Lifestyle as a Key Determinant of Health and Its Implications for the Christian Health Administrator
The Blum Model, developed in 1974, points to four key determinants of health and has currently been referred to as “Force Field and Well-Being Paradigms of Health.” The four key determinants include lifestyle, environment, medical care, and heredity. Lifestyle factors have major implications for the Christian health administrator. Research has proved that foods and nutrition, for instance, have a crucial task in the majority of the considerable medical problems in the world today. A number of the health problems that are directly associated with lifestyle (dietary choices) encompass cancer, stroke, and heart diseases (Malekshah et al., 2016). Incidences and rates of deaths as a result of these diseases (especially cancer) are greatly increasing across the globe. Christian health administrators have a major role to play in promoting a positive lifestyle in an effort of preventing cancer as well as other lifestyle-related diseases.
The lifestyle selection of parents may have negative impacts on the entire family if necessary guidance in nutritional values and physical activities are not taken into consideration. A wide pool of studies shows a direct link involving lifestyle, behaviors, attitudes, and morbidity. People develop nutritional patterns, social aspects, and habits from parents within the family setting or the cultural environment (Malekshah et al., 2016). Getting rid of poor nutritional habits is not something that a person can successfully adopt from learning at school as it instead depends on external players (community awareness plans, health professionals, among others) to bridge the gap.
Just being aware that a given grouping (racial, cultural, or ethnic) is highly susceptible to illness when judged against others creates further anxiety and a psychological approach to hope in people. Lifestyle is greatly linked to heredity since both have been found to operate hand-in-hand within family settings hence similarly influencing outcomes for health and welfare. The delivery of balanced medical care by Christian health administrators in the US and throughout the world ought to consider that people have to be informed of the most favorable lifestyle choices for the overall health of the families. Currently, chronic non-communicable diseases act as the main sources of disability and loss of life internationally (Malekshah et al., 2016). Shockingly, such diseases are determined by preventable risk aspects such as smoking. In this regard, Christian health administrators can significantly influence lifestyle choices of people, and this goes a long way to preventing health problems.
Spiritual and religious convictions and practices imparted by Christian health administrators have established a positive influence on people’s psychological, social, and physical healthiness. Most studies have found positive connections involving religious beliefs and protective health approaches. Therefore, Christian health administrators have a crucial task in the promotion of healthy lifestyles linked to the use of tobacco, consumption of alcohol, and nutritional values. An assessment of literature shows a decreased risk of cancer and other lifestyle-related diseases with the inculcation of positive choices thus making spiritual welfare a significant internal resource for assisting people to cope with diseases (Malekshah et al., 2016). Moreover, a high proportion of patients would prefer that health care professionals take their spiritual needs into deliberation and articulate a desire for caregivers to pray with them whenever possible.
Numerous lifestyle choices have been established to underlie the chronic diseases accountable for the majority of premature deaths in all nations. These include poor nutrition, physical exercise, excessive consumption of alcohol, and cigarette smoking (Mons et al., 2015). Behavioral pointers and risk factors differ and this limits the comparability of outcomes; nevertheless, some extensive patterns stand out. Research concerning physical exercise and nutrition shows that a huge percentage of the people residing in high-income communities do not meet the minimum thresholds and are thus at risk of diseases.
The spiritual aspect is usually associated with not just a person’s health but also religious values and morals. It depicts the purpose, significance, and achievement in life; determination and optimism to live; confidence; and a person’s connection with God. Christian health administrators should employ and facilitate clinically assessed scales that determine a person’s well-being. Such scales hold approaches such as meaning in life, the conviction in power superior that human’s, prayer, faith, reflection, the capability to forgive, and gratefulness for life. In applying such scales, Christian health administrators will be in a position of instilling positive behaviors and healthy lifestyle choices in both the sick and those at risk of diseases. For instance, smoking is the major source of preventable diseases and death since it highly raises the risk of lung cancer, chronic lung diseases, and coronary diseases (Mons et al., 2015). Furthermore, drug abuse, insufficient physical activities, poor nutrition, and unsafe sex are other lifestyle choices that cause diseases and death. Therefore, prevention of such unhealthy lifestyle choices results in health promotion.
The four key determinants of health in the Blum Model include lifestyle, environment, medical care, and heredity. Lifestyle aspects have major connotations for Christian health administrators as they have a major role to play in promoting positive behavior in an effort of preventing cancer, in addition to other lifestyle associated diseases. After the identification of risk factors and health effects, Christian health administrators can develop interventions aimed at assisting people to adopt healthy lifestyles.
References
Malekshah, A. F. T., Zaroudi, M., Etemadi, A., Islami, F., Sepanlou, S., Sharafkhah, M., & Pourshams, A. (2016). The combined effects of healthy lifestyle behaviors on all-cause mortality: The Golestan cohort study. Archives of Iranian Medicine (AIM), 19(11), 752-761.
Mons, U., Müezzinler, A., Gellert, C., Schöttker, B., Abnet, C. C., Bobak, M., & Kromhout, D. (2015). Impact of smoking and smoking cessation on cardiovascular events and mortality among older adults: Meta-analysis of individual participant data from prospective cohort studies of the chances consortium. The British Medical Journal, 350(1), 1551-1560.