Modern Healthy Lifestyle Program or the Opportunity to Develop Modern Health Consciousness

Abstract

Our modern world presents us with ever new challenges that lead to new solutions in all aspects of our lives. Innovation is also evident in our social arrangements, which, similar to the introduction of a new product to the market, entails strong marketing activities in order to be success. Social innovation combined with a social marketing school can bring about very effective social change. This study presents a social innovation that can serve as a pilot project in the field of health promotion. This pilot project is built on the model of holistic health consciousness and responsibility which is a special health promotion and primary prevention example. Within the program, health promotion centers will be established in four locations (Budapest, Miskolc, Szikszó, and Szeged), where natural ingredients and modern technological tools will provide personalized services for primary and secondary prevention and population health promotion.

1. Introduction

Modern age health consciousness is in focus because our modern world has never had such a range of technological tools at its disposal, and we have never had to deal with such a level of stress as we do today. The WHO definition of health has been expanded by the COVID-19 epidemic, and also the growing power of new health-related knowledge and the abundance of health industry products and services have created a kind of chaos in the maintenance of health. The fundamental question arises as to whether the individual is solely responsible for his or her own health or whether society’s responsibility should also be interpreted in a broader sense. Both the health consciousness models and the empirical survey show the role of the environment and the influencing actors. (Actors of the social spheres, which can be individuals as well as organizations.)

However, neither individuals nor environmental actors were sufficiently aware of the extent of their responsibility. In a holistic approach, taking responsibility for health can be interpreted and extended to the environmental actors surrounding the individual. A paradigm shift is needed both at the level of the individual and at the level of societal actors. In 2016, the model of holistic health consciousness and responsibility was created and is now presented in a streamlined form precisely because it reflects the holistic approach along multiple that forms the basis for the development of modern health consciousness.

1.1 The model for holistic health consciousness and responsibility

The holistic health consciousness and responsibility model reflects a multiactor and specific stakeholder management approach. It starts from the problem that individuals’ health consciousness and responsibility must be strengthened in order to increase overall societal well-being. The model identifies the stakeholders who can support and develop individuals’ health consciousness without harming their own interests.

The holistic health consciousness and responsibility model are holistic in several ways (Figure 1). First of all, it assumes the harmony of body-mind-spirit at the level of the individual. We interpret the state of health as the continuous balance of this threefold unity, that is, as a sequence of momentary states. Second, the model is holistic in that it includes the social actors who are able to influence and even intervene in individual health, thus becoming a social actor. Third, it is holistic because it integrates the concept of health into sustainable development, that is, it considers health as one of the starting points and, on the other hand, as one of the outcomes of sustainable development [1].

Figure 1.

The model of holistic health consciousness and responsibility 2022. Source: Mató-Juhász et al. [2].

1.2 Individual responsibility

An essential element of holistic health is individual responsibility. Individual responsibility encompasses lifestyle and various health maintenance factors that can affect physical, mental, and spiritual state, as well as social relationships. To all of this is added the responsibility of the individual in various roles:

• As a private person, the individual can influence the health of others, for example, as a partner, parent, friend, or member of the local community.

• As an employee, health-conscious behavior is also important, that is, which means, on the one hand, compliance with health and safety regulations, employer expectations of a healthy work environment and health-protective work tasks, and on the other hand, ensuring that the individual’s engagement in work does not lead to damage to health (e.g., workaholism, burnout).

• In addition, the individual also plays an important role as a consumer, so that health-conscious behavior also means a kind of responsible consumption, which should also be extended to environmentally conscious and media-conscious consumption [1].

1.3 The macro environment of health

In creating the model, we assumed that a number of macro-environmental factors have a promoting or inhibiting effect on the health of individuals. We defined five main factors:

• One of the most important factors is society (the person of family and friends is particularly important), which represents the values and culture of the particular environment.

• The next important factor that has a great impact on the health of the individuals is the physical environment itself: air quality, drinking water quality and access, and solar radiation, Schumann resonance, housing conditions, school, and working conditions.

• Government and its activities are another critical factor in the health of individuals. This group includes the areas of politics and administration, as these largely determine the options available to the individual.

• The health care system is closely related to government activities but is mentioned as a separate category because of its impact on health, especially physical health.

• Nowadays, the media are extremely important among the influencing factors [1].

1.4 Stakeholders/actors

The model also includes the stakeholders that have an impact on the health of individuals as intervention actors, that is, deliberate actions that support the health of individuals can be associated with stakeholders as actors:

• In terms of health, the community is a stakeholder that can become an intervention actor with regulations to protect and promote health.

• The media, including social media, can intervene as actors by raising health consciousness. This can include drawing attention to health-promoting options and shaping opinion for more positive acceptance of it.

• The civil sector and the church can become intervention actors through their various opinion shaping and support activities.

• The corporate sector can become a very significant intervention actor, especially based on its corporate social responsibility, if it offers healthy products and services to its customers, provides a cafeteria system for its employees, organizes and mediates cultural programs, provides health-promoting working conditions, strengthens the feeling of appreciation, and provides health-promoting and regenerating opportunities [1].

Therefore, if we examine the individual’s self-responsibility in terms of maintaining and restoring his or her holistic state of health, we can conclude that he or she must have a wide range of knowledge about himself or herself and the influence of the environment and others. In the service of health, self-knowledge gains its true weight and importance when the individual (1) has sufficient knowledge of the functioning of his body and continuously monitors it by means of various (screening) tests, (2) understands and relates his mental state and physical reactions and is able to recognize and process his or her feelings, (3) is able to define and understand his or her various roles in relation to others and is able to define and maintain the boundaries of his or her various roles in a way that does not harm the health of others [1].

2. Methodology and results

During the review of the topic, it became clear that the increase in health consciousness will be examined according to the model presented above.

Thus, I did a qualitative research, document, and content analysis, examining the occurrence of the term “improving health consciousness” in Hungarian professional materials. It can be stated that increasing health consciousness means complex health improvement, using modern technologies.

2.1 Health improvement in the modern age

So the modern health-conscious person sees and lives in this complex system, so he expects positive responsibility for himself, his environment, and others. Thus, the responsibility of the macro-environment and stakeholders is to consciously create a supportive environment for the individual. The health-promoting environment represents a novel approach to health promotion.

Health promotion refers to all nontherapeutic interventions that promote the maintenance, development, and improvement of health and the resolution of health problems of a behavioral and/or environmental nature. Therefore, health promotion integrates the existing substrategies of health information, health education and teaching, self-help, and prevention into a single concept. It also emphasizes the need for interdisciplinarity and crossing sectoral boundaries, the consideration of living and working conditions, and opportunities for public participation [3].

In terms of health, development means “improving” health, that is, providing information, support, and the prioritizing health issues at both the individual and society levels [3, 4]. The basic goal of health promotion is to enable people to gain more control over the factors that affect their lives and health.

Health is a positive concept that encompasses both individual and social resources beyond “physical fitness” [3]. The central element of the definition is the issue of control, which expresses the active nature of health promotion. The so-called “prevention” of diseases of civilization is not possible without the proper motivation and active participation of the individual and community.

The so-called “epidemiological” epochal change – the shift in the spectrum of leading causes of death from infectious diseases to chronic, noninfectious diseases – also required a paradigm shift in medicine and medical practice.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of health promotion World Health Organization (WHO) Definition Of Health - Public Health aptly states, “Health promotion is the process of enabling people to exercise increasing influence (control) over the factors that determine their health and to improve their own health status.”

The outlined perspective follows from the concept of health and also includes the extent to which an individual or group is able to realize their desires and satisfy their needs; on the other hand, they can change their environment and cope with the task of environmental protection. Health is therefore seen as a resource in daily life, not as a goal in life. This positive sounding formulation emphasizes social and personal resources as well as physical capacity/endurance, that is, fitness of the individual [3, 5].

The fundamental aspect and goal of health promotion is to empower and enable people to pay more attention to the factors that affect their lives and health, in Hungarian: “to take more care of their health” [3, 5].

The new approach to health promotion must bring a renewal, where health promotion increasingly becomes a kind of lifestyle program that extends to the whole; it includes old and young, men and women, healthy and sick. The most important element of health promotion with a new approach is personal development, which enables you to find joy in life and improve the quality of life. In this change of attitude, the results of multidisciplinary health-related research and their effective application must play a key role [3].

