The 2 things you need to get whatever you want out of the world are:
Education and Health

Sounds a bit boring, but bear with me for a moment.

Without education, we do not have the ability or self-agency to have control over our health.
Without health, our ability to achieve all we want from ourselves (regardless of our education) is severely compromised.

There are so many issues emanating from these 2 statements that I could not possibly cover in 1 blog post.

For example, ‘Education’ is a very broad term these days. More than ever before, we can access it in a variety of ways, including online. However we need basic literacy and numeracy in order to access it.

‘Health’ does not just mean an absence of disease, it covers physical, mental and even social wellbeing.

A key concept where the issues of health and education intersect is health literacy.

‘Health Literacy’ covers the motivation and ability to access, understand and use health information.

Knowledge of health, especially prevention and early intervention, is critical to the health of individuals and societies. The ability to take control of one’s own health, and the factors influencing it, is also vital.

The health literacy of the average Australian is of great concern to me. What I learned in senior secondary Health studies, and even some of what I learned in my university studies and health workforce participation should be available to everyone. Only through these experiences do I have the knowledge and skills I believe everyone should have access to. These knowledge and skills include:

– Understanding nutrition
– Reading food labels
– Understanding the importance of physical fitness, the different types & how to achieve them
– Understanding hormones and how they influence our health
– Understanding our internal body systems, including digestion and energy productio
n
-Understanding how to navigate the health care system appropriately, i.e public versus private, primary vs tertiary, emergency vs urgent vs routine
– The confidence to self-advocate for one’s health needs

I am currently working on turning my blog into a website for a number of reasons. One is that I feel I have a lot to share on my topics of passion, including health & education.

Help me out by telling me which of the topics above you want to know most about and I’ll prioritise them in the New Year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!