Study Confirms Personal, Spiritual Values Influences Health Behavior
"The activity of prayer was viewed as imperative to health. The participants felt that a strong spiritual base had a profound influence on mental health, physical health and sense of well-being."
(North Carolina)—"I wish I could walk like other people…I used to but I can't. My health won't let me now."
"When you're taking care of your body, you're pleasing God."
"If you are responsible, you're not going to do things that jeopardize your health, like alcohol and drugs."
These are a few ways that North Carolinians participating in a recent study described the values that they attach to the notion of "health." Yet, whether good health is seen as a manifestation of God's will, a personal responsibility or the key to staying happy and independent, the participants all agreed that "health" can affect all aspects of life.
Marlyn Allicock, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, designed the study to see how values attributed to health might affect a person's decision to eat fruits and vegetables. However, the researchers say their findings have implications beyond diet.
"Understanding how and which values influence health behavior practices can impact the design of interventions to promote health behaviors," Allicock said.
Their analysis, published online in the journal Patient Education and Counseling, comprised 82 men and women, including a group of colorectal cancer survivors. From a list provided by the researchers, the participants chose life values and explained how these values affected their decisions about eating fruits and vegetables.
Many participants linked health to their values such as spending time with family, independence and the ability to serve God, Allicock and colleagues discovered. "Good health meant that other goals and pleasures would have richer meanings," she said.
In 2006, Hampton University nursing professor Johnnie Bunch and colleagues asked a group of African-American men and women living in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia about their spiritual beliefs and health behaviors. Similar to the Allicock study, the participants felt that health and spirituality were intertwined.
"The activity of prayer was viewed as imperative to health," Bunch said. "The participants felt that a strong spiritual base had a profound influence on mental health, physical health and sense of well-being."
