Promoting well-being is already quite challenging these days. Sometimes I dream of being able to travel back in time to the time of Florence Nightingale. They were just beginning to understand that washing your hands can prevent diseases and save lives. It sounds so easy these days, but it must have been difficult to get people to do so. So Florence and I are on the verge of the same challenge, how do we convince people that their own well-being habits can save their lives. And how can we all really learn these ways of well-being?
In October 2023 cathered Bloom! Skills for the future- community conference, where the topic was Empowering, Engage and Inclusive skills opportunities. At the conference, experts were heard and discussed with for example what is the role of Adult Learning and Education in recognizing and Valuing diversity? And how do we provide support to vulnerable groups of learners? Experts from all over Europe brought to the discussion different perspectives on approaching these topics. The event was organized by EPALE, the European forum for adult education.
Learning is equal possibility for all of us, or is it?
While listening to the experts at the community conference, I wondered during several speeches, are we really all equal when it comes to opportunities to learn well-being skills ? For example, how can we support the capabilities of those in a vulnerable position in improving their own well-being? One expert raised the point of view that a person may not even recognize that he is in a vulnerable position. So he does not necessarily feel the need for possible lifestyle changes or see an obstacle to adopting health-maintaining habits. On the other hand, I wonder if we don’t always notice that less would be better. Do limitless opportunities and, for example, a very good financial situation cause challenges for maintaining health-maintaining habits?
The conference also discussed the fact that if there are many worries or challenges in a person’s life, it is natural to look for safe and familiar solutions. At that time, there are not enough resources to learn something new or even to notice the need for it. Today, the task of promoting well-being is more about influencing health behavior than bringing facts to light. That’s why I think it’s important to take into account people’s everyday challenges when supporting their continuous learning of healthy habits. Do we notice that not everyone feels that they are in need of some kind of change in health behavior and do we offer solutions that feel safe and easy approach, but are at the same time a suitable-sized change for better well-being?
Strenghthening well-being abilities
The idea of strengthening everyone’s ability also came up in the discussions. In “coaching” well-being skills, it would be good to focus on what you already know and strengthen those skills. It`s not just noticing why a person has not known or been able to increase his well-being in the necessary aspects. In lifestyle guidance, we talk about how important it is to make small and permanent rather than big and radical changes. We know through research that small changes are more effective in the long run. From that point of view, respectfully strengthening everyone’s own ability could also work in supporting health behavior. It seems like a gentle thought that I would be advised to do something I like a little more, rather than being ”forced” to do something I don’t like.
Continuous learning is in change and the pace of change nowadays is fast. We learn new technologies all the time and do not avoid the constant flood of information in any aspect of life. However, our well-being has not increased at the same pace, even though there is always more content to promote it.So could it be that skills to evaluate the flood of information and new technologies are one factor in guaranteeing an increase in well-being?
Picture 1: Articifial intelligence helps us to find reliable information. By UNESCO
It would be interesting to know if those people who recognize their lack of information, know how to limit the flood of information and understand which technological solutions are necessary for them, can do better than others. Perhaps artificial intelligence will help us in the future to find reliable information and combine it into interconnected entities and even recommend necessary actions for us to maintain well-being.
We cannot force people to learn. But I believe we learn something every day, knowingly or unknowingly. We will hardly ever be ready and that is a liberating thought, you don’t have to know and understand everything. But hopefully, according to Einstein’s words, our torch will burn brightly and above all we will be well.
“A student is not a vessel that needs to be filled (with knowledge), but a torch that needs to be lit.”
– Albert Einstein.
Writer:
Marika Lätti, Master`s degree programme-student, Savonia UAS
Check out these too:
- Empower. Workforce with the right skills:https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/blog/empower-epale-community-conference-2023
- Engage. Skills for democratic life: https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/blog/engage-epale-community-conference-2023
- Include. Inclusive skills opportunities: https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/blog/include-epale-community-conference-2023
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