National Initiatives in Relation to Health and Well-being

This document discusses national initiatives in relation to health and well-being, emphasizing the importance of physical, mental, and social well-being. It explores the bio psychosocial model of health and its implications for achieving and sustaining overall well-being. The document also highlights the link between mental health and physical health, as well as the impact of unhealthy lifestyles on well-being. References to relevant books and journals are provided for further reading.

National initiatives in
relation to health and
well-being

Table of Contents
Summarise national initiatives in relation to health and well-being..........................................3
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................5
Books and journals.................................................................................................................5

Summarise national initiatives in relation to health and well-being
Health is defined as "a condition of complete physical, mental, and social well-being"
by the World Health Organization. The bio psychosocial model of health supports this
conclusion. It views health as a human right that needs both physical and social resources to
attain and sustain (Aitsi-Selmi and Murray, 2016). Health and wellbeing are explicitly linked
in the WHO definition. With a 10% drop in workplace accidents since 1997, the United
Kingdom now boasts one of the finest health and safety records in the world. Despite this, 40
million working days are lost each year due to occupational illness and injury, and a third of
all workers are out of work. Those who apply for Incapacity Benefit have previously worked
(Austin, 2016). In today's society, when dependence ratios are growing and global market
pressures are at work, putting an ever-increasing responsibility on those of working age to
support others, neither UK nor others Neither economy nor society as a whole can afford for
us to take a step back and let things happen on their own.
Those who will be written off A significant critique of this perspective on health is
that it is impractical, since it "leaves most of us sick most of the time”. Few, if any,
individuals will experience total physical, mental, and social wellness all of the time, making
this approach useless and unproductive (Chatterjee and Noble, 2016). It ignores not only
short-term health problems, but also the rising number of individuals living with chronic
illnesses and impairments. Furthermore, by anthologizing poor health states, it might be
claimed that emphasis on 'full' health as a goal leads to society's overmedicalisation. Few, if
any, persons will always be in perfect bodily, mental, and social health. By anthologizing
poor health states, a focus on 'perfect' health as a goal adds to society's over medicalization.\
Mental health and physical health are inextricably linked, with evidence for a strong
relationship between the two accumulating over recent decades. Mechanisms for this
association can be physiological, behavioural and social, as identified by the bio psychosocial
model of health (Neal and Hammer, 2017). Unhealthy lifestyles as responses to stress often
contribute to this association. People with mental health problems consume almost half of all
tobacco (see Better Mental Health For All), and are more likely to develop a substance use
disorder than the reverse. The Kings Fund estimates that more than four million people in
England with a long-term physical health problem also have a mental health problem. There

are two viewpoints on the link between mental health and happiness. The dual continuum
paradigm sees mental health as closely connected to but distinct from mental wellbeing, with
a person being either mentally well or sick (mental health), and thriving or not flourishing
(mental wellbeing) (mental wellbeing) This approach might be used in cases when a mental
disorder diagnosis can coexist with a high degree of happiness (Nunes, Lee and O'Riordan,
2016). It is based on the controversial belief that people never entirely heal from mental
illness.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Aitsi-Selmi, A. and Murray, V., 2016. Protecting the health and well-being of populations
from disasters: health and health care in The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction 2015-2030. Prehospital and disaster medicine, 31(1), pp.74-78.
Austin, A., 2016. On well-being and public policy: Are we capable of questioning the
hegemony of happiness?. Social Indicators Research, 127(1), pp.123-138.
Chatterjee, H. and Noble, G., 2016. Museums, health and well-being. Routledge.
Neal, M.B. and Hammer, L.B., 2017. Working couples caring for children and aging
parents: Effects on work and well-being. Psychology Press.
Nunes, A.R., Lee, K. and O'Riordan, T., 2016. The importance of an integrating framework
for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: the example of health and well-
being. BMJ global health, 1(3), p.e000068.