Good Health and Wellness as Prerequisites for a Good Life - Literature review Example

Running Head: Wellness Audit Report Wellness Audit Report Name Course Lecturer Date Table of Contents Running Head: Wellness Audit Report 1 Table of Contents 2 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Background 3 2.1 Physical health 4 2.2 Psychological health 4 2.3Social health 4 2.4 Intellectual health 5 2.5 Spiritual Health 5 3.0 Discussion 5 4.0 Conclusion 7 6.0 References 9 1.0 Introduction Good health and wellness are prerequisites for a good life. According to the World Health Organization, health is not just the absence of diseases but rather the complete social, mental and physical well-being. In other words, it is having a sound spirit, mind and body. Hales (2012), states that health is that process of discovering, using and protecting all the resources available in the spirit, body, environment, family and the community. This is important in order to live a fulfilling life. Wellness on the other hand can be described as a function of health. It refers to the deliberate actions or an individual’s responsibilities geared towards promoting health-promoting lifestyle behaviors. Wellness gives us the feeling of commitment in life, confidence about the future and confidence about the future. Even so, health and wellness professionals contend that wellness is more than a word as it is a concept, a lifestyle, an attitude and generally a way of life (Taylor & Willes, 2003). However, many people have neglected the need for wellness and have had to regret detrimental effects of chronic disease at the later stages of their lives. For this reason therefore, practitioners in the field of health recommend that wellness and health practices be familiarized to small children so that they can carry this throughout their lives. The government role is also important in ensuring wellness is supported especially among the children. It should establish policies that will promote wellness in the society. This report is aimed at addressing the issue of health and wellness in preschool children. It will specifically tackle the six dimensions of health in relation to the way these dimensions are being used in early childhood education and care. It will provide conclusions and recommendations for early childhood care givers on approaches they can employ to enhance complete health in small children (Donatelle, 2006). 2.0 Background Since wellness and health is continuous and dynamic, all the issues underlying the two concepts are related and cannot function in isolation. Optimal health and high levels of wellness are achieved when all the dimensions of health are integrated together. Donatelle (2006) together with other scholars describe six dimensions of health: 2.1 Physical health Various stages of physical health can be perceived as points on a continuum; at one end is early death while on the other end is optimal health where an individual feels at his best. In the middle of this continuum, the individual is neither sick nor well enough to live life with vigor and zest Gunn (2005) states every person is in the continuum and what matters is the direction in which one is moving, that is, whether towards premature death or towards optimal wellness. Thus, the physical dimension recognizes the need for development of the physical body particularly with regard to good nutrition and diet so as to keep diseases at bay. Taylor & Willes (2003) assert that optimal wellness is gained through good eating habits and exercises. The wellness journey entails building endurance, flexibility and strength while taking safety precautions through the path such as appropriate use of medical systems and self medical care. In doing one is able to recognize body warning signs as well as take responsibility and care for minor diseases. 2.2 Psychological health Psychological health encompasses the emotional and mental states of human being; that is, the feelings and thoughts. According to psychological health involves acceptance and awareness of the feelings of oneself as well as that of others. When one is in good health, he is able to express emotionally, make rational and independent decisions and comprehend the challenges and stressors of every day. A health and well person maintains satisfying relationships with people around him founded on mutual respect, trust and commitment. Due to the sense of rationality, psychologically healthy people recognize the fact that conflict is inevitable amongst people and thus they develop conflict resolution techniques. Besides that these individuals are adopt an optimistic approach to life instead of pessimistic. 2.3Social health Gunn (2005) defines social health as the ability to interact freely with others through formation of satisfying relationships as well as being able to fulfill social obligations. It involves contributing positively to the community while participating in building peace and harmony. A community made of socially healthy people is able to stand firm during times of crisis as people support and comfort each other during difficulties. The journey through the path of awareness enables persons to realize their worth in the broader society. It encourages them to find ways of improving the world while working in collaboration with others (Edlin & Golanty, 2009). 2.4 Intellectual health Intellectual health is a fundamental part of complete health as its enables one to attain self-awareness thus self-actualization. By definition, intellectual health refers to the ability to learn and think from new idea and life experiences and also evaluate and question certain information. It is platform for expanding knowledge and skills as well as exploiting talents and gifts for personal and societal benefits. Intellectual growth is stimulated through learning in the classroom and in the community around as well. 2.5 Spiritual Health Spiritual healthy refers to the ability to identify one’s own purpose in life, being able to experience the fulfillment, love, joy and peace brought by life and helping oneself and others to attain full potential. The ultimate spiritual health is attained when one considers him/herself lesser than others and thus devotes themselves to the needs of others. The principle behind spiritual wellness is that it is better to live a purposeful life and to tolerate the belief of others than to close our minds to the ideal beliefs of the world. 