2.2 Examples in health improvement in the modern age

In Hungary, best practices consist of connecting professional areas, where health improvement is managed in holistic, complex way. This means that individual health plans, based on lifestyle medicine, are made by examining the areas of nutrition, exercise, and mental hygiene. The environmental effects are examined, and the environmental actors are also considered actors who can be addressed. At the same time, in implementation, health education typically focuses on the individual responsibility. There are already examples where the environmental actors cooperate in order to improve health.

An example is the oncology prehabilitation program in the Hungarian health care system, which works from the diagnosis of cancer to the active oncological treatment. This program professionally prepares the patient and his environment for the treatments, and the modifiable risk factors within the scope of supply [6]. In this protocol as well, the professionally holistic approach is applied (simultaneous analysis and modification of nutrition, physical therapy, mental hygiene areas), and actors who provide active intervention in some area, such as pastors, civil society, social workers, are already appearing [7].

Another example is a workplace health improvement, which shows that the holistic approach is used by the Hungarian Police. They connect the field of medicine, psychology, and law enforcement for the most effective health improvement. The purpose of the Life-Strength-Health Program is to maintain health support programs operating at the police, to standardize its implementation principles at the national level, and to introduce new programs [8].

The eight pillars of workplace recreation and health improvement at the Hungarian Police:

1. Healthy eating at workplaces.

2. Organizing health days.

3. Once a month, holding interactive educational lectures for the staff with the participation of healthcare professionals.

4. Individualized health counseling during fitness tests.

5. Possible participation in civil screening tests.

6. Providing discounted sports opportunities for the staff.

7. Broadcasting of computer presentations and health improvement videos on TV sets in the waiting rooms of health services.

8. Conducting psychological trainings for personnel.

As we can see there is no such complex increasing health consciousness example in Hungary that can be used for social innovation framework. This study shows a program which is built on the model of holistic health consciousness and responsibility.

3. Modern healthy lifestyle program as a method to increase modern health consciousness

This rather complex model also shows that the basis of health consciousness is the responsible use of information and its functional integration into the daily routine. Putting the holistic model of health consciousness and responsibility into practice is the Modern Healthy Lifestyle Program, which is both social innovation and social marketing.

We see the improvement of people’s health effectively implemented by creating a business community whose activities are to produce and provide products and services that support people’s holistic health in a scientifically and professionally proven way, and we carry out their marketing communications. To this end, we see the implementation of the program in collaboration with companies that have many years of experience in the field of health, working with professional associations and civil organizations that are authoritative in scientific and professional guidelines and certifications. In addition to all this, all actors are capable of interdisciplinarity, that is, of working in partnership with other areas of science and other sectors under the auspices of social innovation.

The research and development pillar of the Modern Healthy Lifestyle Program cooperates with renowned representatives of many scientific fields and industries, for example, medicine, nutrition, sports science, health industry, environmental protection, energy industry, food industry, beauty industry. Each of these areas in itself is a key factor for the successful implementation of the program, but in its complexity leads to synergies. The education and implementation pillar of the program brings the results of the previous R&D pillar into people’s everyday lives through various products and services. The communication pillar of the program draws attention to the results of the previous two pillars.

3.1 The main elements of the program

1. Providing project preparation and project management

2. Creating the Modern Healthy Lifestyle Innovation Research Center (MHL Innovation Research Center), expanding human resources for research, and creating administrative infrastructure conditions:

   • Creating of a Health Care Development Innovation Fund to finance research, studies, and start-ups

3. Modern Healthy Lifestyle Product Development Center (MHL Development Center) R&D-based product development of healthy foods and dietary supplements, development of production technologies, creation of infrastructural conditions, accreditation.

4. Establishment of Modern Healthy Lifestyle Selfness Centers

   • Establishment of preventive – holistic health centers in the cities of Miskolc, Szeged, Budapest – application of franchise business policy based on the synergy of bioresonance, natural healing factors and modern technology, and operation of lifestyle clubs.

   • Development of a diagnostic measuring station for an example project of health tourism in Szikszó.

5. Establishment of the Modern Healthy Lifestyle Social Innovation Center (MHL Social Innovation Center), expansion of human resources in the areas of teaching and media, and creation of administrative infrastructural conditions.

