The wellness process for healthy living: a mental tool for facilitating progress through the stages of change

Introduction

The U media are filled with advice about in what manner to make personal health-promoting behavior changes. in what manner to exercise: choice of sports, schedules, techniques, and equipment. in what way to lose weight: diets, aliment choices, and advice on shopping, cooking, and by what means to eat. How to quit smoking, by what means to drink wisely, and thus on. There is also a great deal of information available upon the consequences of unhealthy lifestyles. still Americans continue to engage often in unhealthy behaviors and the rates are increasing. It is apparent that if greatest in quantity people are to achieve succes advice upon techniques, schedules, diets, and the "how-to's" of behavior modification, and information upon "what is good for you and what is not" are not sufficient.

above many years I've observed tribe who have successfully changed their behaviors. In each case, a significant amount of mental work was necessary before the how-to's were undertaken. I've also observ that this mental work go in the rear [i]or[/i] in the wake ofs a particular pattern. Yet in greatest in quantity of the health-promoting advice that is tendered very little attention is paid to that essential mental proces The ideas in this article were born without of approximately 20 years of observation, anecdotal interviewing, and personal experience (1) Further research, using epidemiological science and statistical courses is certainly indicated. Since similar research is very complex, difficult to carry without and expensive, for now this be the effect of descriptive research will hopefully be of use.

After we gaze at some definitions of health and wellness, we'll consider the well-known and well-accepted paradigm of personal behavior change called the Stages of Change (2-5) Finally, we'll consider my general [i]or[/i] abstract notion of the Wellness Process for Healthy Living (WPHL) It is a practical, organized approach to the mental work that appears to be necessary for achieving succes In practice, its use can be true helpful in assisting patients in proceeding from the next to the first of the Stages of Change, Contemplation, [i]or[/i] part of to the other the fifth, Maintenance (Table II).

more [i]or[/i] less Definitions of Health and Wellness

Health can be defined as a state of being that can be measured at any given point in time: anything from height and weight, [i]or[/i] part of to the other the results of a physical exam, to an examination of the horizontals of various components of the vital fluid to "how do you perceive today," to an evaluation of in what way well one is functioning in one's work, play, family life, community, and nation. Health can also be defined in limits of health-promoting behaviors that a individual may engage in. In personal health promotion, a "Basic Ten" can be recognized (Table I).

In contrast to health, a state of being, wellness is a proces of being. It can be described as a journey that is lifelong if single makes it so, a central uncompounded body that it shares with the Taoist religion. Wellness is a pathway along which individual can proceed during one's lifetime, to achieve and maintain a healthy state of being in the broadest faculty of perception as is maximally feasible for each someone at each phase of his or her life. It is also a proces that provides a guide to living a healthy life, as well as a life that is the pair happy and productive--well beyond the usual parameters of health.

My beneficial friend known as the "Dean of Wellness," Donald Ardell, PhD of Tampa, Florida, has been writing definitions of the bourn "wellness" for 30 years or with equal reason He is always coming up with more [i]or[/i] less new insight on the make subordinate A recent definition of his is:</p> <pre> Wellness is a philosophy. It's also a lifestyle. It could as well be characterized as a mindset. [It is] a positive approach, not just for health on the contrary for a high quality of life. Wellness is first and foremost a choice to assume responsibility for the quality of your life. Wellness is a choice that will increase the chances that you will be fit, committed to personal responsibility, and as healthy as your genetics, environment, and useful fortune permit. With a wellness lifestyle, you won't be normal (i.e., overweight, under-fit, strained and easily fooled). You will, more likely than not, be emotionally intelligent, a critical thinker, lay open to and alert for discoveries that add meaning and view in life. With a wellness lifestyle, you'll also value merriment play, tolerance, and the public decencies (6) </pre> <p>Wellness is a particular path that individual can choose to follow that will enable the maximization of positive consequences for whatever part of life single chooses to apply it to. It is a road that has many milestones on the other hand no end point, other than the individual that death brings. Thus broadly, in my view, the goal of wellness is to enable us to pursue:</p> <pre> A way of life and living in which single is always exploring, searching, finding of recent origin questions and discovering new answers, along the three primary dimensions of living: the physical, the mental, and the social; a way of life designed to enable each of us to achieve, in each of the dimensions, our maximum potential that is realistically and rationally feasible for us at any given time in our lives (1) </pre> <p>How does wellness, a proces of being, relate to health, a state of being? in what manner do we use the wellness general [i]or[/i] abstract notion to make healthy choices, to help us to function at higher horizontals and make that "conscious commitment" to making changes in our personal health status? Wellness, as Dr Ardell displays can help us function more effectively and happily at a variety of horizontals Being on the wellness pathway end life becomes part of health, of being healthy, at any given time. The WPHL is a tool for implementing the wellness conception for making it real for ourselves and our patients. For engaging in personal health-promoting behavior change, for example, it organizes, focuses, and directs the mental work that experience and observation have shown is necessary if attempts to propel through the Stages of Change are to be successful