2.6 Environmental health Environmental health refers to the impact of the natural world on the wellbeing of human beings. Basically, it involves protecting oneself from dangers found in the soil, water and air as well as the products we work with. 3.0 Discussion According to a research done by Hjelm (2010) the most common physical health and wellness affecting the children include hunger, obesity and chronic diseases. It is evident that obesity among the children is at epidemic states. In the United States, two in four children are obese or overweight. Indeed, the past two decades obesity rates among the children are seen to have tripled. Chronic diseases such as heart disease, arthritis, asthma are increasing being common in children. However, with the increased adoption of healthy behavior, the majority of these diseases are preventable. Hunger in the US is seen to be on the increase. In 2008, for instance, approximately 40 million people were faced with food insecurity at some point. In our service, basic support is given to the children, who spend most of their time in school. Therefore, the school provides an ideal environment to deal with childhood hunger through programs such as breakfast in the classes (Gunn, 2005). Other programs and services that have been laid down to ensure that physical health is maintained include; establishing and carrying out campaigns that promote eating of well balanced food and active regular exercise, provide clean drinking water throughout the day, Indeed, good nutrition is vital for children for development and body growth. However, there is need to emphasize regular check-ups with a physician. These services are not offered by the center. This will help in early diagnosis of any ailment. Psychological is one of the most vital aspects of the health dimensions. It should therefore, be one of the core concerns in children life in order to accomplish wellness. Our services center accomplishes this by equipping the children with tools that give them the ability to cope with stress, ability to be involved in work and play and have an insight to express their emotions. Barriers that may hinder promotion of psychological health have continued to be target for eradication in our services. The children are, indeed, encourage to express emotions and feelings appropriately. Spiritual health is also an important aspect of health dimensions. The children need to be equipped with tools that assist them in viewing life in a positive way. Values, moral and ethical believe are important elements in their lives. Our services include educating the guardians various ways that are aimed at encouraging the children to share their language, culture and home experiences. We also offer excellent environment that is not bias and does cater for children family, cultural and linguistic diversity. Teachers are also trained on various methods of ensuring wellness among children. As a result, equality has been established in education outcomes regardless of their socio-economics, gender and their cultural backgrounds (Taylor & Willes, 2003). Environmental health entails appreciation and maximizes respect to the natural environment that surrounds us. Thus, there is need to protect it. Various happenings in our center have been carried out to ensure support for the children wellness. These have been achieved mainly by creating understanding of the environment and minimizing waste and adopting recycling processes. In addition, we have introduced environmental education in most schools in order to ensure that the children have learning experiences. Under social health, people need to interact, engage and co-operate well in the society. This involve being comfortable with others who may be at different levels and oneself. In relation to the wellness of children, programs have continued to be created that enhance children’ emotional and social skills in our center. Various facilitations that increase social and personal development through interactions with peers and adults have been increased. As part of the six health dimensions, intellectual health is a key in promoting wellness among the children. It assists the children in perceiving and processes any information precisely and equips them with the skill to interact and learn with the world. Various happenings have been provided in promoting support for children wellness. Several experiences and activities have been facilitated that allow children to think, experiment and question the occurrence in the current world and therefore, able to develop problem solving skills. Programs have been created to assist the children in increasing and maintaining self esteem, self-discipline and responsibility. In addition, activities have been designed to assist the children to build up interests and capabilities at their individual pace and need. 4.0 Conclusion Indeed, wellness is an important aspect in our daily life. However, people tend to ignore it. This is evident among children. Therefore, there is need for the society to play role in ensuring that the children support is well supported. Our center caters for the wellness and wellbeing of all children using the six dimensions of life. There are various aspects that need to be improved in our services. There is a need for the community to be involved in supporting wellness among the children. This is an important aspect to be improved as mobilizing the community and various stakeholders will ensure that everyone is involved in the wellness. There is also need to invest in programs that will educate parents on their main responsibilities in being role models for the children. This is important as parents are great responsibilities in the children’s wellness. In addition, our center should work closely with the government especially with issues that concern the environment and creating awareness among the citizen. Our services need to encompass providing health services. This is because some are not able to access health care. 5.0 Recommendations The community should be encouraged to mobilize wellness issues through creating formalized networks. The networks will assist in collaborating with different stakeholders. A committee on Healthy Families should be identified that will encourage them to work with the center in order to promote their awareness on children wellness. The government should strengthen rules and regulation that have an impact on the environment and are related to children wellness. In addition, it should create restriction in use dumping waste products. It can also adopt a healthy policy that may be used by other organization. Simply, the government will be a role model to other organization. 6.0 References Donatelle, R. (2006). Health: The basics. 8th edition. San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education Edlin, G & Golanty, E. (2009). Health and wellness. London: Jones and Bartlett Publishers Gunn, W. (2005). Understanding the global dimensions of health. London: Springer Hales, D. (2012). An invitation to health: choosing to change . Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Hjelm, J. (2010). The dimensions of Health: Conceptual Models. London: Jones and Bartlett Publishers Taylor, L & Willes, L. (2003). The culturally competent pediatrician: Respecting ethnicity in your practice. Contemporary Pediatrics, 20(6), 83-105 Read More