   • Marketing, communication (podcast series on recreation and health promotion in cooperation with the Central and Eastern European Recreation Society)

   • Education, trainings: presenting of development results, monitoring social needs, providing social experiences, strengthening belonging, providing access to lectures and presentations online.

   • Conference presentations and scientific publications

   • Dissemination

   • Organization of events

3.2 Implementer of the program

Another guarantee of successful implementation is a team that manages and owns companies operating on stable foundations with, several years or decades of professional experience and a good reputation at national and international level. Cooperation partners include higher education institutions and civil organizations (Figure 2).

Figure 2.

The implementers of the modern healthy lifestyle program. Source: Own editing.

3.3 Strategic partners

3.3.1 Responsible for the research Center for Health Economics and Innovation Fund

Med-Econ Human Szolgáltató Kft was established in July 2006 as a health and economic consulting company. Its main field of activity is the planning, preparation and management of planned and ongoing developments, investments and professional programs in the field of health care, health technology assessment (HTA), strategy and project management, preparation of business plans, development of service profiles for primary and speciality health care, and the development of related professional concepts. Through the analysis and research of domestic and foreign healthcare and health insurance systems, the company considers the development and promotion of healthcare system as its mission. The company also has an international presence (med-econ.hu).

3.3.2 Responsible for the recreation points area

When the SuperFoods team was established in 2013, they aimed to improve people’s health and lifestyle. They strive to ensure that clients who come to them can access as many services as possible in one place, which helps improve their health. Initially, they worked primarily with elite athletes, as for them nutrition plays a key role in preparing for competitions, building muscles properly and recovering. But their help is increasingly being sought by civilians whose goal is to lose weight, increase their fitness, or improve their overall quality of life. Their goal is to provide complex services with the help of competent professionals. Their focus is on health. They strive to improve the days of their clients, whether in top sports, at work, or in the way they feel about life (Superfoodteam.hu).

3.3.3 Kaqun water

The world’s first oxygenated water was confirmed by clinical tests. Our story began in 2002 in Hungary. Its founder, Dr. Robert Lyons PhD. O.MD, set the goal of creating a product that could store and transport oxygen in a previously unknown way. With this idea, the special water was created that is now known worldwide as KAQUN. Unlike traditional oxygen therapies, KAQUN is unique in that it uses a method of oxygen delivery that focuses on our body’s ability to balance low oxygen pressure in the tissues with the high oxygen content of KAQUN water. KAQUN water is not average purified drinking water, as the oxygen it contains is intended to support any condition that benefits from an increased supply of oxygen to the tissues. Regular consumption of KAQUN water improves quality of life and helps the immune system function, detoxifies, refreshes, and energizes. In addition, it helps with physical and mental performance and regeneration.

3.3.3.1 It may support our immune system

Oxygen is a crucial element for our cells and our body. Without it, our body and cells will become less efficient to maintain optimal physical and mental condition. With KAQUN water, we may support our cells with sufficient oxygen to improve our overall well-being.

3.3.3.2 It may decrease hypoxia

Hypoxia, also known as oxygen deficiency, is a medical term used to describe a condition in which our cells do not receive enough oxygen. Here, it is key to differentiate between the oxygen supply to the blood and the cell, as even in the case of a perfect blood oxygen supply, oxygen deficiency in the cells can occur. By consuming KAQUN water, we can enhance both our cellular and blood oxygen level.

3.3.3.3 It may improve performance

Several articles have investigated the importance of oxygen supply on athletes’ performance, and the results all pretty much conclude that lacking oxygen not only affects sports performance but also physiological function too.

By drinking KAQUN water we could enhance performance under intense exercise since, during activity, the main fuel of our body (glycogen) is delivered to the cells by oxygen. Therefore, by improving the oxygen supply, we can improve our fuel delivery mechanism for better perforce.

3.3.3.4 It may improve recovery

Better performance does not just depend on the amount of work done. If our oxygen supply is inadequate, our cells will use 16 times more energy to regenerate. This process increases the production of lactic acid in the muscles, resulting in muscle pain and fatigue. By consuming KAQUN water, we can reduce lactic acid production for more effective regeneration.

