Learner’s health and well-being play important roles in learning environment. This chapter tries further explain what are those.

1. Keys to Educational Psychology
[Irma, Eloff and Liesel, Ebersohn]
By GROUP IV
Health and Well-Being

2. Learner’s health and well-being play important
roles in learning environment. This chapter tries
further explain what is:
Health
Health Promotion
Health Issues

3. HEALTH
Health as not only the absence of disease, but also a
state of complete physical, mental and social well-
being. (WHO, 1986)
Health psychology: The study of the way in which
thought, feeling and behavior stem from, interact with or
cause physical or mental efficiercy, efficacy, comfort
and well-being (Foishaw, 2002).

4. Six areas related to health psychologySix areas related to health psychology
 Medical psychology
 Psychosomatic
 Behavioral Medicine
 Behavioral Health
 Medical sociology
 Medical anthropology
 Medical psychology
 Psychosomatic
 Behavioral Medicine
 Behavioral Health
 Medical sociology
 Medical anthropology

5. WELL-BEING
Well-being: Strong intra-psychic construct, or improve quality of
life, or harmony between the mind and body.
Intra-psychic: Thoughts and feelings that are confined to the
mind
Balancing of the physical, emotional, social,
intellectual and spiritual components are needed to
produce happiness and superiority of life.

6.  Cognition: WP experience of life as meaningful and
satisfied person.
 Effect: WP experience more positive than negative
feelings.
 Behavior: WP experience high level of control and
perceive problem as a challenge.
 Self-concept: WP are happy with themselves.
 Interpersonal relationship: WP experience sound
human relationship at work, in the family context and
social.
 Symptoms: WP do not suffer from symptoms of mental
disorders, such as depression or anxiety.
Wellness continuum is a model that describes health as total well-being.
Profile of wellness people (WP):

7. Mind Body Integration
 Mind is just another organ that could not
save the body. (lemonick, 2003)
 Physician view that mental states and
physical well being are connected each other.
 Research shows that stimulation of
emotional changes nervous system, which
effects on the brain and body. (Carlson, 1994)

8.  It reveres to individual which attempts to prevent disease.
There are various determinants of health behavior:
Health and Behavior
HB differ between social group
HB are influenced by perceive symptoms
HB are influenced by social situation
HB are influenced by psychological factor

9. Health and Stress
Stress provides a classical example about the link between mind
and body.
Stress is not always negative stress (distress), there is also positive
stress (eustress).
It is important to realize that growing up is stressful. Especially for
children.
List of stressor during child development as personal goals, self-
esteem, values, social standards, life skills and personal
competences and competition with peers.
Stress: the way in which the
body and the mind respond to
threats and demands from the
environment.
Van Niekerk (1998)

10. HEALTH PROMOTION
 A healthy life style includes:
 eating 3 meals a day
 8 glasses of water a day
 Exercise 3 or 4 times a week
 Maintaining body weight
 Limiting alcohol intake
 Not smoking
 Sleeping 8 hour a night
 Managing time effectively
 Van Niekerk, et.al. 2002
1. Life Style
Health promoting school aims at achieving healthy life styles for total school population.

11.  Research has proven there is significant link between diet and brain
function.
 Learner with poor nutrition remains sick for longer period.
 Exercise slows down the aging process, leads to better self-image,
promotes self-confidence, allow more restful sleep, improves people
performance and attitudes. (Nieker , 2001; Sarafino, 2002)
 Positive relationship between physical activity and self-esteem in
children , result better class room behavior and greater desire to learn.
2. Nutrition
3. Exercise

12. Health Promotion
3. Safety: Accidents are the cause of high percentage of injuries in
children.
4. Personal control: a strong sense of personal control tend to
experience less strain and disease.
5. Coping, life skills, coherence, resilience, hardiness: manner of
people in responding problem or threat is “Coping”, while life
skills help you cope with problems, adapt to changes, and
effectively confront crises and conflict. How can we learn to live,
and live well with stressors, and turn their existence to our
advantage? Well, sense of coherence tendency of people to view
their world as comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful
(Sarafino, 2002). Resilience seems incorporate high levels of self-
esteem, personal control, and optimism. Hardy individuals tend to
be less stressed and healthier than weaker or more sensitive
individuals.

13. 6. Stress management: reducing potential for stress in lives
through increased social support, improved personal
control, better time management, exercise and proper
preparation for stressful events.
7. Multi-domain functioning: if we think it through…it seems
that every aspects of life has biomedical, psychological,
social, and spiritual components that effect one another.
Van Niekerk and Prins (2001:32)
8. Social Support: Social support makes people feel loved,
and accepted, supplies to us important information about
how to understand or cope with what is happening.

