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 human health
Want to live well? Harvard experts offer pragmatic pointers on getting healthy and staying there
Dec 17, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (11) |
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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.
Search results for human health
Disproportionate effects of global warming and pollution on disadvantaged communities
20 hours ago |
3 / 5 (8) |
16
Global warming, pollution, and the environmental consequences of energy production impose a greater burden on low-income, disadvantaged communities, and strategies to prevent these inequities are urgently needed. A provocative ...
Team makes breakthrough demonstration of pH-regulating protein
Dec 22, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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Researchers have identified the protein mechanism that senses bicarbonate fluctuations and adjusts blood pH levels.
Swine flu vaccine now plentiful in half the states
Medicine & Health / Medications
Dec 16, 2009 |
not rated yet |
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(AP) -- After weeks of shortages, swine flu vaccine is plentiful enough that nearly half the states now say everyone can get it, not just people in high-risk groups.
Researchers link calorie intake to cell lifespan, cancer development (w/ Video)
Dec 17, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (12) |
7
Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have discovered that restricting consumption of glucose, the most common dietary sugar, can extend the life of healthy human-lung cells and speed ...
Physician-assisted suicide: A perspective from advocates for people with disability
11 hours ago |
4 / 5 (2) |
2
Although public opinion in the United States on physician-assisted suicide is evenly divided, about half of states have either defeated bills to legalize assisted suicide or have passed laws explicitly banning it and only ...
Largest study of PGD children shows embryo biopsy is safe for singleton pregnancies
Dec 22, 2009 |
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The largest and longest running study of children born after preimplantation genetic diagnosis and screening has shown that embryo biopsy does not adversely affect the health of babies born as the result of a subsequent singleton ...
Disability may be on the rise again after 20-year decline
Dec 21, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Disability rates among non-institutionalized older Americans increased between 2000 and 2005, a trend that could seriously impact the quality of life of seniors in the coming decades if it continues, according ...
Behavior modification could ease concerns about nanoparticles
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 16, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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In an advance that could help ease health and environmental concerns about the emerging nanotechnology industry, scientists are reporting development of technology for changing the behavior of nanoparticles ...
Birds Play an Important Role in the Spread of Lyme Disease
6 hours ago |
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0
(PhysOrg.com) -- The range of Lyme disease is spreading in North America and it appears that birds play a significant role by transporting the Lyme disease bacterium over long distances, a new study by the Yale School of ...
IU informaticists show new levels of refinement in predicting human mobility, epidemic spread
Technology / Computer Sciences
Dec 17, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The interplay of human mobility patterns like those between local metropolitan commuters and long-range airline travelers during a global epidemic can be modeled in such detail so as to offer ...
List of search results for human health
