How the Definition of Health Affects the Goals We Set For Improving Health
Generally, health is thought of as being the absence of disease or injury. However, a lot more goes into being healthy than that. The five dimensions of health are physical, emotional, social, spiritual and mental.
How we define Health will have a significant impact on the types of goals we set for improving it. For example, if it is simply defined as the absence of disease, this would lead us to think that our primary goal should be to remove diseases from society. By contrast, if we define Health more broadly as including the capacity of individuals to function and participate in society, then our primary goal becomes one of increasing capacities rather than eliminating diseases.
Another way in which the definition of Health affects the goals we set is by how it influences our understanding of what causes differences between people’s health. For example, if the primary feature of health is that it is the capacity to function in the face of adversity, then this tends to view health as a matter of behaviour, such as adherence to treatment regimens, rather than as a wider concept of social and environmental factors that may impact health, such as living conditions or genetic endowment (Department of Health 2022).
A final consideration is how we define Health in terms of its value to the individual. This is particularly important as the committee definition, which focuses on functioning, places emphasis on the importance of an individual’s experience of disease or injury; their responses to their illness and its management; their functional ability in work, family, and community; and their sense of well being in many spheres.
The committee definition also allows improvement efforts to focus on those aspects of the environment and lifestyle that we know have a direct impact on health, such as living in areas with good quality medical care or the avoidance of smoking. It also accepts that there are some aspects of health that we cannot measure but are important for improving people’s health, such as the effects of poverty or low social class on mental health.
Finally, when we are deciding how to write about Health, it is helpful to consider our audience. This will influence what we write about, and in which format. For example, writing for a general news website is different to writing for a women’s health or parenting magazine. By thinking about our audiences, we can make sure that our articles are relevant and appropriate. This will increase the chances that they are read and understood. Then we can achieve our objectives of educating and informing the public.
Generally, health is thought of as being the absence of disease or injury. However, a lot more goes into being healthy than that. The five dimensions of health are physical, emotional, social, spiritual and mental. How we define Health will have a significant impact on the types of goals we set for improving it. For example, if it is simply defined as the absence of disease, this would lead us to think that our primary goal should be to remove diseases from society. By contrast, if we define Health more broadly as including the capacity of individuals to function and participate in society, then our primary goal becomes one of increasing capacities rather than eliminating diseases. Another way in which the definition of Health affects the goals we set is by how it influences our understanding of what causes differences between people’s health. For example, if the primary feature of health is that it is the capacity to function in the face of adversity, then this tends to view health as a matter of behaviour, such as adherence to treatment regimens, rather than as a wider concept of social and environmental factors that may impact health, such as living conditions or genetic endowment (Department of Health 2022). A final consideration is how we define Health in terms of its value to the individual. This is particularly important as the committee definition, which focuses on functioning, places emphasis on the importance of an individual’s experience of disease or injury; their responses to their illness and its management; their functional ability in work, family, and community; and their sense of well being in many spheres. The committee definition also allows improvement efforts to focus on those aspects of the environment and lifestyle that we know have a direct impact on health, such as living in areas with good quality medical care or the avoidance of smoking. It also accepts that there are some aspects of health that we cannot measure but are important for improving people’s health, such as the effects of poverty or low social class on mental health. Finally, when we are deciding how to write about Health, it is helpful to consider our audience. This will influence what we write about, and in which format. For example, writing for a general news website is different to writing for a women’s health or parenting magazine. By thinking about our audiences, we can make sure that our articles are relevant and appropriate. This will increase the chances that they are read and understood. Then we can achieve our objectives of educating and informing the public.