Hint - it's more than 10,000 steps a day and 5-10 servings of fruits and vegetables.
Many individuals, whether they are a health professional or not, will agree that the commonly referenced definition of health from the World Health Organization is outdated and no longer reflects the current practices, values and knowledge of what we know when it comes to human health.
World Health Organization, Definition of Health (1948)
"A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
A common definition is important because it can guide policy, provide opportunity for evaluation and identify need for further resourcing or research.
Definitions for Consideration
The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion captures my attention as a more comprehensive definition of health. Alongside the definition of health promotion, the Charter includes that "… Health is, therefore, seen as 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." This is accompanied by five conditions for health, which among the physical needs includes "social justice and equity" (World Health Organization, 1986). With the way our world has evolved and become connected across borders it is critical to acknowledge that health is more than personal, but also impacts and is impacted by the community and system that an individual interacts with.
Another definition which is worth considering is from Oleribe and colleagues, who propose redefining health as "a satisfactory and acceptable state of physical (biological), mental (intellectual), emotional (psychological), economic (financial), and social (societal) wellbeing" (2018). This definition includes a component of health that is often overlooked; economic or financial wellbeing. In a 2021 survey by FP Canada financial stress was cited as the biggest concern of 38% of Canadians, followed by personal health (26%) and work (20%). Whether an individual is employed or not, it is important to include financial wellbeing and economics in how health is defined and evaluated.
What about Wellness and Wellbeing?
After reviewing my peer’s evaluation on the definition of health, I observe that many of their criticisms of the WHO definition, in addition to my own, is the inclusion of the term “complete”. From the practice of many of us we may attest that someone should not be given a label of “unhealthy” even with a diagnosed illness. Though according to the WHO definition an illness might not be an experience of complete health. This is where I perceive terms like wellness and wellbeing can be valuable to include in an updated definition of health.
Stoewen writes that wellness is more of the psychological piece of wellness, such as the perspective and attitudes of the person (2015). Wellbeing, although usually measured subjectively with self-reports, is important for public health because it can reflect population outcomes beyond morbidity, mortality, and economic status. Rather it provides insight into overall life satisfaction (CDC, 2018). By using terms like wellness and wellbeing within an updated definition of wellness that component of subjectivity would be included, which is lacking in the common WHO definition.
To Summarize
In summary, many of my MHST601 peers and myself agree that the WHO’s definition of health is due to be updated. I propose that a new definition include the following components: social justice and equity as acknowledged in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (1986), financial wellbeing as included in the definition by Oleribe and colleagues, as well as incorporation of terms such as wellness and wellbeing. A new definition should reflect health at all levels, from individuals to a broader global scale.
- Kylie
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, October 31). Well-Being Concepts | HRQOL | CDC. Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL). Retrieved October 10, 2022 from https://www.cdc.gov/hrqol/wellbeing.htm
FP Canada. (2021). 2021 Financial Stress Index. [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved October 10, 2022 from https://fpcanada.ca/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2021-financial-stress-index-survey-results.pdf
Stoewen, D. L. (2015). Health and wellness. The Canadian Veterinary Journal, 56(9), 983–984. Retrieved October 6, 2022 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4535518/
World Health Organization. (1986). Ottawa charter for health promotion. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://www.who.int/teams/health-promotion/enhanced-wellbeing/first-global-conference
Oleribe, O. O., Ukwedeh, O., Burstow, N. J., Gomaa, A. I., Sonderup, M. W., Cook, N., Waked, I., Spearman, W., & Taylor-Robinson, S. D. (2018). Health: redefined. The Pan African Medical Journal, 30, 292. https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2018.30.292.15436
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