Salutogenesis: Origin of Health
Salutogenesis - Origin of Health

Salutogenesis is the study of how health and well-being originate and develop.

Aaron Antonovsky is the father of the Salutogenic Theory. He proposed that health and disease are not mutually exclusive states but rather are opposite poles on a continuum (health-ease vs. dis-ease continuum). Thus, people always have elements of being healthy and sick at any given time, but with differing ratios. Hence, never entirely healthy nor entirely sick. He also proposed that it is possible to consciously move along this axis between the poles within the continuum. In other words, you have the powers and tools to control where on that axis you may find yourself. It is therefore our responsibility to invite positive influences into our lives and in doing so move towards a healthier ratio.

In order to do so, Antonovsky defined three important factors:
Comprehensibility, Manageability and Meaningfulness.

The following video explains these in more detail. Keep in mind, however, that the topic and theory is so broad that it would warrant its own stand-alone course. It is therefore impossible to explain everything here, and we have limited ourselves to showing you those elements you will need to help people effectively.

 
The concept of Salutogenesis is one of the most important ones for us at TBAcare. The theory is great for finding a starting point with a client, but also to look at the client's development in general.

 This is why there is an additional video on Salutogenesis in Coaching within the Coaching Basics, explaining how to actually apply the theory within the coaching sessions. If you haven't looked at it already, please do so while you're working on this phase.