‘Health creation is the enhancement of health and well-being that occurs when an individual or community gains a sense of hope, mastery and control over their own lives and environment.’
Hazel Stuteley OBE Feb 2014
It’s an exciting fact, now clinically proven by MRI*, that major brain changes happen when people gain a sense of hope and control. Stress levels reduce, leading to increased learning, improved health behaviours as a result of better decision-making.
This is of major importance in the decades long battle to address health inequalities – but is often poorly understood.
Put simply the two centres within the brain tussling to control our behaviours are the Hippocampus (green) responsible for everything we read, understand and experience. Close-by is the Amygdala (red) which processes fear, leading to highly reactive and often inappropriate ‘fight or flight’ stress responses.
Put simply – gaining a sense of control increases the volume, ie ‘broadband width’, of Hippocampus, whilst decreasing volume of Amygdala, which when highly active ‘shuts down’ the Hippocampus.
This explains why communities who practice health creation experience higher educational attainment, fewer addictions and improved health behaviours.
*MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING