Wellbeing In The 21st Century Most Critical Challenges - Essay Example

? What are the greatest challenges to wellbeing in the 21st century Introduction The criteria on which the evaluation of human behavior is based cannot be standardized. Each individual is expected to response differently to the challenges of his environment depending on his experiences and his perceptions. On the other hand, the socioeconomic environment in countries worldwide is highly differentiated. In countries where culture strongly influences personal life the potentials of individuals to take initiatives are limited. In this paper, a specific human condition is explored: wellbeing. The above term is commonly used for showing the status of both the physical and the mental health of a person. The challenges that wellbeing has to face in the 21st century are presented below. The findings of the literature in regard to this subject are presented and evaluated. Emphasis is given to the different modes of wellbeing and the different approaches used by academics for explaining the role of this concept in modern life. 2. Wellbeing in the 21st century – most critical challenges Different criteria can be used for understanding wellbeing, as a concept. The characteristics of wellbeing should be described before attempting to identify the challenges that wellbeing faces in the 21st century. According to a report published by the University of California, wellbeing can be enhanced through exercise. In other words, in the above report wellbeing is related to fitness. This view is based on the fact that exercise is valuable in reducing anxiety and stress (University of California). In addition, exercise helps a person to face effectively depression (University of California). It is implied that wellbeing is considered as reflecting mainly the lack of anxiety or stress, a psychological condition which can be achieved through exercise. In the context of the above view, one of the challenges that wellbeing could face today is the following: not all people are able to incorporate exercise in their daily life, either because of their low income or because of lack of time. For these people, their potential to secure wellbeing could be doubted, at least as derived from the report published to the University of California. The specific view is partially right; indeed, exercise can help an individual to face anxiety and stress but the lack of exercise cannot be considered as a proof of the lack of wellbeing. Indeed, it is possible for an individual to fight stress and anxiety using an alternative activity, such as visiting cultural events or going for fishing. Fox (1999) has studied the existing literature in regard to the relationship between physical activity and mental health. Particular emphasis is given to the role of physical activity in controlling depression (Fox 1999). Also, physical activity seems to have an important role in confronting anxiety and in securing wellbeing by helping a person to develop an optimistic/ positive mood (Fox 1999). Moreover, physical activity has been related to ‘self-esteem and cognitive performance’ (Fox 1999, p.413), human characteristics that can reflect the status of mental health of individuals. According to the view of Fox, as presented above, people should employ physical activity for securing their mental health. It is implied that the inability of an individual to incorporate physical activity in his daily life would threaten his mental health. Trying to locate time for engaging in physical activity is a major challenge that individuals have to face today. It should be noted that physical activity is not a term identical to exercise, as the term is used in the report published by the University of California. Physical activity, as a general concept, can incorporate exercise; the latter is not critical for physical and mental health but the former is. One of the most important challenges related to wellbeing seems to be the following: it is almost impossible to define the criteria on which happiness can be based (Wallis 2005). In 2005 the president of APA had started an important initiative: he tried to identify the methods that mental health practitioners could employ for enhancing the happiness of their patients (Wallis 2005). It has been proved that a tool for increasing happiness is available: optimism (Wallis 2005). Most studies developed in this field lead to the assumption that happiness can be achieved rather easily when the basic needs of life are covered (Wallis 2005). In addition, religious faith has been found to have an important role in happiness (Wallis 2005). Other conditions which have been traditionally related to happiness, such as a successful marriage or a high salary have been found to be unable to secure happiness (Wallis 2005). Moreover, it has been revealed that two are the key characteristics of happiness: a) it is not static, meaning that its duration is not guaranteed, b) it can be related to different activities/ conditions according to the beliefs and the psychological characteristics of each individual (Wallis 2005). Because of the above two characteristics, it is quite difficult for psychologists to make suggestions to their clients in regard to specific methods for achieving happiness (Wallis 2005). Under the above terms, there can be no standard method for achieving wellbeing; the psychologists that face such cases need to make suggestions based on the characteristics of their client, meaning especially his thoughts, his background and