On Wellness: Creative health and happiness - new dimensions for living
Knowledge · Communications · Health Services · Security · Person Centered Care
References and Articles on Traditional and Alternative Medical and Health Promotion On and Off the Web
Author: Quentin Reilly, MBBS, DPH, MPH, FRACMA, FAFPHM, FACTM,
Specialist Medical Consultant, presently - 2007 - Medical Adviser, Primary Health Care and Chronic Disease Control, Northern Area, Queensland Health, Australia
Over recent years there has been great progress in the scientific knowledge of health and well being and the bodys response to stress and the relationship to the development of chronic disease.
Interactions and interdependency exist between the nervous, endocrine and immune systems in response to the social environment.
This paper reviews this progress and sets out the action that can be taken to improve well being using basic primary prevention activities.
This article is published on this site by Dr. Quentin Reilly 2007.04.09 read article here
Health and Happiness: The medical power of positive thinking is getting closer scrutiny
"People have emphasised the importance of exercise and diet but emotions and feelings
also greatly affect health. The well being of mind and body are closely interlinked.
Much of the recent medical research on this relationship has been done in America." [Q. Reilly
MD, Specialist Medical Officer, PNG/Australia and writer of 'How to stay healthy and happier']
"Could a smile a day really keep the doctor away? Researchers are seeking better understanding of the links between
health and happiness." [The Futurist Jan-Feb 2004 p.10]
Health Promotion: the meaning and aetiology of "health"
Health promotion | Health: meaning and aetiology |
Health: the positive dimension
Health promotion is a controversial concept-it means different things to
different people. This is not surprising since the notion of health itself is
open to many interpretations. The definition of health embodied in the
Constitution of the World Health Organization (1946) confirmed that
health is not just the absence of disease and infirmity. It is also concerned
with positive well being and has mental and social as well as physical
dimensions.[emphasis added] Although there is a temptation for medical practitioners to
dismiss such preoccupations with well being as vague philosophizing,
medicine cannot, and should not, discard these broader concerns. For
instance, the notion of tertiary prevention has traditionally acknowledged
that medicine should aim to maximize the quality of life of those it cannot
cure. There is also increasing evidence that life expectancy, in addition to
well being, can be influenced by a number of "positive" individual and social
attributes. For instance, the notion of 'social capital' is currently very popular
with health policy-makers-it is argued that a high level of social capital
supports health through giving access to a range of social networks which
provide support and foster a sense of social connectedness. People will be
healthier if they feel they are in control of their lives and that their lives are
meaningful and make sense emotionally-in other words, they have a
'sense of coherence'. The central concern of health promotion should be not
only to add years to life but life to years!
Determinants of health
Whether health is defined as the absence of disease or as a broader more
holistic state, it is widely agreed that four major factors determine the
extent to which people are or are not healthy.
[following text taken from graphic figure in article]
- Lifestyle as health factor: Lifestyle as it relates to Social, economic, cultural and environmental conditions
- Health and Medical Services: Services as they relate to Social, economic, cultural and environmental conditions
- Social, economic, cultural and environmental conditions: Conditions as they directly relate to health
- Health: as it becomes a factor in Genetic Influence
Traditionally, the individual's lifestyle has been the main target of health
education-together with exhortations to make proper use of medical services. The current view is that the environment in which we live, work, and
play has the most powerful influence, either directly or through the mediation
of individuals' behaviour. Accordingly, the most effective health
promotion strategies are those that modify the environment to make it safer
and more health-enhancing and, most important of all, those which tackle
the social and economic factors that cause health inequalities. Environmental
circumstances may make it more or less easy for individuals to adopt
healthy behaviours. For this reason a central concern for health promotion
is to go beyond merely providing education about healthy choices. lt.
should provide a supportive environment such that the 'healthy choice
becomes the easy choice'. Of course, changing the environment often
requires substantial changes in public policy and associated political action^
Health promotion is therefore considered to include both health education
and 'healthy public policy'.
