Wellness 9
Building Health Skills
Instant Activity
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List the skills and qualities necessary for
effective communication.
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Explain how having strong communication
skills can impact your health in positive ways.
Objective
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Students will identify the specific tools and
strategies that help maintain, protect, and
improve all aspects of your health.
Health Skills/Life Skills
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Specific tools and strategies that help you
maintain, protect, and improve all aspects of
your health.
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Physical, Mental/Emotional, Social
The Six Health Skills
Health Skills/Life Skills
1. Interpersonal Communication
- Communication Skills
- Refusal Skills
- Conflict Resolution
2. Self Management
- Practicing healthful behaviors
- Stress Management
3. Analyzing Influences
4. Accessing Information
5. Decision Making/Goal Setting
6. Advocacy
Interpersonal Communication
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The exchange of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs
between two or more people
Effective communication skills:
Clearly say what you mean. Use “I” messages to state your position
Pay attention to how you say something (respectful tone, facial expressions, gestures)
Be a good listener. Avoid interrupting and show you are listening (nod, asking questions)
Refusal skills: communication strategies that can help you say no
Conflict resolution: the process of ending a conflict through cooperation
and problem solving
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Steps when dealing with a conflict:
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Take time to calm down and think through the situation
When discussing the conflict, speak calmly, listen, and ask questions
Use polite tone and brainstorm solutions to resolve the conflict peacefully
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Five effective refusal strategies
What are refusal skills?
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Communication strategies that can help you say no when you are urged to
take part in behavior that are unsafe or unhealthful, or that go against your
personal beliefs.
Say no in a clear and firm voice: expressions such as “I’d rather not.”
Explain why: state that the suggested activity goes against your personal
values.
Suggest alternatives: propose a safe healthy activity to do instead.
Use appropriate body language: look directly into their eyes and do not
back down from your position.
Leave if necessary: if the other person continues to pressure you, just walk
away.
Conflict resolutions skills
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Conflict resolution is the process of ending a conflict through
cooperation and problem solving. The key to conflict
resolution is respecting others’ right and your own.
Willingness to compromise will also help achieve a resolution
that satisfies everyone.
Take time to calm down and think through the situation.
When discussing the conflict, speak calmly and listen
attentively asking questions when appropriate.
Use a polite tone and try to brainstorm where no one loses
respect.
Activity: Cooperation learning activity (pg. 30)
Self Management
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Two self management skills, practicing healthful behaviors,
and managing stress helps provide a foundation of good health
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Practicing healthful behaviors:
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Help to protect you from illness or injury
Eat nutritious foods
Get regular medical and dental check-ups
Avoid the use or tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs
Express your feelings
Build your self-esteem
Maintain healthy relationships
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Stress management: ways to deal with or overcome the negative effects of
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stress
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Stress management becomes more important as you take on more
responsibility for your health and additional roles as an adult
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Ex: physical activity, listening to music, managing time effectively, laughing
Analyzing Influences
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Showing a variety of influences.
Show both internal and external influences.
Explain the complexity of the influences.
Show how the influences affect health choices.
Accessing Information
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Learning how to find and recognize
trustworthy information will help you be better
prepared to make healthful choices
Reliable sources:
Parents, guardians, and other trusted adults
Library resources such as encyclopedias and nonfiction books
Reliable Internet sites such as those posted by government and educational
institutes
Newspaper and magizine articles by health professionals or experts
Government agencies, health care providers, and health organizations
Decision making/Goal Setting
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Steps that enable you to make a healthful decision
Steps that help you to protect your rights and health as well as the rights
and health of others
Steps of the decision making progress:
Step 1: State The Situation
Step 2: List The Options
Step 3: Weigh The Possible Outcomes
Step 4: Consider Values
Step 5: Make A Decision And Act On It
Step 6: Evaluate The Decision
A goal is something that you aim for that takes planning and work
There are two different types of goals: short-term (over a short period of
time) and long-term (over a long period of time)
To establish your goals,
Advocacy
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Taking a clear stand for a healthy choice.
Being persuasive.
Explaining why the stand taken is good for health.
Use information to support the choice.
Show awareness of the audience for the message
Show conviction about the message