Health to an Individual #whatishealth

When I heard that the definition of health according to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948 was “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organization, n.d.), initially I was impressed that it was not purely based on physical diseases. After reviewing the definition in a more constructive way I do feel as though the “all or nothing” mentality of what health is to an individual does not work. There are many people who live day in and day out with chronic diseases that would argue that according to WHO they are considered to be unhealthy.

If you use the definition from WHO it really puts the control in a healthcare provider's hand of what is truly considered health for an individual. Saying that the absence of disease is what health is to an individual means that you cannot successfully live with diabetes, chronic pain etc. (Sartorius, 2006). I struggle with that as I do feel as though health is what you make of it. As medicine advances, diagnostic tests become stronger, and preventative measures are put into place, illnesses are being found earlier and this allows individuals to live successfully with them. If we used this definition, the status of a person’s health could be different from one day to the next purely based on receiving test results.

It is incredibly important to take into consideration how an individual feels in regard to their health. Oleribe et al. (2018) suggested how health is relative to each individual and what is important to them. Health may be very different from one individual to the next based on many factors. If you are an athlete versus a teacher, health will have different definitions and should not be compared to one another. As a nurse who works in healthcare, it is quite evident that each individual patient has their own definition of health and also what matters to them to get to be healthy again.

The 1948 WHO definition also does not take into consideration the amount of medical advancements and treatment options that have been created over the last seventy years. With the evolution of medicine as a whole, our patients are living longer while having a disease. As Huber (2011) stated “disease patterns have changed, with public health measures such as improved nutrition, hygiene and sanitation and more powerful healthcare interventions.” In 1948 when these treatment options and diagnostic tests were not present, patients who were diagnosed with a disease were often dying and therefore not considered healthy.

I think as we look to redefine the definition of health we should have a benchmark of a definition followed with a caveat that each person may have their own idea along an equilibrium of what healthy truly is. It is important to not forget that many factors should be included in the definition of health. Health is not just a physical wellbeing, but also one that should include mental and social health as well.

References

Huber, M. (2011). Health: How should we define it? British Medical Journal, 343,(7817), 235-237. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d4163 (link http://www.jstor.org/stable/23051314)

Oleribe, O. O., Ukwedeh, O., Burstow, N. J., Gomaa, A. I., Sonderup, M. W., Cook, N., Waked, I., Spearman, W., & Taylor-Robinson, S. D. (2018). Health: redefined. The Pan African Medical Journal, 30, 292. https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2018.30.292.15436

Sartorius, N. (2006). The Meanings of Health and its Promotion. Croat Med J, 47(4), 662-664.