[cited from article-section by Keith Tones and Jackie Green in Oxford Textbook of Medicine, Fourth Edition Vol.1 2003, ISBN 0-19-262922-0 (three vol set), Oxford University Press pp.64-67]
WELLNESS - noun "... the quality or state of being in good health
[ a clinic designed to promote ~ ]
[ from Webster's Medical Desk Dictionary 1986 ISBN 0-8779-025-6 p.768 ]
HEALTH - noun
1. the condition of an organism or one of its parts in which it
performs its vital functions normally or properly : the state of being sound
in body or mind .... esp. freedom from physical disease and pain [nursed him back to ~]
2. the condition of an organism with respect to
the performance of the vital function esp. as evaluated subjectively or nonprofessionally
[how is your ~ today]"
[ Webster's Medical Desk Dictionary p.283 ]
HEALTHY - adjective
"1. enjoying health and vigor of body, mind, or spirit
2. revealing a state of health [a ~ complexion]
3. conducive to health"
(Webster's Medical Desk Dictionary p.283)
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This web site is project of a group of health care and health promotion professionals.
The site has a volunteer reference group, including:
medical doctors, nurses, long-term-care program directors, music therapists, social workers, dietician-nutritionists and rehabilitation-physical therapy consultants and lawyers
The providers of this site's reference materials, including links to other resources
on the Internet's Web, or organizations / agencies / facilities - do not accept responsibility for the
accuracy - dependability of the information sources. By use of this site you as the viewer must make your
own informed decision as to the information given and or linked to or referred to.
If you do not wish to accept responsibility for being a consumer of the information or references on this site, please do not
go further into the site.
Thank you for visiting this "work in process"
On behalf of the participating professionals that are contributing to this web site's development
Music Therapy and Social Work Consultant
OnWellness Inc. Vancouver, BC
Photo Credits & Acknowledgements
The photo collage-banner at the top of this page is intended to give viewers an idea of
the conceptualization behind this web project. The concepts of "health and wellness / well-being"
include KNOWLEDGE, having access to reference information; COMMUNICATION, through various medium (as in
music therapy); TREATMENT, different traditional (western) and alternative medicine resources;
RECREATION, as in rest and recreation / time-away holidays in mind and body; and SECURITY, the
sense of safety provided by social-political structures and systems to help experience one's well-being.
The provenance of the photos on this page include:
- Photos of South Pacific Island home and health care administrator and nurse on vacation from collection
of Dr. Q. Reilly, Australia s/a www.manusisland.com
- Photo of music therapists at work in a residential long term care facility in downtown Vancouver, BC,
collection of Y.Orosa, Music Therapy and Social Work Consultant, recently returned from London, UK
- Photo of Physio-Physical Therapy Clinic in Victoria used by physiotherapists involved with e.g. vestibular rehabilitation,
work related injury rehabilitation and treatment programs etc.
- Photo of Organic Vegetable and Fruits section of a Supermarket courtesy of Fairway Market in Oak Bay
- Photo of women paddlers and drummer at Dragon Boat races, N. Chan
- Cartoon character, Anjolico the wireless cat, [referenced from this page] is provided by Tony Yau, B.F.A, M.V.A, our Hong Kong cartoonists and Asian graphic design consultant with training from York University in Toronto and the University of Alberta in Visual Arts... This cartoon character is a regular feature in a number of China web sites as well as Hong Kong print newspapers e.g. the Sing Tao
- Book shelf photo from Public Library, Reference Department, section on introductory
texts on traditional and alternative medicine, drug dictionaries, treatment guides, taken by N. Chan, Lib.Tech, MSW
- General information sources that contributed to this site are from such web sites as:
- s/a Provenance.ca one of the first 10 web serials-magazines for librarians, archivists and records management professionals
- s/a www.pngbuai.com Papua New Guinea library collection of research level articles administered by Dr. John Evans
- s/a CanadaLegal.info an introductory source of information for lawyers and court services in Canada
- Web publishing and site administration is by Netpac.com