Low-Cost Approaches to Promote Physical and Mental Health - Theory, Research, and Practice

Most physical and mental health professionals will agree that their time, space, and funds are generally in short supply, even under optimal conditions. Their participants (clients or patients), too, will admit to similar deficits of time and patience, even with optimal motivation. Overburdened mental health facilities are trying to cope with limited budgets and overworked and underpaid personnel.
Low-Cost Approaches to Promote Physical and Mental Health addresses both sides of this shortfall by offering either self-administered or easily administered verbal and non-verbal interventions designed to promote positive health behaviors while requiring little or no outside funding. Editor Luciano L'Abate continues his long tradition of prolific innovations by identifying major changes in today's health care systems and explaining how targeted, prescriptive promotion/prevention strategies can enhance traditional primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions in key behavioral and relational areas:
- Nutrition: weight/obesity control, diets, meal planning, vitamins and minerals, herbal supplements
- Exercise, expressive movement, relaxation, meditation, and mindfulness
- Writing for mental health promotion, from structured protocols/workbooks to less structured focused, expressive, and guided writing, including diaries and autobiographies
- Sex, sexuality, affection, intimacy and fear of intimacy
- Mother/child bonding as well as couple and family togetherness
- Spirituality and forgiveness in dealing with inevitable life hurts and disappointments
- Friendships and support groups
- Plus leading-edge interventions, including emotional intelligence, animal companionship, and computer technology
Reviews of each promotional approach are engaging, effective, and consistent with standard psychological practice for lasting results, either away from or in addition to non-clinical and clinical settings (schools, hospitals, seniorcitizen centers, etc.). L'Abate and his fifty colleagues have designed a future-oriented sourcebook for mental and public health professionals who want to maximize their resources-and those of their participants.

List of contents

Low-Cost Approaches to Promote Physical and Mental Health.- Primary Interventions: Nutritional Approaches.- Diets, Health, and Weight Control: What Do We Know?.- Low-Cost Obesity Interventions: The Market for Foods.- Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Health.- Vitamins, Minerals and Health.- Herbal Medicines in the Treatment of Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders.- Primary Nonverbal Approaches.- Daily Practices for Mindful Exercise.- Relaxation and Meditation.- Expressive Movement.- Pleasant, Pleasurable, and Positive Activities.- Secondary Writing Approaches.- The Recording of Personal Information as an Intervention and~as~an Electronic Health Support.- Teaching to Remember Ourselves: The Autobiographical Methodology.- Expressive Writing: An Alternative to Traditional Methods*.- Workbooks for the Promotion of Mental Health and Life-Long Learning.- Computers and the Internet.- Secondary Relational Approaches.- Maternal-Infant Contact and Child Development: Insights from the Kangaroo Intervention.- Touch Interventions Positively Affect Development.- Non-Erotic Physical Affection: It's Good for You.- Sex, Sexuality, and Sensuality.- Intimacy and Fear of Intimacy.- Low-Cost Interventions for Promoting Forgiveness.- Spirituality in Achieving Physical and Psychological Health and Well-Being: Theory, Research and Low Cost Interventions*.- Tertiary Multi-Personal Approaches.- Friendship, Social Support, and Health.- Animal Companions.- Applications of Emotional Intelligence to Schools and Workplace.- Conclusion.- Implications of Prescriptive Approaches for Policy, Health Promotion, Epidemiology, and Public Health.

About the author

Luciano L'Abate is Professor Emeritus in Psychology at Georgia State University.

Summary

Most physical and mental health professionals will agree that their time, space, and funds are generally in short supply, even under optimal conditions. Their participants (clients or patients), too, will admit to similar deficits of time and patience, even with optimal motivation. Overburdened mental health facilities are trying to cope with limited budgets and overworked and underpaid personnel.

Low-Cost Approaches to Promote Physical and Mental Health addresses both sides of this shortfall by offering either self-administered or easily administered verbal and non-verbal interventions designed to promote positive health behaviors while requiring little or no outside funding. Editor Luciano L’Abate continues his long tradition of prolific innovations by identifying major changes in today’s health care systems and explaining how targeted, prescriptive promotion/prevention strategies can enhance traditional primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions in key behavioral and relational areas:
- Nutrition: weight/obesity control, diets, meal planning, vitamins and minerals, herbal supplements
- Exercise, expressive movement, relaxation, meditation, and mindfulness
- Writing for mental health promotion, from structured protocols/workbooks to less structured focused, expressive, and guided writing, including diaries and autobiographies
- Sex, sexuality, affection, intimacy and fear of intimacy
- Mother/child bonding as well as couple and family togetherness
- Spirituality and forgiveness in dealing with inevitable life hurts and disappointments
- Friendships and support groups
- Plus leading-edge interventions, including emotional intelligence, animal companionship, and computer technology

Reviews of each promotional approach are engaging, effective, and consistent with standard psychological practice for lasting results, either away from or in addition to non-clinical and clinical settings (schools, hospitals, seniorcitizen centers, etc.). L’Abate and his fifty colleagues have designed a future-oriented sourcebook for mental and public health professionals who want to maximize their resources—and those of their participants.

Additional text

From the reviews:

"A volume that proposes to describe what is known about inexpensive approaches to health promotion is a welcome overview, indeed. This survey of health promotion has a cohesive, pleasing structure that reflects the organization created by the editor. … Overall, the qualities of the presented work, especially the sections devoted to mental health promotion, are sufficient that the book is a useful start for a discussion of the benefits and risks of health promotion." (Keith E. Isenberg, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 53 (11), 2008)

Report

From the reviews:

"A volume that proposes to describe what is known about inexpensive approaches to health promotion is a welcome overview, indeed. This survey of health promotion has a cohesive, pleasing structure that reflects the organization created by the editor. ... Overall, the qualities of the presented work, especially the sections devoted to mental health promotion, are sufficient that the book is a useful start for a discussion of the benefits and risks of health promotion." (Keith E. Isenberg, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 53 (11), 2008)

Product details

• Assisted by: Luciano L Abate (Editor), Lucian L'Abate (Editor), Luciano L'Abate (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 18.05.2007
• EAN: 9780387368986
• ISBN: 978-0-387-36898-6
• No. of pages: 526
• Weight: 1136 g
• Illustrations: XXII, 526 p. 47 illus.
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Psychology > Applied psychology; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Medicine > General; Non-fiction book > Psychology, esoterics, spirituality, anthroposophy > Applied psychology; C, health promotion, Health psychology, Behavioral Science and Psychology, Public health & preventive medicine, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Public health and preventive medicine