Writing Homework Help

Many individuals spend a lifetime trying to achieve optimal health and wellness. Wellness is strongly related to our lifestyle choices. As noted by Powers and Dodd (2017), lifestyle, genetics, environment, and healthcare are the four factors that most influence health. Lifestyle has the biggest impact on health as 53% of all diseases are due to lifestyle.

Carmen is a 45-year-old single mother of two children. She has a good job, has strong spiritual values and beliefs, and has three close friends who she gets together with on a regular basis. However, Carmen eats fast food five days a week, feels stressed out most of the time, and does not have time to exercise. She cares about the environment but does not take the time to recycle. She would love to go back to school to get her Masters of Business Administration degree but does not think she has the time. Her current occupation provides her with adequate money to take care of her children, but she finds herself struggling to pay her bills.

Review the eight dimensions of wellness listed in the text and address the following items in your post:

• Evaluate which dimensions of wellness Carmen is strengthening with her current lifestyle and behaviors.
• Describe which dimensions of wellness she needs to improve.
• Explain three diseases Carmen is at risk for due to her poor lifestyle habits.
• Identify three healthy lifestyle recommendations and examine how these lifestyle factors could help Carmen reduce her risk of disease and help her achieve overall wellness.
• Identify one way Carmen can manage her finances better.
• Include at least two scholarly references in addition to the textbook, follow APA formatting standards as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center to help support your response. See the Citing Within Your Paper web page and the Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources document for additional guidance.
• To assist you in completing the library research required for this assignment, view the How Do I Begin? tutorial, which provides an overview of conducting searches in the library, generating keywords, and understanding your assignment prompt.

Guided Response: Read your classmates’ posts. Do you think your classmates adequately addressed Carmen’s dimensions of wellness? Are there any other lifestyle recommendations that could be given to Carmen to help her achieve overall wellness? Use at least one reference in your reply. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.

Please note: Some researchers define seven or eight dimensions of wellness, while others define six. For example, the course textbook defines eight, but the National Wellness Institute only defines six. All are considered correct.

Sara-

• Evaluate which dimensions of wellness Carmen is strengthening with her current lifestyle and behaviors.

Carmen appears to demonstrate two substantial dimensions of wellness in the area of spiritual wellness and social wellness. In the Journal by Carla Garica titled “What are the Eight Dimensions of Wellness in your Life” spiritual wellness is described as “expanding our sense of purpose and meaning in life” and social wellness as” developing a sense of connection, belonging, and a well-developed support system” (2015, p.5) Carmen’s strengths can be shown through the mention of a “strong spiritual values and beliefs” as well as the mention of family values and a establish circle of friends.

• Describe which dimensions of wellness she needs to improve.

Carmen has a considerably poor diet, and without having time to exercise, she will need to work on her physical wellness and emotional wellness that could be connected. Also, with the mention of financial trouble and the eagerness to do more schooling, it identified that Carmen would also need to work on her business and occupational wellness. Lastly, although Carmen claims to care about the environment, her lack of recycling indicates an additional area of improvement needed in environmental welfare.

• Explain three diseases Carmen is at risk for due to her poor lifestyle habits.

Due to Carmen’s poor physical wellness, as seen through her diet and lack of exercise, she runs many health risks. As mentioned in the text, “a high percentage of body weight increases your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease”. Carmen’s lack of attention to environmental wellness opens her up to not understanding the impacts of climate change and air pollution that can affect the body, such as breathing problems. Paired with her physical wellness, breathing problems can worsen into respiratory illnesses.

• Identify three healthy lifestyle recommendations and examine how these lifestyle factors could help Carmen reduce her risk of disease and help her achieve overall wellness.

The first recommendation would be to change Carmen’s eating habits and switch to more meal prepping with high protein and vegetables to avoid fast food. Second I would recommend taking walks and engaging in outdoor activities to not only get exercise but also to join the environment. In the article “Harnessing the Four Elements for Mental Health,” it is mentioned that there are ways to utilize nature in improve mental and physical health such as drinking water, getting sunlight, breathing and gardening. Lastly, I would recommend starting a garden to help with physical, emotional, and environmental wellness. A garden is a great way to be physically active, get you outside to enjoy nature, and it is a way to grow your produce which is good for the environment. (Saris, et al. 2019)

• Identify one way Carmen can manage her finances better.

