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Health
hideAt the time of the creation of the World Health Organization (WHO), in 1948, Health was defined as being "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".
This definition invited nations to expand the conceptual framework of their health systems beyond issues related to the physical condition of individuals and their diseases, and it motivated us to focus our attention on what we now call social determinants of health. Consequently, WHO challenged political, academic, community, and professional organisations devoted to improving or preserving health to make the scope of their work explicit, including their rationale for allocating resources. This opened the door for public accountability [3].
Only a handful of publications have focused specifically on the definition of health and its evolution in the first 6 decades. Some of them highlight its lack of operational value and the problem created by use of the word "complete." Others declare the definition, which has not been modified since 1948, "simply a bad one." [4]. More recently, Smith suggested that it is "a ludicrous definition that would leave most of us unhealthy most of the time." [5].
In 1986, the WHO, in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, said that health is "a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities." Classification systems such as the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC), which is composed of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) also define health.
Overall health is achieved through a combination of physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being, which, together is commonly referred to as the Health Triangle.
For more information about Health, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with health
Want to live well? Harvard experts offer pragmatic pointers on getting healthy and staying there
Dec 17, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (12) |
3
You are what you eat. You're also how you feel, how you exercise, how you sleep, how you handle money, how you relate to people, and what you value.
Cutting greenhouse pollutants could directly save millions of lives worldwide
Nov 25, 2009 |
2.1 / 5 (14) |
8
Tackling climate change by reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions will have major direct health benefits in addition to reducing the risk of climate change, especially in low-income countries, according to ...
Grinch likely depressed, suffers from lack of love, joy, expert says (w/ Video)
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 08, 2009 |
5 / 5 (6) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- Being irritable, grumpy and seeking social isolation are also hallmarks of depression, and could explain the Grinch's disdain for the Who -- the tall and the small -- his mistreatment of his dog Max and, ...
Fit teenage boys are smarter, but muscle strength isn't the secret
Dec 07, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
0
In the first study to demonstrate a clear positive association between adolescent fitness and adult cognitive performance, Nancy Pedersen of the University of Southern California and colleagues in Sweden find that better ...
Major impacts of climate change expected on mental health
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 03, 2009 |
3.4 / 5 (5) |
12
Leading mental health researchers are warning that some of the most important health consequences of climate change will be on mental health, yet this issue is unlikely to be given much attention at the UN climate change ...
Health Care bill clears key Senate test
Dec 21, 2009 |
3.2 / 5 (5) |
6
(AP) -- Landmark health care legislation backed by President Barack Obama passed its sternest Senate test in the pre-dawn hours early Monday, overcoming Republican delaying tactics on a 60-40 vote that all ...
Who gets expensive cancer drugs? A tale of 2 nations
Dec 14, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
The well-worn notion that patients in the United States have unfettered access to the most expensive cancer drugs while the United Kingdom's nationalized health care system regularly denies access to some high-cost treatments ...
Study reveals people’s thoughts on living longer
Nov 30, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- If people were given a pill to make them live longer what would they do with that extra time? According to a new study by University of Queensland researchers, they would spend it with their family.
About 25 percent of Arabs in Greater Detroit reported abuse post Sept. 11
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Dec 17, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
0
One quarter of Detroit-area Arab Americans reported personal or familial abuse because of race, ethnicity or religion since 9/11, leading to higher odds of adverse health effects, according to a new University of Michigan ...
Cellphone powers back pain chip in Taiwan
Nov 27, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
0
Taiwanese researchers have developed a chip to treat backpain that is powered by mobile phone, a member of the team said Friday.
Ethnic pride key to black teen mental health
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 01, 2009 |
2.6 / 5 (5) |
1
Ethnic pride may be as important as self-esteem to the mental health of young African-American adolescents, according to a new study in the Nov/Dec issue of the journal Child Development.
'Invisible bracelet' for emergency health alerts?
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Dec 21, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
1
(AP) -- Emergency health alerts for the Facebook generation? The nation's ambulance crews are pushing a virtual medical ID system to rapidly learn a patient's health history during a crisis - and which can immediately text-message ...
Marriage is good for the health: global study
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 15, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
1
Despite the barbs of comedians and the spectacular bust-ups documented in the gossip magazines, marriage really is good for you, international research has found.
US tops world in health care spending, results lag
Dec 08, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
2
(AP) -- The United States ranks near the bottom in life expectancy among wealthy nations despite spending more than double per person on health care than the industrialized world's average, an economic group said Tuesday.
Doctors advised to curtail antibiotic dosages
Medicine & Health / Medications
Dec 11, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
1
It's a common scene: Mom brings aching child with some bug to the doctor's office, expecting the doctor to do, well, something.
