Personal Health Initiative - Essay Example

Personal Health Initiative Report   PHI contract Personal health initiative contract is made for a specified period of 1month or more for assessing the impact of healthy practices on one’s own health condition and to develop recommendations for the patients in health care centres based on their daily experience to bring a desirable change in behaviour of the patients. PHI goal Stress may result in developing an undesirable condition (Granath, Ingvarsson, Thiele and Lundberg 2006) and if it is uncontrolled, it may result in serious medical illness and anxiety disorder (Stein 2001). As the key to managing stress does not lie in avoiding it, stress is an inevitable element of our modern life and it has to be managed successfully (Salovey, Rothman, Detweiler, and Steward (2000). Hence the PHI goal is defined as follows: To assess the impact of progressive muscle relaxation and yoga techniques on personal health and based on this experience to develop a positive physical and mental health among the patients by reducing the stress and to bring desirable changes in physical and mental behaviour of the patients. Strategies planned over time How personal behaviour change was measured/monitored: Assessment of personal behavioural changes was made by following approaches recorded in my personal diary: 1. Initial health report based on my physical and mental condition was prepared and recorded in diary. I was over weight by 22 % (compared to optimum range prescribed on basis of Body mass index) and I was feeling tired with even little physical exercise and blood pressure recorded was 135 / 90. 2. I was feeling high tension while carrying out my domestic and official assignments. This proves to be embarrassing for me when I am exposed to official meetings. 3. I started practicing progressive muscle relaxation technique for 30 minutes in the morning for one fortnight (two weeks). 4. I was practicing Yoga for one hour before doing progressive muscle relaxation technique. At the end of each day regular timely observations of the above mentioned health parameters were recorded. 5. Final health observations were made at the end of each week after completion of both these techniques. Surprisingly my blood pressure was found to be 122/83 which is optimum. I felt more comfortable attending any physical work or exercise and tiresomeness was not felt. 6. My mental tension for completing any domestic and official tasks has been reduced significantly. I felt little stress to any unforeseen consequences both at home and office. 7. It is really fantastic to see the positive impact of progressive muscle relaxation and Yoga on my physical and mental health. I started walking for 30 minutes along with these two techniques. I have decided to pass on the benefit to others in general and patients in particular to take the advantage of my experience. 8. I must also confess some barriers faced by me while experiencing the progressive muscle relaxation and Yoga techniques. Initially, I was habituated for late bed and I used to get up late in the morning. For practicing muscle relaxation and Yoga, early morning is the ideal time and hence I faced difficulty in adjusting myself to new schedule. However, now I am very comfortable to new schedule. 9. I was feeling hungry on one day and I took some breakfast in the morning before practising progressive muscle relaxation and Yoga. This led to discomfort in the stomach while practicing muscle exercise. Later I avoided taking food 1 hour before and 1 hour after muscle relaxation technique. This proved successful in avoiding any future complications. Various strategies have been formulated for bringing necessary positive physical and mental changes in patients based on my personal experience which are as follows: 1. Inculcate a habit of early wake up and early bed which should be followed very strictly. Several reports confirm the advantage of early bed habit in facilitating easy digestive and nervous systems in human beings. 2. Practice should be made to physical exercise through walking or jagging in the morning for at least 30 minutes. The past health history of the patients has to be kept in mind before designing the time or duration and magnitude of physical exercise. 3. Practice of yoga and meditation is to be made compulsory which aids in increasing the concentration and helps in regulating the blood pressure. Pranayama, Kapalabati, Seershasan, Shavasan and Mayurasan would help in improving the physical and mental health and also aid in reducing the physical ailments related to digestive system, nervous system and circulatory systems in patients. 4. Heavy breakfast in the morning is to be prescribed as it supplies enough energy required for the physical and mental work to be executed through out the day. 5. The diet should contain the balanced nutrients so that all vitamins and minerals required for optimum human health are provided to the patients. 6. Progressive muscle relaxation technique makes the body and mind more relaxed and patients feel highly enthused to take up any task assigned to them.  