What Is Health?
Health (from Greek
The definition of health varies greatly from one individual to another, and this is partly due to the complexity of the concept itself. Health is multidimensional and reflects the interaction between an individual’s genetic make-up, lifestyle choices and environment. In addition, certain diseases and conditions are hereditary and cannot be prevented, whereas others can be prevented or treated with the proper medical intervention and lifestyle changes.
For example, a healthy person can live with diabetes and still have good quality of life, and a person who has back pain might be able to manage it with the use of medication or physiotherapy. In general, however, it is believed that a person is most healthy when they are able to cope with the environmental factors that affect them and that they can live their lives according to their own values and needs.
Consequently, a common belief is that the health of a person can be improved by providing them with better healthcare services. This has led to the development of new drugs and surgical techniques that have allowed for the treatment of many diseases and conditions. However, there is an increasing recognition that improving the health of people is more complex than simply treating illnesses when they occur.
Accordingly, there is an increasing emphasis on preventing diseases and disorders before they happen. This can be achieved by encouraging healthful behaviours, such as regular exercise and healthy eating habits, and reducing or avoiding unhealthful activities, such as smoking or excessive stress. Some of the factors that influence health are caused by personal choices, while others are influenced by structural causes, such as the availability of affordable healthcare and the societal organisation of work and care.
There is also an increased recognition that there are social determinants of health. These are the circumstances in which a person lives, such as income, employment, education, housing, access to public services, family functioning and support, social connections and community involvement, and the physical and emotional environment in which they live. These factors are often referred to as risk or protective factors and interact with each other to influence health.
In the study conducted by Fugelli & Ingstad (24) and Zahra et al (25) to explore lay people’s perceptions of the determinants of health, they found that lay people conceptualised health in terms of wholeness and pragmatism. Wholeness refers to the notion that health is a holistic phenomenon, and it involves the experience of being healthy in all aspects of life: working and social life, the physical and spiritual landscape of the person and their relationships with each other, as well as their experiences with illness. It is a resource that must be understood and adapted to the prevailing environmental conditions.
Health (from Greek , hlos) is the state of being free from disease or infirmity. It is more than just the absence of illness, however; it encompasses a person’s overall well-being. In addition to the physical aspects, it also includes mental and social health. The definition of health varies greatly from one individual to another, and this is partly due to the complexity of the concept itself. Health is multidimensional and reflects the interaction between an individual’s genetic make-up, lifestyle choices and environment. In addition, certain diseases and conditions are hereditary and cannot be prevented, whereas others can be prevented or treated with the proper medical intervention and lifestyle changes. For example, a healthy person can live with diabetes and still have good quality of life, and a person who has back pain might be able to manage it with the use of medication or physiotherapy. In general, however, it is believed that a person is most healthy when they are able to cope with the environmental factors that affect them and that they can live their lives according to their own values and needs. Consequently, a common belief is that the health of a person can be improved by providing them with better healthcare services. This has led to the development of new drugs and surgical techniques that have allowed for the treatment of many diseases and conditions. However, there is an increasing recognition that improving the health of people is more complex than simply treating illnesses when they occur. Accordingly, there is an increasing emphasis on preventing diseases and disorders before they happen. This can be achieved by encouraging healthful behaviours, such as regular exercise and healthy eating habits, and reducing or avoiding unhealthful activities, such as smoking or excessive stress. Some of the factors that influence health are caused by personal choices, while others are influenced by structural causes, such as the availability of affordable healthcare and the societal organisation of work and care. There is also an increased recognition that there are social determinants of health. These are the circumstances in which a person lives, such as income, employment, education, housing, access to public services, family functioning and support, social connections and community involvement, and the physical and emotional environment in which they live. These factors are often referred to as risk or protective factors and interact with each other to influence health. In the study conducted by Fugelli & Ingstad (24) and Zahra et al (25) to explore lay people’s perceptions of the determinants of health, they found that lay people conceptualised health in terms of wholeness and pragmatism. Wholeness refers to the notion that health is a holistic phenomenon, and it involves the experience of being healthy in all aspects of life: working and social life, the physical and spiritual landscape of the person and their relationships with each other, as well as their experiences with illness. It is a resource that must be understood and adapted to the prevailing environmental conditions.