Physical Wellbeing

Physical wellbeing means taking care of your body by eating right, exercising, and following your doctor's rules. Sometimes people stop doing these things on purpose because of feelings, family habits, lack of money, or social pressure. Other times, people fail to follow their health plans because they have physical or mental disabilities that make it too hard.

Why People Stop Health Plans on Purpose

Emotional pressure: Stopping your diet or exercise routine because you feel sad, stressed, or angry.
Cultural habits: Choosing foods or habits based on family traditions instead of doctor rules.
Social pressure: Changing how you eat or act just to fit in with your friends.

Why People Fail Health Plans by Accident

Physical disabilities: Having a body injury or illness that physically stops you from exercising or taking medicine.
Cognitive disabilities: Having memory or learning problems that make it hard to remember your health routine.

To overcome these obstacles, you need to address the key problems in two areas:

Voluntary nonadherence
Involuntary nonadherence

The next sections will explain these problems.

Voluntary

In the area of voluntary nonadherence, the main factors are:

Affect
Culture
Social

Affect

Strong feelings can ruin your healthy habits by making you crave foods high in fat and sugar. When you feel sad or stressed, you might skip your workouts because you are too tired or unhappy. Deep emotional worry can also cause you to forget to take your medicine or skip your doctor visits.

How Emotions Hurt Habits

Food cravings: Sad or stressed moods make you want greasy or sugary snacks.
Skipping exercise: Low energy and bad moods keep you from working out.
Missed care: Worry makes you forget your medication or cancel doctor visits.

Diet and Eating Habits

Stress eating: High stress causes cravings for comfort foods that are high in sugar and fat.
Loss of appetite: Sadness or anxiety can shut down hunger signals and lead to poor nutrition.
Impulse choices: Tired or angry brains look for fast energy instead of healthy meals.

Exercise Routines

Low energy: Depression and anxiety drain the mental energy needed for physical activity.
Broken habits: Busy or overwhelmed feelings make it easy to skip gym days.
Negative self-talk: Feeling bad about one's body stops people from starting or sticking to workouts.

Medical Treatment

Skipped doses: Forgetfulness caused by stress leads to missed pills or treatments.
Avoiding care: Fear or denial keeps people from visiting doctors or getting tests done.
Giving up early: Frustration makes people stop safe treatment plans before they work.

To help maintain emotional control when making healthcare decisions, try these resources.

Mindful Self-Discipline (iPhone, Android)
BeeMinder (www.beeminder.com)
LifeTick (www.lifetick.com)
Calm (iPhone, Android)

Culture

Culture shapes how people view food, daily movement, and healing. It sets the rules for what we eat, how we move or rest our bodies, and who we trust when we are sick. These traditions can help us stay healthy, or they can make it harder to get medical care.

Diet and Food Traditions

Core Foods: Staple items like rice, corn, or bread form the center of daily meals.
Social Bonding: Food shows love and hospitality during family gatherings or religious holidays.
Taboos and Rules: Some cultures avoid certain foods during pregnancy, illness, or specific times of the year.
Modern Conflicts: Moving to a new country often replaces traditional whole foods with cheap, processed options.

Exercise and Body Movement

Daily Labor: Physical work is high in some communities, making formal exercise feel unnecessary.
Gender Roles: Social norms may restrict women from using public spaces or gyms for workouts.
Body Image: Larger body sizes are viewed as signs of beauty, wealth, or health in several traditions.
Rest Beliefs: Illness or pregnancy may require strict bed rest rather than active recovery.

Medical Treatment and Healing

Traditional Remedies: People often try herbs, teas, or spiritual healers before seeing a doctor.
Language Barriers: Hard communication with medical staff leads to fear, confusion, and missed care.
Trust Issues: Past unfair treatment by the medical system makes some groups doubt modern doctors.
Family Decisions: Medical choices often involve the whole family instead of just the patient.

For tips on finding providers who understand your values and culture, try these resources.

Social

Social issues like stress, depression, low income, and social isolation disrupt health habits by draining motivation, impairing brain function, and limiting resources. These emotional and social hurdles make it hard to shop for healthy food, stay active, or follow a doctor's care plan.

Diet Interference

Emotional Eating: People often eat high-sugar or high-fat comfort foods to cope with stress or sadness.
Loss of Appetite: Severe depression or anxiety can kill hunger, leading to poor nutrition and low energy.
Lack of Time or Energy: Burnout makes cooking hard, leading to fast food or skipped meals.
Financial Stress: Low income or money worries limit access to fresh, healthy groceries.

