[NYAPRS Enews] Fricks: Whole Health, Wellness, and Resiliency Domains Promote Prevention

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Whole Health, Wellness, and Resiliency Domains Promote Prevention

Larry Fricks, Deputy Director, CIHS

Wellness: eSolutions, September 2011

eSolutions is a monthly e-newsletter bringing you practical solutions
and resources on primary and behavioral healthcare integration from
across the United States.

 

 

September 19-25 is National Wellness Week, a perfect time to ask, "What
is wellness?" A vague term that may mean different things to different
people, wellness is not something to take lightly. For many, it is one
of life's pillars, and has enormous influence on self-directed whole
health and quality of life. In the context of behavioral health and
primary care integration, CIHS promotes wellness as a personal awareness
of creating a healthy lifestyle, understanding its role in mind-body
resiliency and disease prevention.

 

"Resiliency" is a term usually associated with "bouncing back." However,
as science-based resiliency factors become better known, our
understanding of its centrality to prevention grows. A key concept in
healthcare reform, prevention is essential to people living with
addictions and mental illness who can die decades before the rest of the
population because of often preventable and untreated chronic illness
such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease aggravated by poor health
habits, such as smoking and poor nutrition, and social determinants like
poverty.

 

CIHS built upon existing research and information to develop 10 whole
health, wellness, and resiliency domains. These domains are meant to
inform patients and primary care and behavioral health providers as they
develop treatment goals that address the "whole person" and promote
prevention through resiliency. The 10 domains include:

1.            Stress management. Prolonged stress has an undeniable
adverse effect on health. It can - and does - lead to illness. It can
also precipitate relapse, both in mental illness and in addiction. The
ability to reduce and/or counter stress is critical in dealing with
behavioral health problems, as well in promoting health and wellness.

2.            Healthy eating. Most people have some idea of what foods
are healthy, and understand that eating more calories than you use leads
to weight gain. Developing personal eating habits that promote better
health is important for everyone, especially people who have, or are at
risk for, health problems like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood
pressure. In the context of some chronic illnesses, eating healthy
becomes vital to prevention and recovery. 

3.            Physical activity. Exercise and other forms of physical
activity not only help maintain a healthy weight, but also help improve
overall health and behavioral health - and reduce stress, a daunting
provocateur of poor health and wellness. 

4.            Restful sleep. Getting adequate sleep is more important
than many people realize. Long-term sleep deprivation is associated with
many illnesses, including high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke,
obesity, and behavioral health problems.

5.            Support network. Human connections - either through
ensuring a robust "support network" or providing "service to others" -
are integral to health and wellness. People with strong social ties have
much lower rates of disease and premature death than those who feel
isolated and alone. Living in isolation not only increases cellular wear
and tear, but also paves a highway to super stress.

6.            Service to others. "Service to others" and "support
network" are two sides of the same coin. We all need connectedness to
survive. It's no surprise that service to others and support networks
play a major role in initiating and sustaining recovery.

7.            Optimism based on positive expectations. Personal hope
that one's life can be better encourages happiness and a sense of
wellbeing. In fact, research has found that heart patients with
optimistic recovery expectations are 30% less likely to die over the
next 15 years than less optimistic patients, regardless of disease
severity.

8.            Cognitive skills to avoid negative thinking. Whereas
"optimism based on positive expectations" is based on attitude toward
the future, "cognitive skills to avoid negative thinking" have to do
with attitude toward oneself. A person increases their chance at
happiness by telling his or her self a more positive story, rather than
a miserable one. As Health Consultant and Writer Martha Beck stated,
"Your situation may endanger your life and limbs, but only your thoughts
can endanger your happiness."

9.            Spiritual beliefs and practices. Spiritual beliefs are
tremendously personal, and spirituality means something different to
everyone. For some, spiritual beliefs are clear and concrete, and
spiritual practices translate into specific religious rights, rituals,
and ceremonies. For others, spiritual beliefs are vague and more
mysterious. Regardless, for many, spirituality, meaning, and purpose are
inseparable, and spirituality involves seeking meaning and purpose. 

10.          A sense of meaning and purpose. Many people develop a sense
of meaning and purpose through spirituality, ultimately converging a
person's beliefs and values. This sense of meaning and purpose helps a
person weather life's storms.

Caregivers - whether primary care, behavioral health, or peer support -
are in an ideal position to educate people about wellness and
resiliency, and the importance of both in prevention. People with
addictions and mental illness must include wellness and resiliency in
their overall treatment goals to achieve recovery, better health, longer
life, and a greater sense of wellbeing.

 

For more information on wellness, visit CIHS at
http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/cs/center_for_integrated_health_soluti
ons. 

CIHS provides training and technical assistance to the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration's Primary and Behavioral
Health Care Integration grantees. Each issue of eSolutions profiles a
grantee's work.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kilakwa.net/pipermail/nyaprs_kilakwa.net/attachments/20110920/d41f917c/attachment.html>