MSU health promotion trailblazer reflects on over three decades of building capacity for health

<p><a href="https://healthpromotion.msu.edu">MSU Health Promotion</a> guru Dennis Martell is retiring this summer following an impactful career promoting wellness among the MSU community.</p><p> </p><p>Martell reflects on his almost 40 years evolving health promotion initiatives at MSU. He describes how students have changed over the years, and he shares some of his fondest memories from his MSU career. He discusses the challenges and opportunities awaiting his successor and talks about the mission of <a href="https://socialnorms.org">The National Social Norms Center</a> at Michigan State University.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Conversation Highlights</em></strong>:</p><p> </p><p>(1:20) – “I remember in ninth grade I saw a report that said, ‘this Dennis Martell will not go very far because of his disabilities,’ and I took that as a challenge.”</p><p> </p><p>(4:03) – “And I came down to East Lansing and gave a speech. And in the audience were three professors from MSU who came up and said ‘Hey, how would you like to come to MSU and get your PhD?’”</p><p> </p><p>(6:08) – “As several different administrators say I’m either a radical, an activist, or an advocate.”</p><p> </p><p>(6:53) – “I got my second master’s here, and I got my PhD here. I love this place. It gave me the opportunity to look at the culture and the environment. When I was offered the job in health promotion, I wanted to see if I could help change the culture.”</p><p> </p><p>(8:06) – “Health is really the capacity you have at any given time to be in this world, to interact with the world, and give back to the world. Health is a measure of capacity. And what is capacity? Capacity is the ability – or skills and energy – to do something, see something, or experience something.”</p><p> </p><p>(9:41) – “What is the meaning of health? Really what it comes down to is freedom. The ultimate freedom is health.”</p><p> </p><p>(12:06) – “Health promotion is about increasing the capacity, supporting the capacity, and restoring the capacity in individuals.