Exercise Interference

Low Motivation: Depression and exhaustion make physical activity feel too hard to start.
Anxiety in Public: Fear of judgment stops people from going to gyms or walking outside.
Pain and Fatigue: High stress increases body tension and tiredness, reducing the desire to move.
No Support: Lacking a workout partner or family help makes it easy to quit.

Medical Treatment Interference

Skipping Doses: Forgetfulness caused by stress or a busy mind leads to missed pills.
Avoiding Doctors: Fear, denial, or anxiety makes people skip checkups or lab tests.
Cost Barriers: Money worries lead patients to cut pills in half or skip refills to save cash.
Isolation: Lacking someone to talk through health choices leads to poor care choices.

These resources can help with managing stress and anxiety.

The resources below can help with improving your social support network.

Involuntary

Cognitive and physical problems matter deeply to overall well-being because the mind and body work as one connected system. Physical limits can stop you from moving, while brain issues affect how you think and feel. When one part of you struggles, the other usually suffers too.

Why Physical Problems Matter

Loss of independence: Weak muscles or stiff joints make daily tasks hard.
Energy drain: Chronic pain or sickness tires the body and the mind.
Higher stress: Physical illness raises anxiety about health and safety.

Why Cognitive Problems Matter

Poor choices: Brain fatigue or memory loss makes safe self-care difficult.
Lower activity: Trouble with focus or mood drains the drive to exercise.
Social isolation: Mental strain can make a person pull away from friends.

The Loop Between Body and Mind

Movement helps thinking: Walking or working out sends healthy blood flow to the brain.
Thinking guides movement: A clear, sharp mind helps you stay active and safe.
Combined impact: Fixing both mind and body protects long-term health.

So, in the area of involuntary nonadherence, the main factors are:

Cognitive
Physical

Cognitive

Brain and memory problems can ruin daily health habits by making it hard to think clearly, remember facts, and make safe choices. These challenges make it tough to take medicine on time, plan or cook healthy meals, and keep up with daily exercise. Patients often struggle to follow hard medical rules or notice when their sickness is getting worse.

How Brain Problems Hurt Habits

Forgotten medicine: Having a weak memory makes you skip your daily pills.
Poor eating: Struggling to plan makes it hard to cook healthy food.
Skipping exercise: Lacking a clear routine keeps you from staying active.
Confusing rules: Finding it too hard to understand a doctor's difficult advice.
Missed warning signs: Failing to see when your body is getting sicker.

Impact on Diet

Memory loss: Forgetting to eat, or forgetting that a meal was already eaten.
Planning issues: Trouble writing grocery lists or budgeting for fresh food.
Cooking safety: Forgetting burners are on or misusing kitchen tools.
Sensory changes: Loss of taste or smell leading to poor appetite or craving only sweet foods.

Impact on Exercise

Coordination loss: Trouble balancing or moving safely during physical activity.
Loss of motivation: Forgetting the benefits of movement or losing interest.
Navigation risks: Getting lost or feeling confused while walking outside.
Dependence on others: Needing someone else to drive or prompt the activity.

Impact on Medical Treatment

Medication errors: Missing doses, taking pills twice, or confusing medicine bottles.
Communication gaps: Failing to tell the doctor about new pain or side effects.
Appointment tracking: Forgetting the dates and times of follow-up visits.
Misunderstanding instructions: Unable to follow complex home care plans or therapy rules.

Below are resources with tips for managing physical and cognitive obstacles to following healthcare regimens.

Physical

Physical disabilities can create major daily barriers to eating well, staying active, and getting medical care. Having a body injury or illness limits how well you can move around, drains your energy, and makes it hard to access buildings or parks.

How Physical Disabilities Hurt Habits

Hard to move: Feeling pain or stiffness keeps you from exercising or going to the grocery store.
Low energy: Feeling tired all the time makes it hard to cook healthy meals.
Bad building design: Facing steep stairs or narrow doors stops you from getting into a doctor's office.

Diet and Nutrition

Shopping limits: Hard to travel to grocery stores or carry heavy bags.
Cooking barriers: Pain or weakness makes standing, chopping, and lifting pots dangerous.
Storage issues: High cabinets or deep freezers are hard to reach from a wheelchair.
Chewing/swallowing: Some conditions cause dysphagia, making regular food hard to eat.

Exercise and Physical Activity

Facility access: Gyms may lack adaptive equipment, ramps, or accessible pools.
Pain and fatigue: Chronic pain or low energy makes movement exhausting.
Balance risks: Fear of falling stops people from trying new activities.
Transportation: Lacking an accessible ride to a park or class stops regular routines.