Public Health Philosophy

I consider health as a state of wellness. With this, I bear in mind that each person’s idea of wellness may differ from the next. For example, a diabetic may consider his diabetes being under control and healthy when his

The definition of health is the state of being free from illness and injury, it can also be used to explain a person’s mental or physical condition.

Health is a complete physical, mental and social well-being and functioning of a human being. It is the unity and harmony within the mind, body, and soul ( The Seven Assumptions). What the person perceived and what he is actually experiencing needs to be in harmony. The limitation to this is there is only so much you can do as a health care professional to help a patient . Some may think eating chips and drinking three cases of beer is healthy. As a

Naidoo and Wills(2001, p.47) “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ - WHO (1946).” This definition falls into a holistic way of defining health, which believes that there are more areas to look at when thinking of health than just simply the absence of a disease. It considers the cause of why someone is ill and not just simply about ’fixing it’.

By looking at what different people say about health, it is clear that each one look at it differently. Therefore, there are many ways to define health. When we look at health, all physical, intellectual, emotional and social aspects should be considered because they all affect our health equally. Health can be defined in many ways, positively, negatively and holistically. It depends on how the individuals look at their health and how concerned they are about it. Our state of healthiness will depend on many things such as where do we live, what job do we do, what do we eat, who are our friends and everything else related to our lifestyle. Our choice about our lifestyle can make a difference to our health. If we are interested enough in ourselves, we can improve our own health. Some people think, that it depends only on the health care we obtain; however, it doesn't only depend on this. It is connected to our lifestyle as well.

According to the dictionary, the word health is “the state of being free from illness.” At a first glance, this defination seems to be very direct and simple, however the meaning of the word ‘health’ nowadays is much more complex. The above definition pretty much sums up our view of health in the first half of the 20th century.

Merriam-Webster dictionary (2017, para. 1), provides the following definitions of health: “1a. the condition of being sound in body, mind or spirit”, “1b. the general condition of the body” “2a. a condition in which someone or something is thriving or doing well: well-being”, and “2b. a general condition or state”. These definitions can be, and are, interpreted in many ways by both healthcare providers and patients. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2017, para. 1) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

The book definition of health is that it is a state of well-being free from disease (Finkleman and Kenner, 2013, p. 55). My personal definition of health is that it is a life experience of well-being that is characterized by soundness or wholeness. Having health means a person can continually adjust to internal and external stimuli while maintaining harmony, soundness, and comfort. Health is vital to my philosophy because as a nurse, it is my duty to promote health. Promoting health for the person makes the environment easier for the person to maintain their harmony. In order to promote health, I believe that it is vital to mobilize healthy patterns of living, foster personal and family development, and support self-defined goals of individuals, families, communities, and populations ( Finkleman and Kenner, 2013, p. 55; ANA 2010a, p. 23). Health of the patient, health of the healthcare professionals, and health of the environment is significant to my personal nursing philosophy. Health is the base for which I place my philosophy on. Without an established of promoting health, then the rest of my philosophy will fail. Promoting health helps prevent illness or injury and improve treatment which results in a patient’s health being whole and sound.

Health: a state of well-being of a person, can be in a normal or impaired state

Health, like love is a and extensive word that can be defined in many ways. Accepting that the definition is incomplete, one can agree with the World Health Organization. Health is not an ability but a state where there is physical, mental, and social wellness.

Health – “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organisation, 2017).

According to Floyd, Mimms and Yelding (2008) Webster’s Dictionary defines health as “the condition of being sound in body, mind and spirit… freedom from physical disease or pain.” This definition has very much taken the holistic view. Wellbeing is a term in which reflects on the positive emphasis on health and can be broken down into six aspects know as environmental, physical, social, emotional, mental and spiritual. To achieve a high balance of wellbeing it is vital that a person is able to balance and take care of each aspect effectively. Underdown (2007) implies that in 1948 the World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not just the absence of disease or infirmity.’ This definition took a holistic view as it mentions mental and social wellbeing and it was supported as it focused on a person being healthy rather than not being ill. However, this definition has been widely criticized. Seedhouse (1986) believed that for someone to be in perfect state of health is unachievable and unrealistic.

According to WHO (world health organization) "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".

Health is a status of a person’s welling being. In this definition it means that a person is able to function both physical and mental. The reason in which I address health as such is, because even a disabled person is still able to experience life. My great-great-great-great uncle has recently been confined to a wheelchair, because his body is not able to function as it was once able too. This condition still does not affected him from being involved in family activist. If anything he wants to be more involved with what is going on around him since his legs have started to give out on him. He still lives his life and is happy. I asked one day how he could still be able if he was losing the ability to walk. He responded to me by saying “Just,

”Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." (WHO, 1948) Wellness