Health and Wellbeing Assignment
Health inequalities across Scotland are diverse and wide spread and as a result the government have invested in frameworks to tackle these (Sweeting, Green, Benzeval, and West, 2015; Coles, Cheyne, Rankin, and Daniel, 2016). Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) is one framework that the government have developed to support the health and wellbeing of young people in Scotland (The Scottish Government, 2012). The focus of this approach is to establish a support network which is accessible by both parents and young people in order to receive appropriate assistance when needed. It additionally places the child and the family at the centre with wellbeing being fundamental in allowing the child to have the best start in life. One way in which the GIRFEC approach is put into practice is through its integration into the education system. It has been integrated into the curriculum within the health and wellbeing component. This essay will therefore start by exploring the nature and scope health and wellbeing has within the Scottish education system. It will further look at the significance of incorporating health and wellbeing into the nation curriculum. The essay will then progress to section B in which a series of health and wellbeing lessons will be discussed. Lastly, the essay will conclude by evaluating my own knowledge of Health and Wellbeing within the context of the curriculum.
Section A
Health and wellbeing are interlinked and can be regarded as a partnership which each influence and support one another. Health can be broken down into many facets; mental, emotional, social, environmental and physical (Department of Health, 2014a). The history of the way health is defined has changed over the years. It was originally attributed to the absence of disease or infirmity before shifting to an improved definition which states that to have health means to be complete in physical, mental and social well-being (World Health Organisation, 2006; Jadad, and O’grady, 2008). This new definition highlighted that health isn’t solely the lack of disease but it much more than this. Nevertheless, more recent research criticises this definition stating that to use the word ‘complete’ reflects absoluteness which in real terms is unrealistic (Huber et al., 2011). Across many populations the prevalence of chronic illness is high, therefore, when considering the WHO’S definition that would leave a large proportion of the population ‘unhealthy’ (Barnett et al., 2012). It is also important to consider the impact of labelling chronic conditions as having a deficit in health. Many young people are born with a variety lifelong conditions which should not mean they should be categorised as unhealthy (Barnish et al., 2015). Categorisation of this sort can lend itself to a decrease in the wellbeing of an individual and therefore should be interpreted with caution (Matheson, McQuaid, and Anisman, 2016).
Despite health being one indicator...
