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Health Promotion Through Prevention And Wellness

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Fitness and wellness are related to the prevalence of certain diseases (Fair, 2011). Most diseases that are strongly associated with risk factors or behaviors are preventable (Bezner, 2015). These diseases when not prevented may lead to decreased quality of life, disability and even death. It is better to prevent the occurrence of certain diseases by addressing modifiable risk factors, than to wait for the patient to suffer the consequences before we take action. Health promotion through prevention and wellness is therefore a vital component of health care system in any community. Bezner (2015) defined health promotion as the process of empowering a person to change his lifestyle and behavior, with the purpose of improving the overall health of people living in the community. According to Bezner (2015) physical therapists are ideal messengers and role models in health promotion and wellness. In line with this, physical therapists should participate in creating a health promotion initiative for the community to decrease health care costs, decrease mortality and to alleviate the risk of having chronic diseases (McGinnis, Williams-Russo, & Knickman, 2002). One example of a health promotion initiative that can be created by physical therapists is a wellness and prevention program for the elderly. In order to create a comprehensive and complete wellness and prevention program for the elderly, physical therapists should collaborate with other health care providers such as

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