his responses to daily life’s challenges, as these responses reveal his mood in general. In 2011, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has published a report describing the wellbeing of young Australians. According to the above report, wellbeing cannot be evaluated simply through figures representing the health status, the diseases or the mortality rate of a population within a particular region (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2011). Still, wellbeing is closely related to the status of health; however, only ‘self reported health’ (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2011, p.15) and not the health status of the population in general should be used for defining wellbeing in a specific region. The personal perceptions of health are often different from those revealed through the statistics (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2011). For example, within a specific area the wellbeing of residents may be considered as not-satisfactory; however, if residents are asked to state their view they may support that their wellbeing is at high level, based on their personal experiences, beliefs and the conditions in the social environment. The challenges of wellbeing for the 21st century could be also understood by referring to the Manifesto for Wellbeing, a document prepared by the Australian Institute. In the above report, emphasis is given to the power of governments to secure the wellbeing of population: the introduction of laws for securing the position in the workplace and for protecting employees’ rights is believed to be a critical tool for supporting the wellbeing of people in a particular country. In any case, it seems that wellbeing is related to certain activities, such as the return to education for increasing personal skills and the enhancement of advertising strategies that do not violate the law’s orders on competition and fair trade. Reference should be also made to another two aspects of wellbeing: the claim for a fair society and the development of relationships (The Australian Institute 2012). Still, today’s society is highly unfair. Also, the development of strong relationships can be a challenging task mostly because of the incremental economic problems and the uncertainty in the job market (The Australian Institute 2012). Securing well-being can be quite difficult in practice. Following certain practices can help to increase wellbeing, even in the long term. For example, when efforts are made for ensuring that Job Design is aligned with business needs and culture, the chances for enhancing well-being are significantly increased. This means that in order to achieve well-being, emphasis should be given primarily to business characteristics, i.e. to business environment. This finding is quite important reflecting the current wellbeing trends: today, wellbeing is highly related to the level of income and the potential to secure a job, preferable aligned with the personal background and skills. Cotton, Dollard and de Jonge tried to identify the characteristics of well being among ‘students at the University of South Australia’ (Cotton, Dollard and de Jonge 2002, p.151). The research developed led to the assumption that wellbeing among students is highly related to their potential to enter successfully the workplace using the skills they acquired in the University (Cotton, Dollard and de Jonge 2002). From this point of view, wellbeing is related to job security. Today, the specific mode of wellbeing is quite difficult to be promoted especially since job uncertainty has become a key problem in markets worldwide. 3. Conclusion In the modern society, the characteristics of wellbeing seem to be highly differentiated compared to the past. Today, wellbeing is not exclusively related to the psychological status of a person but also to its professional development and the conditions in his social environment. Researchers and psychologists have tried to identify the challenges that wellbeing faces in the 21st century. It has been revealed that wellbeing can incorporate a series of elements, both psychological and economic. From this point of view, the enhancement of wellbeing today can be quite difficult unless the following approach is employed: if existing social trends in regard to wellbeing are transformed, emphasizing on mental and physical health and less on the professional or the financial status, then the promotion of wellbeing would become easier. References Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, AIHW. “Young Australians – Their Health & Wellbeing 2011.” http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737419259 [accessed July 29, 2013]. Cotton, Sarah, Dollard, Maureen, and Jan de Jonge. “Stress and Student Job Design: Satisfaction, Well-being and Performance in University Students.” International Journal of Stress Management Vol 9, No 3 (2002): 147-162 Fox, Kenneth. “The influence of physical activity on mental well-being.” Public Health Nutrition 2, no 3a (1999): 411-418 Rose, Deborah. Nourishing Terrains. Canberra: Australian Heritage Commission, 1996. The Australian Institute. “A Manifesto for Wellbeing.” http://wellbeingmanifesto.net/ [accessed July 29, 2013]. University of California. “Exercise for Enhanced Mood and Wellbeing.” http://caps.ucsc.edu/pdf/exercise-and-mental-health.pdf [accessed July 29, 2013]. Wallis, Claudia. “The New Science of Happiness.” Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1015902,00.html#ixzz2advlvePJ [accessed July 29, 2013]. Read More