| The content is the same: The message needs to be different
In the health and fitness program delivery world we operate under what we call the "core concepts in health". For the most part it's the "Big 3",
exercise, diet, and sometimes stress management.
From the Big 3 evolve other health-belief models that all inter connect: like smoking cessation, personal relationships, and even prudent use of the health care system. "Back in the day" we called this entire model “wellness”.
It does and DOESN'T all connect. We've learned a lot in this health business. How we do health is not a nice neat outline that all fits like a business plan. We all have different personalities. We come from different generations. We all have a different understanding of what health is and what it means to us. The most consistent thing we know about how society does (or doesn't do health) is that as we age (and that's NOT a dirty word by the way), and as a result our perception of the core concepts in health shift. Young athletes that can do it all evolve into occasional fitness participants. This is all normal. We grow up, develop job skills, start families: life changes. Our personal stresses change. What was important at 25? Is it totally different at 45? Will be different at 65? Can I use the same age-curve for our nutritional needs?
As a health sociologist here are my questions for you: As we age and cycle through the years, why do we "stress" so much about our ever changing personal health plan? Are we getting too many messages telling us how fit and healthy we should be? Isn't being a good parent, a good partner, a good contributor to our community enough? Maybe we haven't done a good enough job connecting the Big 3 to all these other aspects of life and the roles we play.
Mike Waters, Health Promotions @ TAC |
