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  • Essay / What does health mean to you: a thought-provoking question

    What does health mean to you? In the essay, I reveal this particular question because it may attract different answers from different individuals depending on their background, geographic location, life experience, etc. Generally, people tend to define things, mainly based on their understanding and experience. This makes it somewhat difficult to assign a single definition to health. Obviously, the Internet is full of different views and definitions of health, making it more difficult to find consensus on a general definition of health. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay However, according to Svalastog, Donev, Kristoffersen and Gajovic, giving a historical and chronological overview of health and showing the evolution of ideas hypothetical health assumptions over time should be the best approach to assigning an appropriate definition to health. Basically, it would be difficult to grasp the definition of health with this approach, due to the large number of diseases and it would not be possible to monitor them individually. Nordenfelt, on the other hand, suggests that health be defined on the basis of a normative formulation. This model is therefore limited to the capabilities and goals of the individual and is considered incomplete. Even more, Boorse believed that a statistical approach is the best way to define health. This approach, however, has been rejected because it has no connection to people's health experiences. More recently, Sturmberg proposed that health be defined on the basis of individuals' social, somatic, psychological, and semiotic experience. This model of defining health is more holistic and aligns with the definition of health in some published research. However, the Farlex Medical Dictionary has taken a rather narrow approach in defining health. Farlex defined health as “a relative state in which a person is able to function well physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually in order to express the full range of his or her unique potentialities in the environment in which he or she lives.” In my opinion, this definition evokes positivity. The “ability to function well”, as described by the author, represents energy, strength and can be accompanied by a feeling of accomplishment. On the other hand, the definition restricts these potentials to “the environment in which the individual lives”; what happens when the individual is not “in” this environment? This narrow approach makes Farlex's definition irrelevant in all cases. Additionally, the Cambridge Dictionary offered a more positive definition of health; as “the condition of the body and the degree to which it is free from disease or the state of well-being.” Even with the positivity portrayed with the key terms; “free” and “being well”, the definition does not recognize the impact of our emotions on our well-being. Someone can have a healthy body but have a very sick mind. According to the psychosocial health model explained by Taukeni, our lifestyle and behavior have a huge influence on our health and vice versa. This model threatens the validity of the Cambridge Dictionary definition of health. According to Nozick, a holistic definition of health should recognize the impact of key factors such as social, economic, psychological and environmental well-being on the individual's health. This is the approach adopted by the World Health Organization, WHO, which defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of :?