HEALTH

DEFINITION OF HEALTH (BY WHO)

®     State of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, HEALTH IS DEFINED ACCORDING TO:

a.      How the person feels.

b.      Whether there is absence or presence of symptoms of illness.

c.      Ability of the individual to carry out activities.

THEORETICAL CONCEPTS RELATED TO HEALTH

A.     Health is a continually changing phenomenon

®     Moves on a continuum.

®     Change may be gradual or abrupt.

®     Level of health attainable depends on adaptive energy, genetic, and environmental fact.

B.     Variety of stresses affect physical, emotional, and social health

®     May be internal and external.

®     May be detrimental or beneficial to life.

®     Sources of stress vary widely for different individuals at different times.

®     Tolerance for stress is individual.

C.     The ability to maintain a high level of wellness is affected by an individual’s ideas, attitudes, and knowledge relative to maintenance and promotion of health.

D.     The environment requires continual adaptations on a conscious and unconscious level.

®     Adaptation depends on the nature of stress.

®     Success of adaptation will determine nature and degree of assistance required to maintain equilibrium.

E.     Individual reacts as a unified whole to stress affecting any aspect of health

®     Individual is an open system.

®     Individual is made of many interrelated subsystems.

F.     Client needs to determine necessary care

®     Basic needs may be physiologic, psychologic, social or spiritual.

®     Needs must be satisfied if a person is to carry on activities of life.

®     Health problems manifest themselves differently in each individual.

HEALTH

WHAT IS ILLNESS?

®     It is an abnormal process in which the person’s level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level

®     Highly subjective - only the individual person can say he or she is ill.

®     Synonymous with disease and may or may not be related to disease.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE ILLNESS

1.      Self-preception

2.      Other’s perceptions

3.      Effects of changes in body structure and function

4.      Effects of changes on roles and relationships

5.      Cultural and spiritual values and beliefs

TYPES OF ILLNESS

1.      ACUTE ILLNESS

®     Typically characterized by rapid onset of symptoms of relatively short duration.

®     Symptoms may appear abruptly and subside quickly.

®     May or may not require intervention depending on the cause.

2.      CHRONIC ILLNESS

®     One that lasts for an extended period, usually 6 months or longer, and often for the person’s life.

®     May have a slow onset.

®     Often have periods of remission (symptoms disappear) or exacerbation (the symptoms reappear).