What it means to be healthy Free essay! Download now
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What it means to be healthy
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What it means to be healthy
In the context of the key theoretical models of health (biomedical, sociological and holistic), this paper will define what it means to be healthy. By analyzing each of the models, I will draw on both my conceptions of health and that of others.
What it means to be healthy can viewed in a number of ways. Some look on health as a negative concept saying that an absence of disease, infirmity or illness provides good health. Others feel that a more positive perspective is the key by maintaining a high level of fitness, healthy lifestyle and taking steps to prevent ailments with a focus on mental health. (Haralambos, 2008,280)
The United Nations created an organisation 1946 called the World Health Organisation following the Second World War. It out lined what it believed to be the ideal state of health as a core principle of its constitution. “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. (WHO,1948, Haralambos, 2008,281).
In 1984, this was amended in an attempt to create a clearer definition of what is health.
“Health is the extent to which an individual or group is able on the one hand, to realise aspirations and satisfy needs and on the other hand, to change or cope with the environment. Health is, therefore, seen as a resource for everyday life, not the object of living: it is a positive concept emphasising social and personal resources as well as physical capabilities.” (WHO,1984, Class notes, 2012)
In the western world a model of health known as the bio medical model has been adopted where health is measured in figures of mortality rates and chronic illnesses cured The body is treated like a machine that has malfunctioned and needs to be fixed. (Haralambos, 2008,281, WHO, 2011)
A person will have symptoms, visit their doctors, and through standard diagnosis and will be offered treatment in form of medications, therapies or referred to a hospital. There are set guidelines that doctors follow, such as the (NICE,2012) guidelines. This approach has greatly increased the general health of the population. It also recognised mental health as a treatable condition rather than an incurable disability but still took a clinical view for example treating a person who has depression with antidepressants. (Class notes, 2012, Walsh, 2006,89)
To budget setters treatment was a more economically desirable option compared to the cost of mass sociological changes. However, this model has been criticised for not getting to the route cause of problems, creating a cycle of diagnosis followed by treatment “By targeting only the disease it can be cured but not eliminated.” (Blaxter 1983, 1995 , 52).
This model will only function ...
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