How to Write About Health in 2020
In 1948 Mahatma Gandhi validated the idea that health is wealth, a belief that is rooted in the notion that a person cannot fully realize their potential and serve society without good health. Despite this, the concept of health has been a subject of much debate and is difficult to define. Moreover, there are many different definitions of health that vary depending on the context of an individual’s life and their underlying beliefs and values. For example, for an athlete health may be defined as the ability to complete a 5000m race or for an economist it could be the profitability of a business.
The old English word for “health” is haelth and this suggests our ancestors understood that health is connected to a person’s well-being. It is therefore not surprising that, for centuries, health has been viewed as an integrated whole of the mind and body. For this reason, many people are interested in achieving the highest level of health possible given their circumstances.
Historically, the notion of health has been influenced by cultural, religious and social factors. Early philosophers, like Democritus and Hippocrates, linked health to physical survival and believed that the health of an organism was directly related to its environment. Other ancient traditions associated health with spirituality and saw healing as a process of restoring balance to the world.
As scientific advances have shifted our understanding of the nature of disease, so too has our thinking about health. During the 1980s, the WHO fostered the development of the health promotion movement which promoted a view of health as not just an absence of disease or infirmity but as a dynamic process of resiliency that enables a person to live their lives to the fullest. This definition was influenced by the work of Canguilhem and promoted a concept of health as “a resource for living”.
For some, this broader perspective on health is more relevant than ever in 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates, we live in a globalized world where maintaining health requires the capacity to adapt and self-manage in response to changing contexts that threaten physical, emotional and social wellbeing.
When writing about a topic of Health, consider the format you are producing – a short news story, an in-depth feature article or a profile of a researcher investigating a new treatment. Each of these formats require a different approach and will have a bearing on how you frame your idea. Identifying your audience will help you decide what information is appropriate for each of these formats and how best to present it. For example, you might want to use tables or figures to clearly present a lot of complex information that would be difficult to include in text. Using visuals can also make your article more accessible for people who may be reading with impaired vision. Lastly, use an active voice when constructing your article as this will clarify and simplify the reading experience for your readers.
In 1948 Mahatma Gandhi validated the idea that health is wealth, a belief that is rooted in the notion that a person cannot fully realize their potential and serve society without good health. Despite this, the concept of health has been a subject of much debate and is difficult to define. Moreover, there are many different definitions of health that vary depending on the context of an individual’s life and their underlying beliefs and values. For example, for an athlete health may be defined as the ability to complete a 5000m race or for an economist it could be the profitability of a business. The old English word for “health” is haelth and this suggests our ancestors understood that health is connected to a person’s well-being. It is therefore not surprising that, for centuries, health has been viewed as an integrated whole of the mind and body. For this reason, many people are interested in achieving the highest level of health possible given their circumstances. Historically, the notion of health has been influenced by cultural, religious and social factors. Early philosophers, like Democritus and Hippocrates, linked health to physical survival and believed that the health of an organism was directly related to its environment. Other ancient traditions associated health with spirituality and saw healing as a process of restoring balance to the world. As scientific advances have shifted our understanding of the nature of disease, so too has our thinking about health. During the 1980s, the WHO fostered the development of the health promotion movement which promoted a view of health as not just an absence of disease or infirmity but as a dynamic process of resiliency that enables a person to live their lives to the fullest. This definition was influenced by the work of Canguilhem and promoted a concept of health as “a resource for living”. For some, this broader perspective on health is more relevant than ever in 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates, we live in a globalized world where maintaining health requires the capacity to adapt and self-manage in response to changing contexts that threaten physical, emotional and social wellbeing. When writing about a topic of Health, consider the format you are producing – a short news story, an in-depth feature article or a profile of a researcher investigating a new treatment. Each of these formats require a different approach and will have a bearing on how you frame your idea. Identifying your audience will help you decide what information is appropriate for each of these formats and how best to present it. For example, you might want to use tables or figures to clearly present a lot of complex information that would be difficult to include in text. Using visuals can also make your article more accessible for people who may be reading with impaired vision. Lastly, use an active voice when constructing your article as this will clarify and simplify the reading experience for your readers.