposed in a program where they will participate in activities which will give them physical exercise, give them strength and provide protection against diseases. More resources and space, which are designed for the physical size and abilities of the children, will be created for the children during the wellbeing and wellness program that will be provided by my long day care service. The emotional dimension in my long day care service program will involve managing stress, feelings and transitioning in children. In this program, children will be exposed to opportunities which will enable them to be recreational and not only academic. The care service will involve understanding the needs of the young children especially those who are entering puberty and becoming sensitive to their emotional problems. An example is getting to understand the privacy that a child needs when going to the toilet and understanding the care which girls need at this age since they are beginning their period of menstruating (Tansey, 2007). Their interests will therefore be the first priority and therefore the staff should be able to plan activities which are adapted and flexible in nature for the children to be open ended in their actions and activities while in this program. The program will further involve passive and active activities where the children are involved in activities which promote their emotional development. The mental dimension is a very important aspect which will be highlighted so as to support the child’s wellbeing and wellness of the child in the long day care program. The core concerns on this dimension will be stimulating the mental capacity and the mind so as to develop in a positive manner (Bender and Sorrentino, 2000). Children in the long care program will be exposed to opportunities which will make them involve their critical skills and innovative ways in performing activities in their day to day lives. Such activities will involve making these children perform reading and comprehension skills and making them reason when doing some difficult tasks or tasks which they are confronting for the first time in their lives. What will not be involved in this long day care is restricting the students in an environment which does not involve freedom of their creative and analytical skills. The children will be exposed to new phenomena and environments which will make them more creative and real. Socially, the long day wellness and wellbeing program will involve the child exposed to an environment which promotes their development. So as to promote this aspect, the long day health care program will involve arranging for the children an environment which is full of experiences and opportunities of talking freely and listening attentively to one another. Children will be made to talk about their experiences and express their feeling and out what they are experiencing. The staff in the long day wellness and wellbeing program will therefore be available so that they will value what the children say. Consequently in the long day health care program, the environmental and spiritual aspects will be developed in such a manner that children will benefit from it positively. The environment, for instance will be organized in such a manner that it will create opportunities for the children to develop in the manner that is beneficial both in school and community perspectives. The spiritual dimension will also be very crucial in the long day care program since it will ensure that the child is given a chance to develop in the moral and ethical dimension. The child will therefore be exposed to programs which ensure that the child is encouraged and given the right direction by their elders. Conclusion There are several issues which need to be put in place so that a wellness and a wellbeing program will be developed by following the six dimensions in a long day health care service for children. These issues include performing an assessment which is holistic, challenging some negative attitudes about development of individuals, teaching children the importance of health care and the ways in which they do this, coming up with direct solutions to the improvement of health care programs like health, function and quality of life and the wellness of caregivers and other providers of healthcare in a wellness and wellbeing program. Being holistic implies that the program should cover all the dimensions which have been identified. This is because the development of the child involves identifying all these areas so that a substantial development is achieved (Nixon and Gould, 2002). Teaching will not only be concentrated on the children but also the caregivers need to understand the scope of the program that they will provide. A long day health care service is therefore a very critical program which needs to be planned with a lot of care and expertise so as a desirable result is arrived at (Nixon and Gould, 2002). Recommendations So as to develop a wellness and wellbeing program which suits the children in a holistic manner, the environment that allows children to mix with the others and provide them with opportunities for development and learning should be enhanced. The children should be put in a mixed group so as to provide valuable opportunities for them to share their experiences. The caregivers should however, avoid overburdening their children since this will make them develop retrogressively rather than positively. When developing a plan for the children, it is important to think about the interests and needs of each of the children and to try and arrange the environment so that activities taking place at any given time are cohesive. Resources and physical space should be developed so that the needs for the children will be catered for without any bias. This implies that all the children regardless of age and disabilities will share the same resources and be exposed to the same environmental conditions so as to prove their worth and capabilities in the educational field. The caregiver should however be very careful when providing for these children because some resources are not the right ones for the children e.g. the exposure of Television and music is not appropriate for children at some age. References Bender, J. and Sorrentino, M. (2000). Half a childhood. Quality programs for Non-School hours. Nashville: School Age Donatelle, R. (2006). Access to Health. Benjamin Cummings Plc. 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