Carmen eats fast food many nights a week, which can become expensive. I would recommend limited eating out to one night a week to save money. Also, since Carmen does not recycle, it would be a good idea to start since many recyclable items can be turned in for cash.

References:

Garcia, C. (2015). What are the Eight Dimensions of Wellness in your Life? Colorado Nurse, 115(6), 5-6. Retrieved June 26, 2020, from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=f045692e-c89f-4459-b87c-8dda13e93f2c%40sessionmgr101

Powers, S. K., & Dodd, S. L. (2017). Total fitness & wellness, the Mastering Health edition (7th ed.). Retrieved from https://redshelf.com

Sarris, J., Manincor, M. D., Hargraves, F., & Tsonis, J. (2019). Harnessing the Four Elements for Mental Health. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00256

Tiana-

• Evaluate which dimensions of wellness Carmen is strengthening with her current lifestyle and behaviors.

Carmen’s current lifestyle is helping to strengthen her Spiritual, Social and Occupational wellness. Her strong values and beliefs are supportive of her spiritual wellness, while her relationships with friends aids in her social wellness. Carmen’s good job creates occupational wellness by providing her family with adequate money.

• Describe which dimensions of wellness she needs to improve.

Carmen can improve on her Physical, Emotional, Intellectual, Environmental and Financial Wellness. Carmen’s physical wellness is lacking because she does not work out. Her emotional wellness is compromised from being stressed all the time. Carmen’s environmental wellness could improve because she doesn’t recycle. Her lack of financial stability does not create financial wellness, and because she does not “have the time” to complete her MBA, her intellectual wellness could improve. The book titled, Mothering by Degrees : Single Mothers and the Pursuit of Postsecondary Education, asserts “evidence suggests that pursuing a college degree is a good economic investment for single mothers. Women of all racial backgrounds increase their likelihood of securing better jobs that pay higher wages and provide health insurance, sick leave, and other benefits if they complete a post-secondary degree” (Duquaine-Watson, 2017, p. 43). Carmen’s emotional and financial wellness could both benefit from her going back to school and earning her MBA.

• Explain three diseases Carmen is at risk for due to her poor lifestyle habits.

Carmen is at risk for diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer can all be linked to an unhealthy diet and high levels of stress. In the book, Diet and Disease: Nutrition for Heart Disease, Diabetes and Metabolic Stress, Katie Ferraro states “Diet and lifestyle play important roles in the prevention and treatment of heart disease, working not only to help reduce the risk of developing heart disease, but also to lower the risk of death from heart disease and the incidence of nonfatal heart attacks as well as the need to undergo serious life threatening interventions” (2015, p. 1).

• Identify three healthy lifestyle recommendations and examine how these lifestyle factors could help Carmen reduce her risk of disease and help her achieve overall wellness.

Carmen could integrate a physical fitness regiment, a financial budget, and a nutrition plan. Her emotional well being could also benefit if she tried things like yoga or meditation. According to the text “In addition to improving muscle tone and reducing body fat, regular exercise improves our fitness levels and ability to perform everyday tasks. Perhaps even more important, it can help you achieve total wellness” (Powers, Dodd, 2017, p.6).

• Identify one way Carmen can manage her finances better.

Carmen can manage her finances better by cutting back on how many times she eats out. She can integrate a financial budget and monitor how much money she is spending on food versus eating at home.

APA (American Psychological Assoc.)
Duquaine-Watson, J. M. (2017). Mothering by Degrees : Single Mothers and the Pursuit of Postsecondary Education. Rutgers University Press. Retrieved from Ashford Library, http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/ebookviewer/ebook?sid=292977d6-1fe3-4fed-ae72-60bc314ad573%40sessionmgr101&vid=5&rid=1&format=EB

Ferraro, Katie. Diet and Disease : Nutrition for Heart Disease, Diabetes, and Metabolic Stress, Momentum Press, 2015. Retrieved from ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ashford-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4307185.

Powers, S. K., & Dodd, S. L. (2017). Total fitness & wellness, the Mastering Health edition (7th ed.). Retrieved from https://redshelf.com