3.3.3.5 Improve memory and mood

Research has shown that even a mild lack of oxygen can impair memory and well-being from children to the elderly. Our brain uses most of the oxygen we breathe to maintain basic functions for our survival, therefore, improving our oxygen supply can enhance all brain function (KAQUN.hu).

3.3.4 Responsible for the range of medical health points

SBT MED is a self-care system with an international medical background that incorporates cutting-edge twenty-first century technology. The quantum technology of the ZYTO™ scanning manual cradle serves as the foundation for conscious self-care that complements traditional health care. The essence of ZYTO™ technology is biocommunication scanning. By measuring the body’s galvanic skin response, the ZYTO™ health assessment provides us with “molecular depth,” personalized map of our body’s condition. It provides a report on the root of the problems that have occurred. ZYTO™ manual cradle technology is based on sound scientific principles: Patented software (US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved devices). (sbtmed.com).

3.3.5 Responsible for social innovation and social marketing

ÉN, Magam Kft was founded in 2011 to raise awareness of holistic health. PR and Communication implement their main activities with social marketing tools. The company targets individuals, companies, and institutions. The main profile of the company: development and implementation of PR and marketing strategies, production of media content, media management, communication and self-development trainings, consultations on work–life balance and well-being at work (enmagamkft.hu).

3.4 Organization responsible for the professional framework of prevention

3.4.1 The central-east-European recreation society (Abbrievated: Garden) is the XXI

It was founded in 2010 as a social challenge of the twentieth century.

The society, which also extends to neighboring countries, is aimed at professionals who research, teach, and work in the recreational and frontier field, students studying the profession, and anyone interested in healthy living and health promotion.

The aim of the NGO is to conduct scientific research that addresses the frontier areas of leisure (sports science, health science, nutrition science, sports psychology, education science, and economics – tourism). It integrates the latest professional knowledge into its educational and consulting services. Active participation in scientific conferences, elaboration and publication of professional materials focused on leisure-related health promotion, prevention of diseases education, and training. Organization and conduct free recreation-based health promotion programs that help individuals, families, and communities to improve their quality of life by regularly engaging in active recreation. Emphasizing the characteristic “recreation is ageless and boundless,” which is used to emphasize collaboration, acceptance, and shared experiences between generations and nations.

Collaborating with the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, providing professional coordination as an umbrella organization to support quality services inside and outside the workplace.

3.4.2 Recreation scientific magazine

Reports quarterly on a high professional level about research results, trends, applied procedures, services, gastronomy, sports nutrition, and tourist attractions in the leisure sector and its peripheral areas (in Hungarian with English summary; and in English with a Hungarian summary) (recreationcentral.eu).

3.5 Organizations responsible for education

The University of Miskolc and the University of Szeged are the institutions where the strategic partners also act as senior lecturers, helping to shape and influence vocational training.

4. Discussion of results

The 2022 streamlined version of the Holistic Health Consciousness and Responsibility model represents the complex system that provides the theoretical framework for effective health promotion. The Modern Healthy Lifestyle Program can provide an answer to increasing health consciousness in the modern age. It is a social innovation model that formulates and implements a developmental concept based on its own research findings, builds on this with educational implementation, and finally focuses on integrated communication for audiences.

The MHL Program is an activity that can be understood as affiliate marketing (www.modernhealthylifestyle.hu).

Affiliate marketing is an area of online marketing that is less known in Hungary. The point is that content producers mediate conversions for advertisers and receive a predetermined commission from the price of the purchase. A real win-win situation for both parties: the advertiser increases his revenue, and the content producer effectively sells his surfaces.

At the same time, it also means a network of prevention-focused health centers based on stress management, suitable for personal consultation.

By promoting healthy lifestyles and improving quality of life, preventive health centers help to address and counteract stress caused by individual lifestyles, while validating the results of health economics and health technology research/development on a global scale.

Using a holistic approach (physical–spiritual–mental–social), the parts of the program increase the number of healthy years of life and lead to a positive experience for the Hungarian and foreign clients who use and apply the project results, using the tools of the modern age. Taking into account the preventive focus and building on the personal responsibility of the individual, it appears as a novelty that by putting the human being and his environment (living space, workplace) in the center, innovative technologies of the health industry, air, sunlight, water, nutrition play a crucial role something about the effect of Schumann Resonance on health.