There have been many definitions of health, which include phrases such as ‘absence of disease’, and ‘ability to cope’. The World Health Organisation 1946 gave its
definition of health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’.
However, it is very difficult to define health due to its complexity and broadness.
Health and well-being can be described as the absence of physical illness, disease and mental distress. This is a negative definition of health and well-being, as it is impossible for a person to always be free from illness or disease. Health and well-being can also be described as the achievement and maintenance of physical fitness and mental stability. This is a positive definition of health and well-being or health and well-being as being the result of a combination of physical, social, intellectual and emotional factors. This is a holistic definition of health and well-being
Stimson and Webb (1975) carried out research, which suggested that people have private comments on their own ill health compared to what they chose to tell their doctors. The research indicated that people did not always believe or accept the medical explanation given for their illness. The study suggests people hold their own views and hold their own explanations for illness.
People’s beliefs and explanations of health and illness will effect action they take. Social position, material and psychosocial interests also influence people’s perception and action regarding health (Stacey, 1986).
This can also depend on wider social and cultural factors, such as, a person’s age, sex, occupation, social background, education and environment all contribute to the person as a whole and the individuals life experiences is also a major factor. For example, in several central African languages the word for health is the same as the word for life (in the sense of 'all that is necessary to live a fulfilling life') (Povall, 2000).
Whereas, Western notions of health is quite different to non-Western traditional thought. Herrick (1978),
Doyal and Gough (1991) propose that how society defines health and the dominance of a particular perspective can have significant impact on what action is done to promote health and wellbeing. Therefore, to be able to promote health successfully we need to be able to explore the political, social, cultural, temporal and spatial context.
Health promotion is also an important factor within health as different types of health promotion materials that are used to inform, motivate and support people to improve their health and well being, can influence health. (Bunton and Mcdonald)
It is mainly concerned with, promoting the idea of, reduction of behavioural risk factors associated with morbidity/ premature death. It is also promoting the education of knowledge and skills in health, e.g. school health education curricula, which all fall into a category called lifestyle approach in health promotion. Another category of health promotion, is, the structuralist approach, which concentrates on political processes, public policies, transport, environmental issues and waste disposal etc.
It is more importantly necessary for health promoters to understand how health and illness fit into everyday life. Health promoters need to take into account the influence of factors
References
Doyal, Len and Gough, Ian. A theory of human need. London,
Macmillan, 1991
Povall, Susan. How do language and culture affect the understanding
of medical research writing? Undergraduate dissertation (BA Hons,
Health), Liverpool John Moores University, 2000
