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“It Brings Out the Best”: Incorporating Positive Health into Health Promotion Initiatives from the UAE’s Physically Active

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Positive Psychology in the Middle East/North Africa

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Abstract

Traditional health promotion efforts focus on reducing factors that contribute to ill-health, such as sedentary behavior or smoking. Yet, this focus on negative or deficit behaviors overlooks those who engage in positive health activities and their reasons for doing so, as well as the positive health assets they gain as a result. Focusing on the absence of health promoting attitudes does little to shed light on why and how individuals successfully build states of good health and wellbeing. However, this information is useful for the development of health promotion initiatives. Consequently, this study investigates the experiences of ten physically active Emirati nationals and the psychosocial assets they have developed through their various activities. We also explore the relevancy of positive psychology and of positive health in particular, for health promotion efforts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE

    Louise Lambert

  2. Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

    Lily O’Hara

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Editor in Chief, Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Louise Lambert

  2. Department of Social Science, Houston Community College, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, TX, USA

    Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi

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Lambert, L., O’Hara, L. (2019). “It Brings Out the Best”: Incorporating Positive Health into Health Promotion Initiatives from the UAE’s Physically Active. In: Lambert, L., Pasha-Zaidi, N. (eds) Positive Psychology in the Middle East/North Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13921-6_14

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