Jesse Webb Reaction: Health and Wellness

Reflection/Reaction Piece

The topic that I thought was interesting was the basic concepts of health and wellness that we discussed at the beginning of the year. It was interesting to me because it encompasses such a wide range of areas, and I had no idea that health was such a wide field. Health encompasses not only your physical well being, but also mental, spiritual, and social well being as well. As with wellness, it covers intellectual, environmental, and occupational areas. Putting them all together is what makes a person healthy. This topic has impacted my life by showing me that I need to balance every area of my life to be truly healthy. It’s easy just to focus on one area, but being healthy takes much more than that. I’ve really tried to make an effort this semester to be healthy and have wellness in every area, including physical, spiritual, mental, social, intellectual, and environmental aspects. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s paid off and made me a truly happy and healthy person. Life is way too short to get by and not live it in the best way possible. Health and wellness is important to public health because it can be affected so easily in our everyday lives. Depending on what culture you live in, health isn’t always the focus. In America, being successful is more important than being healthy. People often give up their health in order to be successful. In jobs, they stay up late, work long hours and skip out on friendships and family time, eat unhealthy food, lack exercise, and do so many unhealthy things. So health and wellness in the public health sphere is key to include in culture and everyday aspects of our lives so that we can have happy, healthy, and productive lives to have a healthy population. Other questions I have about health and wellness are how I can continue to make healthy choices as my lifestyle changes and I change from being a college student to an adult in the real world. 

                                                                                                                                                                      

Jesse Webb TIPH

TIPH Picture Post

The example I chose to document is a picture of a dumpster that is located in my apartment complex. This is an example of public health because it provides a method for people to dump their waste into a specific spot. After trash is taken to this dumpster, it is collected by a garbage service and transported to a designated site to be managed. This provides a way for trash to be all in one spot instead of it being out in the open. If it were out in the open, it would collect bacteria, would be smelly, could infect water supplies, and could damage ecosystems. It could also cause and spread disease. People should consider this an example of public health to prevent the spread of bacteria, disease, and to protect ecosystems. It takes a while for trash to decompose on its own as opposed to a designated dump site where it is managed. I chose this example because it is something that I use regularly and helps greatly to make my living area clean, disease free, and safe from disease. 

Hannah Galt Reflection

One of the most interesting and what I feel is one of the most important lessons that we have been taught about this far in the semester was the lecture from the guest speaker from the University Health Center, Mr. Ben Gray.  He talked about the importance of nutrition to us as college students and how our diet can and does impact our all-around performance.  He discussed ways that we could plan ahead with our meals, both for students on the meal plan and for those who provide food for themselves.  While some of the things that we talk about in class are not relevant to the entire class, this lesson on nutrition and diet was something that every single person could have gained knowledge and insight from and used in their own day-to-day lives. 

I was particularly interested in this lesson because I have recently been very curious about what exactly I need to feed my body for the best results.  With all the different diets and new ideas floating around, sometimes it can be hard to discern what is and what is not a good idea in regards to eating habits.  The Build My Plate diagram that Mr. Gray explained simplified all of the information into one retainable image that is priceless when trying to decide what to put on my own plate in a dining hall full of food. 

This topic is of major importance in the field of public health.  Although the variables in health are limitless, the food that we put into our bodies is usually the main problem.  Educating the masses about nutrition, similar to how Mr. Gray taught our class, could be a big step in the right direction towards a healthier society.  His belief that food should first of all be delicious, second of all healthy, and third of all cheap is an idea that many, many people can agree with.  What society now needs to learn is how to get their hands on that type of food. 

While Mr. Gray did a great job of a general overview of nutrition, I am still curious about specifics regarding healthy eating.  I would like to know how to read the nutrition facts on labels and truly be able to understand what they mean.  I would like to know about individual foods and what they contain and how they impact the body.  Learning all of this will take time and research but every new piece of information will expand my knowledge and impact my own diet.              

