What Is Health?
Health is the condition of being free from illness and able to cope with the normal demands of life. It includes physical, mental and social well-being as well as the ability to maintain a healthy body weight.
In order to achieve good health, a person must have a balanced diet, adequate sleep, and regular exercise. They should also receive medical care as needed.
A person’s health may also be affected by the social determinants of health, such as education, employment, housing and access to services. These determinants influence the health of an individual or community and have significant effects on life expectancy.
Despite the increasing availability of health-promoting technologies and the growing number of people who have access to health care, many still live in conditions of ill health. This is true both in developed and developing countries alike.
If we want to make a difference, however, we need to change the way that people define health. This requires changing the values that individuals have in their daily lives and that are influenced by family, friends, schools, society, laws, and their own life course and experience.
Some people define health as the absence of disease or impairment, while others argue that it is a state of equilibrium between an individual’s physical, mental, and social environments. These definitions seem to be useful in describing the different ways in which an individual might be considered healthy, although they are likely to vary according to the circumstances and demands of an individual’s situation.
The definition of health that is most often used today is one in which it is said that an individual is free from disease. It is important to note, however, that this definition excludes those who have a chronic health condition that affects their daily lives and is unlikely to resolve with medical treatment.
In many places, such as France and the United States, doctors have adopted a more personalised approach to their work. They believe that they have a mission to work with their patients to help them identify their functional needs and deliver those needs as effectively as possible.
They aim to provide a service that is as high quality as possible, in accordance with the patient’s individual health and economic priorities. This is achieved through a system of collaborative partnerships between the doctor, the patient, and allied professionals such as nurses, psychologists, social workers, and other therapists.
A key part of this approach is the premise that health is a dynamic process that is constantly evolving, depending on a person’s unique prevailing conditions. This is a powerful, yet simple, concept that can make an enormous difference in the way we define health and achieve it.
In his 1943 book, The Normal and the Pathological, French physician Georges Canguilhem wrote: “Health is that state of being in which we can adjust to our environment in such a way as to enjoy our lives and not to suffer in any manner.” He rejected the idea that health should be defined statistically or mechanistically. Instead, he advocated a more holistic approach that included both the animate and inanimate world around us.
Health is the condition of being free from illness and able to cope with the normal demands of life. It includes physical, mental and social well-being as well as the ability to maintain a healthy body weight. In order to achieve good health, a person must have a balanced diet, adequate sleep, and regular exercise. They should also receive medical care as needed. A person’s health may also be affected by the social determinants of health, such as education, employment, housing and access to services. These determinants influence the health of an individual or community and have significant effects on life expectancy. Despite the increasing availability of health-promoting technologies and the growing number of people who have access to health care, many still live in conditions of ill health. This is true both in developed and developing countries alike. If we want to make a difference, however, we need to change the way that people define health. This requires changing the values that individuals have in their daily lives and that are influenced by family, friends, schools, society, laws, and their own life course and experience. Some people define health as the absence of disease or impairment, while others argue that it is a state of equilibrium between an individual’s physical, mental, and social environments. These definitions seem to be useful in describing the different ways in which an individual might be considered healthy, although they are likely to vary according to the circumstances and demands of an individual’s situation. The definition of health that is most often used today is one in which it is said that an individual is free from disease. It is important to note, however, that this definition excludes those who have a chronic health condition that affects their daily lives and is unlikely to resolve with medical treatment. In many places, such as France and the United States, doctors have adopted a more personalised approach to their work. They believe that they have a mission to work with their patients to help them identify their functional needs and deliver those needs as effectively as possible. They aim to provide a service that is as high quality as possible, in accordance with the patient’s individual health and economic priorities. This is achieved through a system of collaborative partnerships between the doctor, the patient, and allied professionals such as nurses, psychologists, social workers, and other therapists. A key part of this approach is the premise that health is a dynamic process that is constantly evolving, depending on a person’s unique prevailing conditions. This is a powerful, yet simple, concept that can make an enormous difference in the way we define health and achieve it. In his 1943 book, The Normal and the Pathological, French physician Georges Canguilhem wrote: “Health is that state of being in which we can adjust to our environment in such a way as to enjoy our lives and not to suffer in any manner.” He rejected the idea that health should be defined statistically or mechanistically. Instead, he advocated a more holistic approach that included both the animate and inanimate world around us.