Personalizing Wellness A Grounded Theory Study

Main Article Content

Kari Allen-Hammer

Abstract

The impetus for exploring how people created wellness using classic grounded theory rose from an interest in understanding behavior that shaped a health-conscious lifestyle. The grand tour question was, "what does wellness look like to you; how do you see yourself cultivating that in your life?" Thirty-three data samples were collected from interviews, a diary, and field observations. The substantive theory of personalizing wellness outlined three stages in forming a health-conscious lifestyle. Stage 1, Awakening a Vision of Wellness, begins the change process through experiencing disruption and personal discovery. Stage 2, Integrating Strategies, involves assuming responsibility by prioritizing wellness and handling complexity associated with one's inner and social life. Stage 3, Living Wellness, represents mastery levels of personal responsibility maintained through lifelong learning, sustaining energy resources, radiating vibrancy, and sharing wisdom. Coach-practitioners may utilize this theory for determining stage-appropriate interventions that support health-conscious behaviors.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
Allen-Hammer, K. (2021). Personalizing Wellness: A Grounded Theory Study. Grounded Theory Review, 20(02), 14–31. Retrieved from https://groundedtheoryreview.org/index.php/gtr/article/view/390
Section
Research Articles

References

Allen-Hammer, K. (2019). Demystifying personalizing wellness: A classic grounded theory study. Dissertations & Theses @ Saybrook University; ProQuest One Academic. (Order No. 13428375).

Antonovsky, A. (1987). The Jossey-Bass social and behavioral science series and the Jossey Bass health series. Unraveling the mystery of health: How people manage stress and stay well. Jossey-Bass.

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215. https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-295x.84.2.191

Bandura, A. (2004). Health promotion by social cognitive means. Health Education & Behavior, 31(2), 143-164. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198104263660

Bandura, A. (2018). Toward a psychology of human agency: Pathways and reflections. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 130-136. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617699280

Biddle, J. H. S., & Nigg, C. R. (2000). Theories of exercise behavior. International Journal of Sports Psychology, 31, 290-304.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stuart_Biddle/publication/232534883_Theories_of_exercise_behavior/links/5805a09508aef179365e7304.pdf

Burkholder, G. J., & Nigg, C. R. (2001). Overview of the transtheoretical model. In P. M. Burbank & D. Riebe (Eds.), Promoting exercise and behavior change in older adults: Interventions with the transtheoretical model (pp. 57–84). Springer.

Csíkszentmihályi, M., & Csíkszentmihályi, I. (1988). Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness. Cambridge University Press.

DiClemente, C. C., & Prochaska, J. O. (1982). Self-change and therapy change of smoking behavior: A comparison of processes of change of cessation and maintenance. Addictive Behaviors, 7, 133-142.

Fulder, S. (1993). The impact of non-orthodox medicine on our concepts of health. In R. Lafaille and S. Fulder (Ed.) Towards a New Science of Health (pp. 105-117). Routledge.

Glaser, B. G. (1978). Theoretical sensitivity: Advances in the method of grounded theory. Sociology Press.

Glaser, B. G. (1998). Doing grounded theory. Sociology Press.

Glaser, B. G. (2001). The grounded theory perspective: Conceptualization contrasted with description. Sociology Press.

Glaser, B. G. (2009). The novice researcher. The Grounded Theory Review, 8(2), 1-21. http://groundedtheoryreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/GT-Review-Vol8no2.pdf

Grof C., & Grof, S. (2017). Spiritual emergency: The understanding and treatment of transpersonal crisis. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 36(2), 30-43. https://doi.org/10.24972/ijts.2017.36.2.30

Jones, C. (2005). The spectrum of therapeutic influences and integrative health care: Classifying health care practices by mode of therapeutic action. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 11, 937–944.

Kraft, F. B., & Goodell, P. W. (1993) Identifying the health conscious consumer. Journal of Health Care Marketing, 13, 18.

Knowles, M. S. (1973). The adult learner: A neglected species. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED084368.pdf

Knowles, M. S. (1980). The modern practice of adult education: From pedagogy to andragogy. Cambridge Adult Education.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice-Hall.

Kowal, J. and Fortier, M. S. (1999). Motivational determinant of flow: Contributions from self-determination theory. Journal of Social Psychology, 139(3), 355-368. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224549909598391

Merriam, S. B., & Bierema, L. L. (2013). Adult learning: linking theory and practice. Jossey-Bass.

Nakamura, J., & Csíkszentmihályi, M. (2002). The concept of flow. In C.R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (p. 89-105). Oxford University Press.

Nakamura, J., & Csíkszentmihályi, M. (2014). The concept of flow. In Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 239-263). Springer.

Prochaska, J. O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1984). The transtheoretical approach: Crossing the traditional boundaries of therapy. Dow-Jones/Irwin.

Prochaska, J. O., & Velicer, W. F. (1997). The Transtheoretical Model of Health Behavior Change. American Journal of Health Promotion, 12(1), 38–48. https://doi.org/10.4278/0890-1171-12.1.38

Reidy, C. (2013). Waking up in the twenty-first century. On the horizon, 21(3), 174-186. https://doi.org/10.1108/OTH-03-2013-0016

Rogers, C. R. (1983). Freedom to learn for the eighties. Merrill.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2002). Overview of self-determination theory: An organismic dialectical perspective. Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 3-33). University of Rochester Press.

Simlesa, M., Guegan, J., Blanchard, E., Tarpin-Benard, F., & Buisine, S. (2018). The flow engine framework: A cognitive model of optimal human experience. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 14(1), 232-253. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v14il.1370

Taylor, S. (2017). Transformation through suffering: A study of individuals who have experienced positive psychological transformation following periods of intense turmoil. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 52(1), 30-52. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167811404944

Velicer, W. F., DiClemente, C. C., Prochaska, J. O., & Brandenburg, N. (1985). A decisional balance measure for predicting smoking status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48(5), 1279-1289. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.48.5.1279

Wiese, M., Oster, C., & Pincombe, J. (2010). Understanding the emerging relationship between complementary medicine and mainstream health care: A review of the literature. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness, and Medicine, 14(3),

–342. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363459309358594

Most read articles by the same author(s)