Review of Chapter One from Introduction to Wellness, Fitness, and Lifestyle Management
As the nation continues to struggle to recover from the ongoing Covid-19 virus pandemic, the concept of wellness has assumed new importance and relevance. Furthermore, until just a century or so ago, humans were far less concerned about the concept of wellness over the lifespan simply because they died much younger than most people do today. In sharp contrast, though, children born today have a reasonably good chance of living into their hundreds, assuming the current pandemic is resolved in the foreseeable future. Against this backdrop, it is important to develop a better understanding concerning the fundamental factors that contribute to human wellness. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of chapter one from Introduction to Wellness, Fitness and Lifestyle Management. Following the review, a summary of the research and key findings from chapter one are presented in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

In the introductory chapter, the authors provide an overview and description of the six dimensions of wellness (i.e., physical, emotional, intellectual, interpersonal, spiritual and environmental) as well as a discussion concerning the respective qualities and behaviors that are associated with each of these dimensions. In addition, in a sidebar, the authors also provide a description of occupational wellness together with strategies that can help individuals achieve such wellness. Likewise, the authors make the point that, like Maslow’s hierarchy, these dimensions of wellness exist along a holistic, interrelated continuum, and the higher the level of wellness in one dimensions, the higher the levels of wellness are likely to be in other dimensions. In other words, when individuals’ physical health levels are high, their ability to care for their basic living needs translates into their ability to achieve higher levels in other dimensions as well.

An especially interesting issue that was identified by the authors was the fact that the concept of wellness is relatively recent, and that just a century ago, most people did not enjoy the luxury of being concerned about the condition of their wellness over the course of a lengthy lifetime because life expectancy was only around 43 years. This means that the majority of people 100 years ago were not suffering from many of the same age-related disorders that are becoming increasingly commonplace today, and the decisions about healthy lifestyle choice were far less important (Hermon & Davis, 2009). This situation, today, however, is vastly different and increasing numbers of health care consumers are focusing on remaining healthy throughout their lives. In this regard, according to Walsh (2015), “As older Americans seek to reverse these dismal trends and exert control over their health and well-being, they have contributed to a ‘wellness’ culture that has found its way into almost every corner of modern life” (p. 24).

Following a discussion concerning the Healthy People Initiative that focuses on the leading causes of death in the United States and some of the initiatives that have been implemented to address them, the authors provide a description of several behaviors that contribute to human wellness including those used for the Healthy People 2010 initiative. The healthy behaviors discussed by the authors are prioritized, beginning with the percentage of people in the United States that routinely engage in modern physical activities but also including healthier diet choices and moderation in drinking as well....…In addition, the authors note that many people fail to achieve their healthier lifestyle choices because they tend to rationalize their decisions to revert to previous behaviors, blame others for their failures or just put things off until it is too late.

Finally, the authors concede that just thinking about making changes may be as far as some readers get in their pursuit of healthier lifestyle choices, but every journey begins with one step. Apparently anticipating the reactions of many people who try and fail to improve their lifestyle behaviors, the authors also conclude this chapter by noting that remaining committed to change is imperative but people should also give themselves a break, pick up the pieces and try again if they stumble along the way. In other words, although many people make the decision to live a healthier life, few succeed on their first try.

Conclusion

In chapter one of Introduction to Wellness, Fitness, and Lifestyle Management, the authors provide a comprehensive background concerning the value and importance of wellness to people’s lives in every situation. The authors’ description and examples of the six dimensions of wellness provided a useful framework in which to better understand the inextricable interrelationship between the six dimensions in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In sum, the authors provide a thoughtful analysis concerning ways that people of all ages can make the changes in their lives that are needed to overcome unhealthy behaviors and replace them with healthy alternatives. In the final analysis, it is reasonable to conclude that some readers’ lives will be changed after reading this chapter, but the authors concede that these types of lifestyle changes are difficult and may require more than one attempt.



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