Hannah Galt TIPH

While most people do not think of traffic lights and painted crosswalks as elements of public health in our community, I believe that these safety precautions play a more significant role than we realize.  In Athens in particular, many people rely on walking for transportation.  I, for one, do not own a car so I have come to truly appreciate pedestrian crosswalks and lights like the one pictured.  Promoting and maintaining a community in which walking is a safe and low-stress mode of transportation encourages people to walk rather than drive their car or ride a bus.  Not only is this cost-efficient and better for the environment, but it is also a way for people to get more physical exercise.  Thus, more physical exercise leads to improved health.  The newer pedestrian lights have the button that walkers push as well as a beeping sound that notifies those who are blind when it is safe to cross the street.  I have even heard about an instance in town in which a lady in a wheel chair was not able to reach the button.  Local government authorities were contacted and the button was quickly relocated at a more appropriate height.  Making these advancements to serve more members of the community spreads the impact of elements of public health.  This particular pedestrian light is located at the intersection of Thomas Street and Hancock Avenue.  The pedestrian crosswalks around campus and in downtown Athens have a tremendous impact on the flow of traffic and the safety of all pedestrians.        

TIPH Assignment

I chose this picture because it helps keep Athens clean and encourages recycling.  These are recycling bins inside of the Classic Center in downtown Athens. They allow for easy recycling and encourage recycling in one of Athens most popular venues. Athens is known as one of the countries most environmentally friendly cities and things like this help dramatically.  Athens make it so easy to recycle unlike many other places in Georgia.  In most places you have to go out of your way to recycle but with areas like this, it is easier to recycle than just throw something in the landfill.  I really appreciate living in an area that encourages recycling as much as Athens goes.  I chose this because I recycle at my house but most do not, but these sort of things and areas make every day recycling easy for everyone.  Nothing encourages recycling more than making it easier than not recycling. Others should consider this important because our environment is very important and not renewable.  We only have one earth, and so our health is tied to how well we treat the earth. 

TIPH Photo-Shopping Cart Wipes

I took this photo of Shopping Cart Wipes at Publix.  This is an example of public health because it helps stop the spread of germs and diseases at a very common place, the grocery store.  Many people go to the grocery store each week and use a shopping cart to carry the food they are going to buy.  It is important to public health because it makes sanitation available, for free, to everyone shopping at the store.  If everyone who used a cart also used a sanitation wipe, the germs on the cart would be cut down tremendously and less diseases would be contracted.  Another reason shopping cart wipes are so important to pubic health is because they are located at a food store.  If the shopping cart is dirty, then food that will be consumed is put in the same cart and the food can pick up the germs and cause health problems for the consumer.  I chose this example of public health because it is something most people can relate to.  Because so many people go to the grocery store every day, if everyone used the sanitation wipes the amount of germs transferred between people would be exponentially less. The important thing for people to consider with this example of public health is that the people have to actually use the wipes.  The container and sign being on the wall itself is not going to lessen the germs; people have to use the wipes to help clean the shopping cart so that themselves and others will be at less risk for diseases.

TIPH Picture

My picture for TIPH is of my hand sanitizer on my bookbag. This is an example of public health because of the push there has been towards more hand sanitizer being accessibile to people in order to have a quick way to clean their hands. I chose it because I think it's important that everyone participate in public health the best way they can, and for me I enjoy to have hand sanitizer with me not only to protect myself (say, if I was about to eat a snack in class and I wanted to clean my hands really quickly before touching my food) but also to protect others around me (for example, if I knew I had a cold, I could sanitize my hands every now and then so that I would spread less germs to others if I knew we would be touching mutual things, like pens, etc). It's important that others consider this public health because it is such an easy thing to carry with you, especially the little travel size bottles they make (which is also public health, the idea that companies are realizing that people like to have hand sanitizer with them, and not just a bottle on their desk or on the wall in a restroom), that can protect you and others from common illnesses. It of course does not replace hand washing, but it's a quick way to feel slightly less germy when you're out and about!