Positive Health Clinical Practice: Optimizing Whole Person Healthcare (formerly Roots of Positive Change: Optimizing Healthcare With Positive Health Practice) reviews the science of positive psychology, its impact on health and well-being, and how to harness it in effective medical practices. The updated third edition explores how positive psychology with healthy lifestyles in the context of other health protective biopsychosocial-spiritual factors leads to positive health. New chapters highlight how positive health aligns with whole health, the healing aspect of the therapeutic alliance, and the foundational role of meaning, purpose, and spirituality in health and well-being.
The book offers guidance to physicians and other health professionals on how to practically implement this emerging science of positive health into clinical practice. Positive Health Clinical Practice: Optimizing Whole Person Healthcare is written in a format that is accessible to anyone interested in the topic and applying it to their personal well-being.
The foreword by eminent positive psychology researcher Barbara Fredrickson sets the stage for this pioneering book, which is a breakthrough in the movement to harness positive psychology for healthcare. Chapters cover key topics, including the types of activities shown to boost positive emotions and improve emotional well-being (such as mindfulness, gratitude practice, and acts of kindness); conducting well-being assessments; prescribing positive activities as part of treatment interventions; redesigning healthcare practices to integrate positive psychology strategies; coaching health behavior change using positive psychology techniques; implementing quality improvement processes to enhance these services; teaching, modeling, and advocating for positive psychology in healthcare; and promoting the well-being of physicians and other healthcare workers. The chapters are cross-referenced, so that readers can go directly to the topic(s) of interest. Key information is presented in bulleted formats and summary charts for easy access.
Positive health emphasizes implementing clinical care grounded in lifestyle medicine, positive psychology, and health psychology/behavioral science to support individuals to enjoy a lifelong journey and state of well-being beyond what can be achieved by addressing traditional risk factors alone. The reciprocal and reinforcing nature of health behaviors and positive emotions makes positive psychology essential to lifestyle medicine. Moreover, lifestyle medicine competencies can be enhanced, with an emphasis on positive health and specific recommendations. The book acknowledges that more research is needed to delineate best practices for applying positive health and points to research questions that can pave the way. Innovative, yet practical, this contribution to the health, medical, and psychology literature will resonate as an essential reference for those aiming to make a difference in their personal health and well-being, as well as in the lives of their patients.
