PDHPE

• Definitions of Health:

  ○ Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing (and emotional and spiritual wellbeing) and not merely the absence of disease or infirmary

  ○ The state of being free of any injury or illnesses; serves as an important determinant of the quality of life for an individual.
• Dimensions of Health

  Physical health, mental health, emotional health, social health, spiritual health.
• Physical Health

  The state of the physical body such as the absence of chronic pain or discomfort and the capacity to participate in daily activities. Often determined by lifestyle and behaviour.

  • The efficient functioning of the body organs
  • Resistance/immunity to diseases
  • Our level of fitness
  • Nutritional status and body weight
• Mental Health

  The cognitive aspect of health. The ability to adapt to change and cope with adversity.

  • Weighing up the consequences of your actions
  • Processing and using knowledge to make smart decisions
  • Ability to learn and relate to others
  • Resilience and self-esteem
• Emotional Health

  A person’s mood or general state of emotion. The ability to recognise and express emotions adequately.

  • Develop good self-esteem/positive self-image
  • Resolve conflict
  • Maintain a realistic perspective of situations.
• Social Health

  Refers to our interactions with others. Ability to make and maintain meaningful relationships(Interpersonal relationships).

  • Interactions with family, friends and the community
  • Retain our own personality and values regardless of the influence
  • Accepting diversity
  • Interact effectively with others in an interdependent and cooperative way
  • Ability to follow and accept standards of behaviour (e.g taking turns in a game or waiting in line)
• Spiritual health

  A sense of overall purpose in life and feeling connected with others and society.

  • Ideas, values, morals and aspirations are highly influential and pose as a guiding sense
  • Optimism for the future
  • Awareness and understanding of ourselves
• Perceptions of their health:

  Perception of health is highly subjective due to a range of factors influencing an individual.

  • Interpretation of health
  • Past health experiences
  • Age
  • Importance of health
  • Environment
  • Peers, Media Family
  • Education
• Perception of health continued

  Interpretation of health: Teenagers is more likely to prioritise their social health above the other dimensions of health.
• Perception of health continued

  Past health experiences: Ex-cancer patients may view their physical health better compared to when previously ill.
• Perception of health continued

  Age: Someone who is older is likely to take great care in their health in comparison to a child.
• Perception of health continued

  Importance of health: Some people may disregard bad lifestyle choices as a health issue.
• Perception of health continued

  Environment: People who are closer to healthcare facilities are more likely to keep in check with their health than those who aren't close.
• Perception of health continued

  Peers, Media Family: Unrealistic bodies are commonly found all over the media. People often interpret this as the ideal body image and consider themselves unhealthy if they do not look similar to it.
• Perception of health continued

  Education: If you learn more about the five dimensions of health, you may realise that while four elements of your health are optimal health, you still need to focus/improve on the other dimensions of health.
• The health continuum; is used to measure an individuals health status by considering one's physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual health.
• Perceptions of the health of others, eg parents, the elderly, the homeless:

  Parents: People may assume they are healthy if they are able to participate in daily activities and do not suffer from chronic diseases (focuses mainly on physical health)
• Perceptions of the health of others, eg parents, the elderly, the homeless:

  Elderly: People may view them as weak and frail since they can not take part in activities they used to do.
• Perceptions of the health of others, eg parents, the elderly, the homeless:

  Homeless: Based on stereotyping, many people would consider homeless people unhealthy by making assumptions on the conditions of their health, e.g hygiene issues.
• Implication: what might happen as a result of something else.
• Individual-level: Has an inaccurate perception of health or makes lifestyle choices that could be either positive or negative towards their health by fixing their perception through informative decisions/ education.

  • Positive: A person who is overweight may change their diet by cutting out or minimising the intake of refined sugars and processed foods and instead try to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into their diet.
  • Negative: A person who views themselves as overweight and unhealthy decide to stop eating/skip meals, believing it will change the way they look.
• Perceptions of health as social constructs:

  Our socially constructed perspective on health determines the concept of good health and who possesses it. Some factors that form our social construct and build our different perceptions on health include age, gender, culture, location, family, peers, and media.
• Impact of the media

  Media: The media may display being healthy as being beautiful (idealised body types) which could lead to people taking part in dieting, plastic surgery etc, in order to be ‘beautiful’ or lead them to become insecure. This can take a toll on one’s health especially physically, mentally and emotionally. The media depicts health ideals that can influence one’s own beliefs on what it means to be healthy.
• Impact of Peers

  Peers: Peers have a significant influence on values and behaviours, especially towards adolescents since they spend more time with their peers when in comparison to their parents.
• Impact of parents

  Family: Family is highly influential in many aspects as they shape our perspectives on health from a very young age. How your parents view health will influence the way you perceive it as well (a parents opinion on health is more likely to outweigh the opinion of a health expert in some cases; traditions).
• The positive health status of young people:

  Significant declines in death rates, asthma hospitalization, and hepatitis diagnoses, as well as increased cancer survival rates and educational standards, are all examples that can contribute to young people's health status.
• Protective behaviours: likely to enhance health

  • Stress management and seeking help when needed
  • Good, balanced diets
  • Sex education and contraptions
  • Not drinking, smoking or taking drugs
• Risk behaviours: likely to cause health deterioration

  • Drinking, smoking and drugs
  • Self-harm or isolations
  • Stress eating, skipping meals/ starving
• The determinants of health are individual, sociocultural, socioeconomic, and environmental factors.
• Individual factors: factors identified within an individual such as knowledge, skills, attitudes, and genetics

  ● What a person knows is one of the more influential individual factors that determine health.

  ● Individual factors such as skill affect the health of the individual.

  ● An individual’s attitude can have either a positive or negative effect on their health. Often achieving good health requires resilience, perseverance, self-belief and determination.

  ● Genetics is another of the individual factors that affect health. Genetics refers to the genes you inherit from your parents.
• Sociocultural factors are factors that affect health related to society and culture such as family, peers, media, religion, and culture.
• Family is a significant factor in determining culture and often influences religion, friends, and health attitudes.
• Peer pressure is often the first thing that people think about when it comes to peer influences, but there is little evidence to suggest that you are more likely to smoke because your friends tell you to.