Health and Total Well Being
Uploaded by bdogg on Apr 25, 2007
Health and Total Well Being
• Why is it important to adopt positive health behaviors?
• What are some of the influences over our health?
Hauora, or total well being, refers to your own state of health encompassing the physical, social, spiritual, mental and emotional dimensions. To a certain level our level of health is entirely under our control and it is our responsibility to make the correct decisions so that we can reach our optimum level possible. Everyone has the right to a high level of health but it is up to you how healthy you are.
Making the correct health decisions is vital and although people may not realise it almost everything that we do has an impact on our overall health. Effects may be very minor or very major ones. The four dimensions of your health also interact with each other and influence each other. For example you may have poor social health and not have the skills to make friends easily. This could lead to your feeling sad, lonely and depressed and therefore affect your emotional and mental states of health.
An incorrect choice at this stage in your life may not mean a lot now but it can damage your life in the future. For example you may be smoking now and think nothing of it, but as you get older you will start to notice side effects, and your bad decision in the past could lead to illness or even death.
Changing your heath habits to enhance your state of health is extremely hard and at times may even seem impossible. But you can combat this situation by assessing your own health and picking out the area most in need of attention. Then, in turn, set a series of short-term goals and identify the barriers (things that could stop you) and your enablers (things that could help you) from achieving your goals.
However, some things that are beyond your control may dictate certain choices you have to make in regard to your health. For example, some influences over your health may be a certain medical condition, your likes and dislikes or even your religious beliefs.
There are a number of aspects of our lives that positively influence us and our health without us realizing it. We also develop personal strengths that influence our lives and decision making,...