Critical thinking may contribute to your overall health!
Healthcare and education
Excerpt: Critical thinking is just one skill crucial to evidence based practice in healthcare and education, write Jonathan Sharples and colleagues, who see exciting opportunities for cross sector collaboration
@article{Sharples2017TI, title={Critical thinking in healthcare and education}, author={Jonathan Sharples and Andrew David Oxman and Kamal Ram Mahtani and Iain Chalmers and Sandy Oliver and Kevan Collins and Astrid Austvoll-Dahlgren and Tammy C. Hoffmann}, journal={British Medical Journal}, year={2017}, volume={357} }
Full article Critical thinking healthcare and education pdf
Critical thinkers analyze evidence and arguments for and against a particular conclusion or theory. This is a very important skill for personal and professional success and those who engage in critical thinking are perceived as more intelligent. Studies show linkage that critical thinkers also enjoy better health.
it’s the ability to analyze a problem in a logical and unbiased way. It requires going beyond the surface of an issue and examining the issue from different angles. Thinking skills have been linked to better health behaviors such as smoking cessation, healthy eating, and disease prevention.
Thinking critically is an important skill that helps us be more effective in judging people’s arguments, making sound decisions, and being better overall thinkers.
It has been found that people with higher IQs are more likely to have a healthier lifestyle making better decisions on what they eat and drink.
Active Minds Equal Greater and Longer Mental Health Capacity
Critical thinkers are able to assess a situation with an objective mind allowing for an innovative solution without judgment bias.
It is a mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, among other sources, intuition knowledge experience – in an effort to form a judgment. Thinkers promote accurate reasoning as well as the evaluation of evidence that supports or opposes a particular claim or argument.
Thinking Can Affect Health and IQ
The act of critical thinking affects health both positively and negatively. When people think critically, they are more likely to make healthier decisions that can improve their long-term health outcomes. It is also possible that a lack of critical thinking skills can lead to unhealthy behaviors that may be harmful to good health.
It was found that people with high critical thinking skills were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease in their lifetime.
In another study, it was found that individuals who used their analytical skills to make decisions about the quality of a medical treatment had a higher rate of survival when they had been diagnosed with leukemia.
A recent study showed that people with higher IQs are prone to have a healthy lifestyle and less likely to smoke while more likely to exercise and eat healthy foods.
It is how we think about complex problems and make decisions based on facts. Thinking skills can be applied to anything – from everyday life decisions like what kind of food we should put into our body to choosing a career or partner.
Critical thinking affects health and how we control stress levels.
Without thinking, irrational behavior or fears may ensue unabated. When critical thinking and analysis is applied, it becomes easier to regulate rational behavior and lower stress.
Uninformed non critical thinkers are at the mercy of other people’s opinions and statements. This is a dangerous way to live and what we see in our current society quite often. Simply taking other people’s word without researching the facts yourself is a prescription for disaster.
The vaccine issue is an example where people are proudly stating publicly that they did not investigate the ingredients in the shot as though a badge of honor. Lack of knowledge and counting on what the herd is doing is bad policy. This is an example of how critical thinking can directly affect your health and future.
We suggest honing your critical thinking skills and applying these skills to better your health and overall quality of life. Bring back the friendly art of debate and sharpen your mind, and health, in the process!
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