Building Health Skills – Varsity Education

Vocabulary: health skills, interpersonal communication, refusal skills, conflict resolution, stress, stress management skills, advocacy

Building Health Skills

Learning Health Skills

Main Idea: Health skills help you manage your health.

Health skills are specific tools and strategies to maintain, protect, and improve all aspects of your health. Health skills are also called life skills, because once you’ve developed these skills, you can use them throughout your life to stay healthy.

Communication Skills

Main Idea: Good communication is a vital health skill.

Three health skills-interpersonal communication refusal skills, and conflict resolution deal with how you have and receive information. Communication is more than just talking.

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It involves carefully choosing your words and expressions to clearly say what you really mean. It also involves listening closely to others. Interpersonal communication, the exchange of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs between two or more people, helps you build strong relationships with others.

You can strengthen your interpersonal communication skills by doing the following:

Use “I” messages to express your feelings. Saying “I feel upset when I’m left out of our plans” focuses on your emotions rather than placing blame.
Communicate with respect and caring. Keep your voice calm and use a respectful tone when talking to another person.
Be an active listener. Pay attention to what the other person is saying. Let him say what he has to say without interrupting. Try to understand the other person’s point of view.

Refusal Skills

Refusal skills are communication strategies that can help you say no when you are urged to take part in behaviors that are unsafe or unhealthful, or that go against your values. Someone may ask you to ride in a car with a driver who has been drinking. Or, someone may offer you a cigarette even though you don’t smoke. Developing strong refusal skills helps you say no firmly, respectfully, and effectively.

Figure 2.2 lists important refusal strategies that will help you the next time a person tries to influence you to engage in an activity that you don’t want to do. You may use one or several of these strategies in your refusal. Chapter 8 provides additional information on refusal strategies.

Conflict-Resolution Skills

Think of a recent argument you had. How was it resolved? Were all the people involved satisfied with the outcome? If so, you probably used the skill of conflict resolution, the process of ending a conflict through cooperation and problem solving. This health skill can help people resolve problems in ways that are agreeable to everyone involved.

Conflict resolution skills include stepping away from an argument, allowing the conflict to subside, using good interpersonal communication skills, and maintaining an attitude of respect for yourself as well as for the other person. Sometimes, individuals must make a compromise in order to resolve the conflict. In a compromise, both parties give up something but still gain a desired result.

Accessing Information

Main Idea: Use reliable sources of health information.

Knowing how to find and evaluate health information will help you make decisions that benefit your well-being. To decide whether health information is valid, you need to determine the reliability of the group or individual sharing the information. Some valid sources include

health care providers and professionals.
valid Internet sites, such as those of government agencies and professional health organizations.
parents, guardians, and other trusted adults.
recently published material written by respected, well-known science and health professionals.

Analyzing Influences

Main Idea: Understanding what influences you helps you to make more healthful choices.

Do you ever stop and think about why you do the things you do? Many factors can influence our decisions and actions. Figure 2.3 identifies some examples of influences on our behaviors. The more aware you are of the various influences in your life and how they affect you, the better able you are to make informed choices about your health.

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Self-Management Skills

Main Idea: Practicing healthy habits will protect your health.

Self-management means taking charge of your own health.

When you manage your behaviors, you act in ways that protect your health and promote your well-being. There are two self-management skills:

Practicing healthful behaviors. You practice healthful behaviors when you make good health habits part of your everyday life. Take a look at the checklist shown in Figure 2.4. These positive behaviors can contribute to all aspects of your health.

Managing Stress. Do you get nervous just before a test? Do you get stage fright? These are signs of stress, the reaction of the body and mind to everyday challenges and demands. Stress is a normal part of life, but too much unrelieved stress can lead to illnesses. That’s why it’s important to learn stress management skills, skills that help you reduce and manage stress in your life. Exercising, relaxation, and managing time efficiently are some effective ways to manage stress.

Advocacy

Main Idea: Advocacy lets you share your health knowledge.

Think of a picture of teens participating in a community event. This is an example of advocacy, taking action to influence others to address a health-related concern or to support a health-related belief. Participating in such activities allows you to encourage others to practice healthful behaviors. You can also advocate for better health by obeying laws that protect community health, sharing health information with family and friends, and developing and sending out health messages.