Stain (2001) suggested that continued practice of relaxation techniques of only 15-20 minutes a day is essential to maintain the benefits. As suggested in Baron (2001), one of the most effective procedures is learning to reduce tension in our muscles through progressive relaxation and learning how to replace negative thoughts with more constructive ones through relaxation technique. 7. As reported by Agee, Burg & Grant (2009), strong belief and determination are required to be able to take action in order to obtain desired outcome. It was proved that regularly practicing progressive muscle relaxation technique, one can build his own physical and emotional resilience which will result in overall feeling of joy and tranquillity. Hence, it may induce positive thinking and determination to overcome above stated barriers (Chandra, 2000). Relaxation is the skill. According to Salovey, Rothman, Detweiler, and Steward (2000) most of the difficulties with relaxation tend to subside with consistent practice that allows body to adjust to change from tension to relaxation. 8. By practicing Relaxation and Yoga, stress can be reduced to a greater extent by bringing physical and emotional resilience (O’Mathuna, 2007). This will also facilitate to remove barriers like lack of motivation and lack of willpower and time devoted to Relaxation and Yoga. Self efficacy is the foundation to good health (Javnbakht, Kenari & Ghasemi, 2009). The physical and mental benefits of yoga provide a natural stress relief, and strengthen the relaxation response in daily life Stain (2001). Mental exercises have to be well integrated in to the likes and interests of the patients so that they answer the queries in questionnaire more naturally and accurately. This would help in evaluating the mental behavioural changes in patients due to the improved health practices suggested. 9. For identification of individual treatment’s effect on physical and mental health of the patients, the observations can be taken just before and just after completion of the treatments. Theoretical model applied Helath Belief Model is one of the most important theoretical models can be used for the personal health initiative, as this is based on understanding that a person will take health related action (Talbot & Verringer, 2005). The Health Belief Model (HBM) is also considered as one of the most important psychological models that is widely used to explain and predict health behaviors of patients (Becker, 1976). The main concentration would be focused on the attitudes and beliefs of individuals. It was first developed by social psychologists Hochbaum, Rosenstock and Kegels.  Conclusion Physical health initiative is required for effective monitoring of patients’ health. It will concentrate on reducing the physical and mental stress of the patients by adopting good habits like early bed, balanced diet, timely diet, yoga, exercise and muscle relaxation therapies etc. As the stress is the root cause of all medical ailments in human beings, effective PHI would certainly help in improving the patient’s health condition by bringing desirable changes in their physical and mental health and by reducing the stress experienced by them. References: Agee, J.D., Burg, S.D. & Grant, C.A. (2009) Comparing brief Stress Management Courses in a Community Sample: Mindfulness Skills and Progressive Muscle Relaxation. Department of Psychology, State University of New York, Albany 5'104-109'. Baron, R. A. (2002) Essentials of Psychology. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Becker, M.H. (1976). Health belief model and personal health behaviour. Slack Inc. publication. Chandra, R. K. (2000) Whole Health: a prescription for the new millennium. Nutrition Research. 21, 1-8. Granath, J., Ingvarsson, S., Thiele, U. & Lundberg, U. (2006) Stress Management: A randomized study of cognitive behavioural therapy and yoga. Department of Psychology and Centre for Health Equity Studies. Stockholm University. 35, 3-10. Javnbakht, M., Kenari, R.H. & Ghasemi, M. (2009) Effects of yoga on depression and anxiety of women. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. 15, 102-104. O'Mathuna, D.P. (2007) Relax with Progressive Muscle Relaxation or Yoga. Alternative Therapies in Women' s Health 15, 70-71. Ponce, A.N., Lober, W., Paul, J.J.,Estrilis, I, Barzvi, A., Allen, G.J. & Pescatello L.S. (2008) Comparison of varying dosages of relaxation in a corporate setting: Effects on stress reduction. International Journal of Stress Management. 15, 396-407. Salovey, P., Rothman, A.J., Detweiler, J. B., & Steward, W. T. (2000) Emotional States and physical helath. American Psychologist, 1 10-120. Stein, F. (2001) Occupational stress relaxation therapies exercise and biofeedback. Department of Occupational therapy. University of South Dakota. 17, 235-235. Talbot, L. & Verringer, J. (2005) Promoting Health: The Primary Health Care Approach. Marrickville: Elsevier. Branislava Nenic 13551663.         Read More