Health problems
Plan:
1.Health
2.Health problems
In common usage and medicine, health, according to the World Health
Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease and infirmity".
[1]
A variety of definitions have been
used for different purposes over time. Health can be promoted by encouraging
healthful activities, such as regular physical exercise and adequate sleep,
[2]
and by
reducing or avoiding unhealthful activities or situations,
such as smoking or
excessive stress. Some factors affecting health are due to individual choices, such
as whether to engage in a high-risk behavior, while others are due
to structural causes, such as whether the society is arranged in a way that makes it
easier or harder for people to get necessary healthcare services. Still, other factors
are beyond both individual and group choices, such as genetic disorders.
The meaning of health has evolved over time. In keeping with
the biomedical perspective, early definitions of health focused on the theme of the
body's ability to function; health was seen as a state of normal function that could
be disrupted from time to time by disease. An example of such a definition of
health is: "a state characterized by anatomic, physiologic, and psychological
integrity; ability to perform personally valued family, work, and community roles;
ability to deal with physical, biological, psychological, and social stress".
[3]
Then,
in 1948, in a radical departure
from previous definitions, the World Health
Organization (WHO) proposed a definition that aimed higher, linking health
to well-being, in terms of "physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely
the absence of disease and infirmity".
[4]
Although this definition was welcomed by
some as being innovative, it was also criticized for being vague and excessively
broad and was not construed as measurable. For a long time, it was set aside as an
impractical ideal, with most discussions of health returning to the practicality of
the biomedical model.
[5]
Just as there was a shift from viewing disease as a state to thinking of it as a
process, the same shift happened in definitions of health. Again, the WHO played a
leading role when it fostered the development of the health promotion movement
in the 1980s. This brought in a new conception of health, not as a state, but in
dynamic
terms of resiliency, in other words, as "a resource for living". In 1984,
WHO revised the definition of health defined it as "the extent to which an
individual or group is able to realize aspirations and satisfy needs and to change or
cope with the environment. Health is a resource for everyday life, not the objective
of living; it is a positive concept, emphasizing social and personal resources, as
well as physical capacities."
[6]
Thus, health referred to the ability to
maintain homeostasis and recover from adverse events. Mental, intellectual,
emotional and social health referred to a person's ability to handle stress, to acquire
skills, to maintain relationships, all of which form resources for resiliency
and independent living.
[5]
This opens up many possibilities for health to be taught,
strengthened and learned.
Since the late 1970s, the federal Healthy People Program has been a visible
component of the United States' approach to improving population health.
[7][8]
In
each decade, a new version of Healthy People is issued,
[9]
featuring updated goals
and identifying topic areas and quantifiable objectives for health improvement
during
the succeeding ten years, with assessment at that point of progress or lack
thereof. Progress has been limited to many objectives, leading to concerns about
the effectiveness of Healthy People in shaping outcomes in the context of a
decentralized and uncoordinated US health system. Healthy People 2020 gives
more prominence to health promotion and preventive approaches and adds a
substantive focus on the importance of addressing social determinants of health. A
new expanded digital interface facilitates use and dissemination rather than bulky
printed books as produced in the past. The impact of these changes to Healthy
People will be determined in the coming years.
[10]
Systematic activities to prevent or cure health problems and promote good health
in humans are undertaken by health care providers. Applications with regard to
animal health are covered by the veterinary sciences. The term "healthy" is also
widely used in the context of many types of non-living
organizations and their
impacts for the benefit of humans, such as in the sense of healthy
communities, healthy cities or healthy environments. In addition to health
care interventions and a person's surroundings, a number of other factors are
known to influence the health status of individuals. These are referred to as the
"determinants of health", which include the individual's background, lifestyle,
economic status, social conditions and spirituality; Studies have shown that high
levels of stress can affect human health.
[11]
In the first decade of the 21st century, the conceptualization of health as an ability
opened the door for self-assessments to become the main
indicators to judge the
performance of efforts aimed at improving human health.
[12]
It also created the
opportunity for every person to feel healthy, even in the presence of multiple
chronic diseases or a terminal condition, and for the re-examination of
determinants of health (away from the traditional approach that focuses on the
reduction of the prevalence of diseases).
In general, the context in which an individual lives is of great importance for both
his health status and quality of life. It is increasingly recognized that health is
maintained and improved not only through the advancement and application
of health science, but also through the efforts and intelligent lifestyle choices of the
individual and society. According to the World Health Organization, the main
determinants of health include the social
and economic environment, the physical
environment, and the person's individual characteristics and behaviors.
[14]
More specifically, key factors that have been found to influence whether people are
healthy or unhealthy include the following:
[14][15][16]
Education and literacy
Employment/working conditions
Income and social status
Physical environments
Social environments
Biology and genetics
Culture
Gender
Health care services
Healthy child development
Social support networks
Personal health practices and coping skills
An increasing number of studies and reports from different organizations and
contexts examine the linkages between health and different factors, including
lifestyles, environments, health care organization and health policy, one specific
health policy brought into many countries in recent years was the introduction of
the sugar tax. Beverage taxes came into light with increasing concerns about
obesity, particularly among youth. Sugar-sweetened beverages have become a
target of anti-obesity initiatives with increasing
evidence of their link to
obesity.
[17]
– such as the 1974 Lalonde report from Canada;
[16]
the Alameda County
Study in California;
[18]
and the series of World Health Reports of the World Health
Organization, which focuses on global health issues including access to health care
and improving public health outcomes, especially in developing countries.
[19]
The concept of the "
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