14. 9. Community health and health workers: every person
has right to optimal health. This has strong
preventative focus. There are three focus aspects of
prevention:
Primary prevention
Secondary prevention
Tertiary prevention

15. Health Issues
Poverty
HIV/AIDS
Disease and Illness
Disabilities
Mental Health
Child Abuse
Children as Caregivers

16. Poverty
Many children living in poverty affect children
learning extensively and relates the increased risk of
failure in school at south Africa.
Mall nutrition beginning in around fourth mount of
pregnancy impacts on two years of golden age in brain
development.
(Go hungry during the class; experience violence;
do not know how to use pencils, paper books;
haven’t heard stories or songs at home; poor
discipline at home; have a few opportunities to
observe )and ask questions; do not understand
the language used in class room.
Winkler, 2002

17. HIV/AIDS
AIDS, or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, is
an illness brought about as a result of earlier infection
with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) (Gillis,
1996; Donald et al., 2000).
Poor nutrition, ill heath and show signs of failure to
thrive.
Tend to die of common illness (measles, diarrhea,
respiratory infections. (Ebersohn & Eloff 2002)
Psychological challenge (lost of identity, shame,
stigmatization, fear of abandonment and rejection)

18. Disease and illness
'Human diseases represent changes in the normal
structure or function of the human body' (Feigenbaum
& Veit, 2003).
Some children fall ill and others stay well, this
introduce the concept ‘susceptibility’.
Various factor contribute ‘susceptibility’ as genetic
mutations, environmental pollutants and stressors,
socio-economic factors, risk-taking life styles, drug
abuse and disabilities. (Odgen, 2001)

19. Disabilities
When working with children who have intrinsic
barriers (or disabilities) to learning. Intrinsic barriers
include:
Physical barriers: Disabilities affecting movement or
use of limbs.
Sensory barriers: Visual or hearing disabilities.
Neurological barriers: Brain lesions; damage or
dysfunction such as
cerebral palsy, spina bifida and epilepsy.

20. Mental barriers: From wide continuum giftedness to
severe and profound mental handicap.
Chronic diseases and infections: Malnutrition,
chronic respiratory infections, chronic otitis media,
allergies and asthma, parasite infection, HIV-infection
and tuberculosis.
Autism: Severe disorder of thinking, communication,
interpersonal relationships and behavior (Kapp, 1991;
Donald et al., 2000; Sands, Kozleski & French, 2000;
Feldman, Gordon & Snyman, 2001; Smith, 2001).

21. Learning difficulties
There is a wide range of barriers which hamper
learning. Some barriers can be overcome quickly,
others require more time and effort.
Children with disabilities may also have some
problems, which include mild intellectual difficulties,
communication difficulties, specific learning
difficulties, and emotion difficulties.

22. Substance abuse
'Drug abuse refers to the excessive use of a chemical
substance, which results in the impairment of an
individual's mental, physical or emotional state of well-
being' (Gillis, 1996:107).
Desire for acceptance in their peer group, curiosity, or
copycat behavior, or a progressive need to relieve
anxiety or boost self-confidence (Jone:2001)
early education self-confidence children and parents
can be means of helping children develop and security,
and stand the need of drugs abuse.

23. Mental Health
Mental health utilizes a deficit paradigm that
highlights disorder and dysfunction.
Poor mental health influences a child’s ability to
learn, which in turn affects the grown child’s ability to
make healthy choices in areas such as sexual activity,
diet, exercise routine and decisions to seek medical
care.

24. Child Abuse
Abuse: Behavior towards another person, which is
outside the norms of conduct and entails a substantial
risk of causing physical or emotional harm.
In south Africa where children are concern, the main
distinctions of violence appear to be gang violence,
general crime violence and violence in relationships
(child abuse in particular). Donald et al:2000 .

25. Children as Caregivers
Another challenge existing in South Africa is the
amount of children being orphaned by parents dying
of HIV/AIDS.
Young children are often cared for by their older
siblings in south Africa.
Children could be helped to improve the well- being
of their younger brothers and sisters more effectively
than doctors and health workers. Bower (1995)

26. Conclusion
Health is more complex than ever, not only about absence
of the disease but all the thing that are involved, such as
by physics, mental and social side which are connected
each other.
Children’s health and well being are important in
learning success. That’s why health promotion should be
spreader.
On the other side, health issues could not be ignored for
increasing our understanding about learning and health or
vice verse.