As the largest force in health care, nursing profession is considered to be in a unique position to facilitate health promotion and disease prevention. Nurses spend considerably more time with patients in comparison to other healthcare professionals and as such, they assist patients in managing their own health. The fundamental requirement in providing this care is to ensure that individuals remain as independent as possible through encouragement and empowerment. There are number of factors to be considered in delivering this care effectively. In view of cultural, socio-economic and educational diversity amongst us, it is difficult to define “health” or indeed “illness”. As our perceptions differ, so do our interpretations and possible meanings of those words. The World Health Organisation (WHO), 1948, states that “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Although positive, the def...
Health is a personal feeling of wellness and function that is not the same for everyone.
As defined by World Health Organization health is a "State of complete physical, mental, and social well being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” So much is made about whether health care should be a necessity and the costs and benefits of creating a national health care system. The debate can be centered upon ethical issues as well as economical feasibility. I believe health is the balance between your physical, mental and social well-being, in my opinion all three factors are essential for good health. I am a twenty year old Asian woman. In relation to health for myself, I consider it to mean being able to function sufficiently as a human being without significant pain, disease and psychological problems. It also means
The concept of health and illness being separated into two models provides indication into the two very different but integral paradigms of how to treat patients deemed as needing care. These two models (known as the Biomedical Model and the Psychosocial Environmental Model) classify diagnosis, treatment and care in different ways which some actually share the same purpose. It is important in today’s society to be open to both models as both are used in all practices based on their similarities and their differences as they are able to “provide complimentary explanations rather than competing ones.”(Gilbert, L, Selikow, T & Walker, L., 2009:3).
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” from Kaiser Permanente, is a good quote to tell us the important of mental, physical, and social well-being for our health. If a person doesn’t have all of three conditions, he/she doesn’t have a healthy body and healthy life. Tuyen, my aunt’s brother in law, is an example. He needed to work twelve hours per day without day off and health care to take care of his family. Therefore, he often feel tired, stressed and depressed about his job over twenty years. One day of five years ago, Tuyen got a terrible sick and became mental retardation after that. So, he looked like a baby boy and couldn’t make money for the family
In my personal opinion the meaning of health is established by the individual. For some it might mean being completely disease free, but for others who are diagnosed with a chronic disease this might not be true. The fact that one might have a chronic condition does not necessarily automatically mean that the person can no longer possess the ability to be healthy. Health constitutes how the person is caring for themselves, regardless of their health history. It does not necessarily mean being disease free, but is determined by how involved the patient is in the healthcare decisions, in contrast to being passive as this can impact the state of wellbeing (Freidman, Bowden, & Jones, 2003, p.363), this involvement will impact how well controlled your disease is or may take part in remaining disease free. Health is established by the individual and perceived to be whatever it is the individual has established as a goal for themselves taking into consideration the “family’s value and belief system [as this] shape[s] its patterns of behavior toward the health problems that they face”(Freidman et al.,2003, p364).
Health and Well-being – Health and wellbeing are perceptions that relate to and define a persons state of life. It is quite often defined as the absence of disease but this is very limiting as health and wellbeing have many different dimensions. The meaning can vary according to the individual, for example somebody who has a disease or disability may refer to themselves as healthy when they are managing their conditions to the point where it is not negatively influencing their life where as someone free from a disease or disability would consider that in itself as being in good health and wellbeing and getting a disease would be becoming unhealthy with poor wellbeing. Physical health is the efficient functioning of the body. Social health is based on behavior, reactions and relationships. Emotional health covers the managing of emotions. Mental health refers to ones thought processes and attitudes. Spiritual health is a person’s positive sense of belonging, meaning and purpose of life. They all affect how we make choices, react to situations and relate to other individuals. Well-being is merely the presence of satisfaction or successful in your own happiness.
The most basic understanding of health is the state of being free from illness or injury. The World Health Organisation defines health as “the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease.” Health means many different things to different people, it is a relative concept, this led sociologist to research into what ordinary people define as being “healthy”, this is known as the Lay Model which is “health as understood by people without training or formal education in medicine and/or healthcare”. Blaxter (2004) stated that if a person was able to function enough to go about their daily tasks, they were healthy. She also saw that there was a difference in health according to male and females, where
Health has many different definitions, one of which is The World Health Organization definition of health. "Is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (Brown & Edwards, 2012). In treating patients with health conditions nurses today need to look at a patient a holistic manner. This encompasses the whole person including environmental and socio – economic determinants that influence their health not just the condition they present with.
The notion of health is contextual and an interactive, dynamic process between person and environment (Schim et al, 2007). Both wellness and illness are conceptualized by the ‘person’, existing on a continuum across the lifespan (Arnold & Boggs, 2001).
Health as a Social Construction In my essay, I aim to find out why social construction affects the health of our society. Ill health may be defined as 'a bodily or mental state that is deemed undesirable'. This means that health is the condition of the body both physically and mentally. Social construction of health refers to the way health varies from one society to another.
The main topic of this chapter is health and disease. “The conceptions of health and disease held by individuals and society may vary” (Baillie et al., 2013). This means that society may play a role in how individuals handle their health care, but individuals may also have different views on their health and prefer other methods or options. This chapter also covers the goals that health care aims to provide. These goals are driven to help those who are ill gain the highest satisfaction of life, but this is not always the case because of different situations and perspectives. Another important topic in this chapter is the importance of the needs of a person and the contributions of society. These two factors help determine the basis for distribution
The World Health Organisation (WHO) came up with the most commonly used definition for health, which has not changed for over 60 years. They say that it is ‘’a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’’ (WHO, 1948), therefore meaning there are many more things to consider with health other than just death rates.
In society today, there is an extensive range of definitions of health and wellbeing which can be seen as both positive and negative. A Holistic view can also be identified and defined. These definitions of health have changed over time and will carry on changing within the future. According to where a family lives or their social class everyone will have different meanings and views of health and wellbeing. This may be due to what one person perceives as being healthy as another person may not. Channel 4 learning (no date) describes that a positive view of health can be seen as when a person is more likely to achieve and sustain physical fitness from exercising and are mentally stable. Therefor a negative view can be described when a person is free from illness, disease, mental distress or anything which may be a symptom of not having good health. The holistic view of health sees the person as a whole instead of just directing at one area and therefore combines physical, social, intellectual and emotional factors together. Consequently, if a person has emotional difficulties such as how they interact with other people or how they may feel but are physically fit and free from illness does not mean that they are healthy overall as one factor has difficulties. It is also vital to consider the two main theoretical concepts known as the medical and social model of health. Polity books (no date) describes that the medical model views health in terms of disease, diagnosis and then treatment and very much views a body to be separate from psychological processes. Causes of ill-health within the body are seen to require expert interference from a doctor to provide treatment to prevent or kill of an illness within the body. The Social model...