Measuring health is more than just being free from illness and injury. Health should encompass your physical and mental well-being. We can develop tools to evaluate how we’re doing in taking care of ourselves. I have envisioned a mobile device application where a person can work with a professional in creating personalized scales measuring other vital factors such as stress, sleep, nutrition, hormones, and exercise.
Stress – create and use your personalized stress scale to measure your daily, weekly, and monthly stress levels. Everyone has different stressors, and it’s important to identify yours and plan to manage them.
Sleep – using a device such as a FitBit can effectively track your sleep, precisely when you sleep and when you wake up. This app can help you keep track of the number of sleep hours. Tracking sleep hours and quality is an excellent measure because lack of sleep can hinder body and brain health.
Nutrition – what we put in our body will affect how it functions. Keeping a food diary is a great place to start creating mindful eating habits and building a good relationship with food.
Supplements/Medication (optional) – having the option to list all supplements and medications in one place along with measurements of stress, sleep, and nutrition help paint a clearer picture of your health.
Menstrual Cycle/Bloodwork (optional) – monthly menstrual cycles are like a health report card for women. It’s essential to be aware of your body during this time and even during ovulation (mid-cycle). Here you can log menstrual & ovulation dates, symptoms, and mood. Both men and women may also upload reports from bloodwork measuring hormones and other biomarkers.
Exercise – Personalized exercise and mindfulness programs will be available here.
People will respond well to using this app because having all of these elements in one location is convenient. Reports can be exported onto a document and taken to a doctor’s visit. These measurements will provide great insight into one’s lifestyle and overall well-being. This tool will also show any imbalance and provide the support and guidance needed for equilibrium.
Did you know there is a branch of psychology called “Health Psychology”? Health Psychology focuses on the emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and social factors that affect a person’s physical well-being. Health psychologists are devoted to exploring and understanding how psychological experiences impact how people stay healthy, why they become ill, and how they respond to illness. Therefore, by focusing on health promotion, prevention, and treatment, health psychologists are instrumental in creating successful outcomes by considering intersectionality. Read more on Psych Today, “Understanding Intersectionality in Health Psychology“. You can even search for therapists in your area through this website.
Have feedback, thoughts, or want to share how exercise affects your mental health, let me know in the comments below!
Per this blog’s disclaimer, statements made here are not for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All the information contained in this blog is for educational and informational use only.
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