Concepts of Health
Nicola Horton DN 02 98
Health means very different things to many different people.
Discuss the possible reasons for this and how these differences
may influence the process of care.
The concept of health to each individual is a very personal thing. To some individuals it can be the absence of disease but to another it can be getting from day to day adequately caring for themselves’ without assistance. The governments’ policies rule health matters a great deal but this leads to problems when their concept of health differs from that of the individual. One of the major problems in health care is the money available for resources. This essay will look at some different ideas of health and will examine some of the influences that health care and carers depend on which could also influence the process of care in the way of interviews with trained staff and patients.
There are many definitions of “Health”, the most common one being from the World Health Authority (W.H.O.) in 1947:
“Health is the state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (Hinchcliffe 1947).
This definition, in later years, seemed too broad so the W.H.O. in 1984 added on:
“The extent to which an individual or group is able, on one hand to realise aspirations or satisfy needs and on the other hand, to change or cope with the environment” (Elves and Simnett 1992).
This indicates that the concept of health is continuously changing with the forever-changing quality of the environment around us. Aggleton (1990) argues that it is too complex to define health and fitness, as some people may be healthy according to some criteria but not according to others. Seedhouse (1986)
Health means very different things to many different people.
Discuss the possible reasons for this and how these differences
may influence the process of care.
The concept of health to each individual is a very personal thing. To some individuals it can be the absence of disease but to another it can be getting from day to day adequately caring for themselves’ without assistance. The governments’ policies rule health matters a great deal but this leads to problems when their concept of health differs from that of the individual. One of the major problems in health care is the money available for resources. This essay will look at some different ideas of health and will examine some of the influences that health care and carers depend on which could also influence the process of care in the way of interviews with trained staff and patients.
There are many definitions of “Health”, the most common one being from the World Health Authority (W.H.O.) in 1947:
“Health is the state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (Hinchcliffe 1947).
This definition, in later years, seemed too broad so the W.H.O. in 1984 added on:
“The extent to which an individual or group is able, on one hand to realise aspirations or satisfy needs and on the other hand, to change or cope with the environment” (Elves and Simnett 1992).
This indicates that the concept of health is continuously changing with the forever-changing quality of the environment around us. Aggleton (1990) argues that it is too complex to define health and fitness, as some people may be healthy according to some criteria but not according to others. Seedhouse (1986)
References: Aggleton, P., and Chambers, H., (1990), Nursing Models and the Nursing Process,Hong Kong, Macmillan Education Ltd. Aggleton (1990) as cited in Common Foundation Studies in Nursing, Kenworthy, N. Snowly, G. and Gilling, C. (Eds) (1996), London, Churchill Livingstone. Chew, A., and Williams, A. (1993), “Care Plan for a woman with cardiac failure, using Roper’s Activities of Living Model” In:Chalmers, H.(ed)Choosing a Model, London, Edward Arnold. Edelman, C. L. and Mandle, C. L., (1998) Health Promotion throughout the Lifespan 4th Edition,London, Mosby Naidoo, J Newton, C. (1993), The Roper-Logan-Tierney Model in Action, London, Macmillan. Price (1984) cited in Salvage, J.,and Kershaw, B., (eds) Models for Nursing 2,London, Scutari Press. The Health of the Nation – A T U C Summary of the Black report, (1981) Trades Union Congress. Trice, A. D. (1993) the Team Concept. Hospital Practice, 28 (supp1), pp6-10. World Health Organisation (1947) cited in Nursing Practise and Health Care, Hinchcliffe, S. World Health Organisation (1984) cited in Promoting Health, Elves, L., and Simnett, I., (1992) Middlesex, Scutari Press Bibliography Fitzpatrick, J. and Whall, A. (1989), Conceptual Models of Nursing – Analysis and Application 2nd Edition, Appleton and Lange Fraser, M Gillen, G. and Burkhardt. (1998), Stroke Rehabilitation – a function based approach, London, Mosby.