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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
Describe the concepts of cultural sensitivity and cultural competence.
Explain some of the variables that help clarify the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health.
Summarize the reasons that poverty is associated with an increased risk for obesity.
Discuss how spirituality and religion may affect health.
Explain some of the important factors that affect health and behavior for children and adolescents.
Describe some of the ways in which pregnancy influences behavior-change recommendations.
Suggest motivational strategies that might be helpful for new parents and other adults struggling with work and parenting responsibilities.
List several factors that affect behavior-change recommendations for midlife and older adults.
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DIVERSITY, CULTURE, AND LIFE STAGE: THE CONTEXT OF BEHAVIOR CHANGE
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Katie has just graduated with a master's degree in athletic training. She worked as a graduate assistant in the athletic training facility at her university for the past year, and now the head athletic trainer has hired her for a summer job. The athletic training facility provides consultation and treatment services to a number of summer programs each year. These include youth sport camps as well as summer fitness programs for adults of all ages, including an alumni group with participants as old as 90. Katie is excited to begin her new job and hopes that working with a wider variety of people this summer will expand her skills. She is a little nervous, though, as up to this point she has only worked with college athletes.
The first program begins tomorrow. It is a soccer program for high-school-aged teens from immigrant families in the area, many of whom are refugees from various countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe. Most have only spoken English for a year or two. In addition to working with the athletes who become injured during the program, Katie is going to teach an injury-prevention program for the group. She decides to make the program mostly demonstration and participation, with only a little talking.
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Behavior-change recommendations are most effective when they are individualized for specific clients. Just as no two people are alike, so no two sets of behavior-change recommendations will be identical. Health and fitness professionals must craft recommendations that take into consideration the many details of clients' lives. The greater the ability of health and fitness professionals to communicate and work effectively with a wide range of clients, the more successful they will be in promoting positive health-behavior change.
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Many countries, including the United States and Canada, are home to diverse collections of people. In this context, diverse describes groups of people that are different from each other. Groups of people can be diverse in many ways. One of the most noticeable ways in which people differ from one another is in terms of their countries and cultures of origin. Sometimes these differences are manifest ...