Negative Definition Of Health In The Australian Healthcare System

Question 1. Australian healthcare system
(Total marks for Q1 = 35, + 8 marks for referencing)

a) In one to two sentences for each term, DESCRIBE (not define!) of each of the following terms: disease, illness, sickness. (3 marks)
• Disease can be caused by either the introduction of bacteria into the body, which are one cell organisms that are responsible for illness. Or even smaller than bacteria, viruses which cause a multitude of diseases.
• The term illness is often referred to by society as a subjective feeling of being unwell, it doesn’t necessarily define a specific pathological process, but refers to one’s subjective experience of it, such as fatigue, discomfort etc.
• Sickness refers to cultural and societal conceptions of health conditions, which as a consequence alters and influences how a patient reacts to certain health conditions.

b) “Having good health is very different from only being not sick” Seneca the Younger 50AD.
Does the statement by Seneca the Younger agree more closely with the Negative Definition of health or with the Bircher Definition of health? Provide reasons for your answer. (3 marks)

The Bircher Definition states that health is ‘a dynamic state of well-being characterized by a physical and mental potential, which satisfies the demands of a life commensurate with age, culture and personal responsibility.’ Likewise with the statement made by Seneca the Younger, both definitions identify that one’s health is measured by more than the presence of disease. Although Seneca the Younger doesn’t outright state that there are other factor of health that need to be taken into consideration this is what he is implying when he states that it is ‘…very different from only being not sick’; as this suggests that there are more components to one’s