Approaches to Health There are many different social approaches to the definitions of health and ill health, all of which can be looked at from different aspects.
The definition of health, set by The World’s Health Organization in 1948, is “a state of complete mental, physical and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ (WHO 1948) This definition can be seen as a basic understanding as to what health is, showing that health can not Just be a form of physical illness, such as a disease or physical impairment, but something that lies much deeper within the person mentally, which an have a greater impact on a person social involvement.
The Worlds Health Organization also define mental health as “a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community. In this positive sense, mental health is the foundation for individual well-being and the effective functioning of a community’ (WHO 1984).
This statement shows that mental health can involve stresses from daily attributes, yet someone with a mental health llness can also have something more difficult going on mentally for them to be able to deal with daily situations, as a mentally ill person can have anything from depression to schizophrenia, which are unnoticeable, therefore linking this back to definition of health, where people can be seen to have a “complete sense of mental wellbeing”, when they actually might not.
Another definition of ill health is “a condition of inferior health in which some disease or impairment of function is present but is usually not as serious in terms of curtailing activity as an llness” (Merriam-Webster 2011). These definitions are socially constructed because of different people’s opinions on how health can be perceived. This is because of the lack of awareness of mental health issues and how people don’t understand how much a person can suffer from something as little as depression.
The biomedical model was first introduced in the18th Century, when more traditional and natural sciences began to take center stage of the way medicine was practiced. The biomedical model of health and illness focuses on mainly on biological factors, and xcludes environmental and social influences. This approach is viewed as being the most modern way for health care professionals to diagnose and treat a condition. Most health care professionals do not first ask for a social history of a patient, instead they look for whether an actual illness or disease is present physically or not.
According to this model, good health is to have freedom from pain, disease or defect. It focuses on physical processes that affect health, such as the biochemistry physiology, and pathology of a condition. The belief with this model is that each llness has one underlying cause, and once that cause is removed, the patient will be healthy again. The social model of health has emerged from the social the social model of disability, which the disability rights movement has strongly influenced. It was developed as a reaction to the biomedical model.
The social model of health looks at all influences that can have an impact on health from social, cultural and health is the main part in maintaining social wellbeing. Physical health includes the overall fitness of the person and personal comfort with the persons own body. This ncludes lots of physical activity daily and being physically able. Exercise relates to both emotional and mental, and it has been shown that regular physical activity can lift people out of depression along with other emotional and mental problems.
Getting a little exercise daily is a great way to stay in shape and boost emotional and mental health. (Social Health 2010) As well as physical health being a crucial key of the social health model, the other important part is emotional health. An unstable emotional well being can affect other areas of the Social Health Model and can harm person’s health over time. Emotional health relates to depression, anxiety and any other problems that may come to affect a person’s health over time.
Emotions of constant sadness can also cause damage to a person’s mental health as well. Mental health correlates to the center of the person’s ability to be in control and independent as well as being self-sufficient in the maintaining their own everyday life and relationships. Chemical disorders, illness, disease, stress and personal abuse can affect the mind and affect the person’s mental health. Mental health also affects he physical and emotional growth.
Positive mental health is important when trying to develop mental and physical health. People respond to illness in many different ways. These can be impacted by factors such as age, gender and race. Age in particular can impact on the way a person responds to illness, the older generation has an outlook as to Just ignore, not to make a fuss and deal with whatever happens. Whereas the younger generation has an outlook, to view illness as something more immediate, this being due to the social influences aimed towards the younger generation.
