How to Write About Health
Health is a state of physical, mental and social well-being. It is also a positive concept, defined by some as “the ability to live life to the fullest”.
A broad range of ideas about health have been described and debated over time, and there are many ways to write about it. Health articles can take the form of short news stories, in-depth feature pieces or even profiles of researchers studying new treatments. To be effective, health articles should have a clear focus and audience.
It is a common mistake to assume that if an article has a strong idea, it will automatically make sense for a wide audience. However, writing for a specific group of people can help you focus your ideas and make them more relevant to the readers. To do this, consider what kind of audience you want to reach — general readers, scientists, or science nerds? Knowing your audience can also help you pick topics, as it will narrow your options for finding information that is pertinent and useful to them.
In 1948, when the World Health Organization was established, its Constitution included a definition of health that stated that it is more than just the absence of disease and infirmity: “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of illness or infirmity”. This view of health has become widely accepted.
Various viewpoints about health have been described by scholars and philosophers over the centuries. Some have focused on the role of health in society, while others have looked at what contributes to health and illness, or what causes diseases and their symptoms. A more recent approach, which is called salutogenesis or healthy aging, is concerned with factors that support health and wellness, rather than those that cause disease and illness.
There is a growing recognition that people’s health is influenced by a complex interplay of factors — some of which are individual choices, such as whether or not to engage in risky behaviours, and others are societal, such as how easily individuals can access medical services or affordable housing. Moreover, some of these factors are beyond the control of individuals and groups, such as genetics and environmental conditions.
A third perspective on health is that of the lay person. This view is characterized by three qualities: wholeness, pragmatism and individualism. Wholeness relates to the perception of health as a holistic phenomenon, and the idea that it must be viewed in terms of what is realistically achievable for a given situation. This might mean that a person who lives at sea level may experience problems if they move to a high altitude, because the environment there has a different concentration of oxygen and the body has to adapt to this change. Pragmatism means that the definition of health is relative to what a person values in life. Finally, individualism relates to the fact that everyone’s values are unique.
Health is a state of physical, mental and social well-being. It is also a positive concept, defined by some as “the ability to live life to the fullest”. A broad range of ideas about health have been described and debated over time, and there are many ways to write about it. Health articles can take the form of short news stories, in-depth feature pieces or even profiles of researchers studying new treatments. To be effective, health articles should have a clear focus and audience. It is a common mistake to assume that if an article has a strong idea, it will automatically make sense for a wide audience. However, writing for a specific group of people can help you focus your ideas and make them more relevant to the readers. To do this, consider what kind of audience you want to reach — general readers, scientists, or science nerds? Knowing your audience can also help you pick topics, as it will narrow your options for finding information that is pertinent and useful to them. In 1948, when the World Health Organization was established, its Constitution included a definition of health that stated that it is more than just the absence of disease and infirmity: “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of illness or infirmity”. This view of health has become widely accepted. Various viewpoints about health have been described by scholars and philosophers over the centuries. Some have focused on the role of health in society, while others have looked at what contributes to health and illness, or what causes diseases and their symptoms. A more recent approach, which is called salutogenesis or healthy aging, is concerned with factors that support health and wellness, rather than those that cause disease and illness. There is a growing recognition that people’s health is influenced by a complex interplay of factors — some of which are individual choices, such as whether or not to engage in risky behaviours, and others are societal, such as how easily individuals can access medical services or affordable housing. Moreover, some of these factors are beyond the control of individuals and groups, such as genetics and environmental conditions. A third perspective on health is that of the lay person. This view is characterized by three qualities: wholeness, pragmatism and individualism. Wholeness relates to the perception of health as a holistic phenomenon, and the idea that it must be viewed in terms of what is realistically achievable for a given situation. This might mean that a person who lives at sea level may experience problems if they move to a high altitude, because the environment there has a different concentration of oxygen and the body has to adapt to this change. Pragmatism means that the definition of health is relative to what a person values in life. Finally, individualism relates to the fact that everyone’s values are unique.