What Is Health?
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The term is derived from the Latin “health”, meaning welfare or flourishing. The earliest use of the word in English was in the 14th century. The concept of health is complex and has varied definitions. A broad definition includes the ability to live life in harmony with one’s own and community values and goals. It requires the active participation of the individual to achieve health.
Health can be influenced by many factors, called determinants. These include genetics, environmental conditions, a person’s health behaviours (e.g. smoking, exercise), psychosocial factors, and their own bodily states, including biomedical risk factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol. On a population basis, some of these determinants are amenable to change whereas others are not. For example, education and income levels are known to influence a range of health outcomes.
Traditionally, health has been defined as the ability to ward off illness and injury, and the focus of much medical practice has been on disease prevention and cure. In recent times, the emphasis has shifted towards the broader notion of well-being and health promotion, which focuses on preventing diseases through lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet and regular exercise.
A problem with the simplest definition of health – equated to the absence of disease – is that it leaves little room for individuals to define what they feel their own state of health is. This definition also ignores the reality that people can still feel unwell even if they do not have any symptoms or diagnoses, and can vary significantly in their responses to diseases or other health issues.
Another problem with this definition is that it puts too much emphasis on the medical profession being the only ones who can declare an individual as healthy. Huber and colleagues suggest that this leads to an ‘over-medicalisation’ of society. It also gives the impression that everyone is at risk of disease, and that they can only be considered ‘healthy’ if they receive medical treatment for any illness or condition that they have.
A more expansive definition of health would allow health professionals to focus on promoting the origins of health. This includes encouraging the healthy choices that lead to a person’s well-being, such as regular exercise and adequate sleep, while reducing or avoiding unhealthy behaviours and situations, such as smoking and excessive stress. It would also involve addressing the scales of an individual’s and their communities’ values to ensure that health is valued higher than disease. This, in turn, would make people more likely to participate in preventive activities and seek treatment as needed. This approach could help to address a wider range of health needs, such as reducing crime, drug abuse, and the incidence of unintended pregnancies among teens. It could also support more holistic, patient-centred care in which doctors are partners with their patients in the pursuit of wellness.
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The term is derived from the Latin “health”, meaning welfare or flourishing. The earliest use of the word in English was in the 14th century. The concept of health is complex and has varied definitions. A broad definition includes the ability to live life in harmony with one’s own and community values and goals. It requires the active participation of the individual to achieve health. Health can be influenced by many factors, called determinants. These include genetics, environmental conditions, a person’s health behaviours (e.g. smoking, exercise), psychosocial factors, and their own bodily states, including biomedical risk factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol. On a population basis, some of these determinants are amenable to change whereas others are not. For example, education and income levels are known to influence a range of health outcomes. Traditionally, health has been defined as the ability to ward off illness and injury, and the focus of much medical practice has been on disease prevention and cure. In recent times, the emphasis has shifted towards the broader notion of well-being and health promotion, which focuses on preventing diseases through lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet and regular exercise. A problem with the simplest definition of health – equated to the absence of disease – is that it leaves little room for individuals to define what they feel their own state of health is. This definition also ignores the reality that people can still feel unwell even if they do not have any symptoms or diagnoses, and can vary significantly in their responses to diseases or other health issues. Another problem with this definition is that it puts too much emphasis on the medical profession being the only ones who can declare an individual as healthy. Huber and colleagues suggest that this leads to an ‘over-medicalisation’ of society. It also gives the impression that everyone is at risk of disease, and that they can only be considered ‘healthy’ if they receive medical treatment for any illness or condition that they have. A more expansive definition of health would allow health professionals to focus on promoting the origins of health. This includes encouraging the healthy choices that lead to a person’s well-being, such as regular exercise and adequate sleep, while reducing or avoiding unhealthy behaviours and situations, such as smoking and excessive stress. It would also involve addressing the scales of an individual’s and their communities’ values to ensure that health is valued higher than disease. This, in turn, would make people more likely to participate in preventive activities and seek treatment as needed. This approach could help to address a wider range of health needs, such as reducing crime, drug abuse, and the incidence of unintended pregnancies among teens. It could also support more holistic, patient-centred care in which doctors are partners with their patients in the pursuit of wellness.