Many people see health in different ways, this essay will look at two concepts of health, the biomedical and the social medical, and evaluate them. This will try to give a more rounded look at the approaches, the problems they can show and the things that are not taken into consideration.
To be able to do this we first need to be able to define what ‘health’ is. This term can be described in many ways; the English dictionary defines health as “the general condition of the body or mind with reference to soundness and vigour:” (oxford English dictionary……….). This is a vague definition to an overall understanding of what people believe to be healthy. In modern society ‘health’ and being ‘healthy’ involves people eating well and being active. …show more content…
This definition has not been updated since 1948, therefore is an old approach to ‘health’ but still one of the most respected. The WHO remain at the forefront of public health globally.
In a broader view on health, mental as well as physical health needs to be examined and taken into consideration before a person could be assessed and judged on their health and well-being. This reflects more in the socio medical model of health which states “diseases are caused by a combination of factors, many of them environmental” (Taylor and Field 2007). This model looks at an individual’s circumstances and applies a medical view upon their whole situation, not just the illness or problems experienced. This aims to try to stop them from happening in the future. For example, if a patient was persistently having problems with sleeping, by applying this model things such as the sleeping arrangements of their …show more content…
This report looks at how a person with a strong social network or good access to better schools and the impact this can have on the current and future health of a family or individual. This concept can be reinforced if the health profile of different geographical areas are compared. An area which is seen to be as a lower class of workforce, for example Dover, and an area with a higher social class such as Guildford. (public health profiles 2015) The two areas compared can help to show how there can be a connection between inequality and the effects on health. In Guildford the life expectancy for men is 82.2 and women 84.9, where as in Dover it is men 79.1 and women 82.8. This lower life expectancy can be linked to the individuals having a physically demanding and commonly less qualified job. This in turn leads to people’s health being poorer due to longer hours, not having time to look after themselves and eat in a healthy way. People have been told that to stay healthy you need to eat in a healthy way, this can be expensive and it takes time to prepare foods. If a person is on a lower wage, then they would be unlikely to be able to afford the fresh ingredients and would have less time available to put to preparing food for a
To be able to do this we first need to be able to define what ‘health’ is. This term can be described in many ways; the English dictionary defines health as “the general condition of the body or mind with reference to soundness and vigour:” (oxford English dictionary……….). This is a vague definition to an overall understanding of what people believe to be healthy. In modern society ‘health’ and being ‘healthy’ involves people eating well and being active. …show more content…
This definition has not been updated since 1948, therefore is an old approach to ‘health’ but still one of the most respected. The WHO remain at the forefront of public health globally.
In a broader view on health, mental as well as physical health needs to be examined and taken into consideration before a person could be assessed and judged on their health and well-being. This reflects more in the socio medical model of health which states “diseases are caused by a combination of factors, many of them environmental” (Taylor and Field 2007). This model looks at an individual’s circumstances and applies a medical view upon their whole situation, not just the illness or problems experienced. This aims to try to stop them from happening in the future. For example, if a patient was persistently having problems with sleeping, by applying this model things such as the sleeping arrangements of their …show more content…
This report looks at how a person with a strong social network or good access to better schools and the impact this can have on the current and future health of a family or individual. This concept can be reinforced if the health profile of different geographical areas are compared. An area which is seen to be as a lower class of workforce, for example Dover, and an area with a higher social class such as Guildford. (public health profiles 2015) The two areas compared can help to show how there can be a connection between inequality and the effects on health. In Guildford the life expectancy for men is 82.2 and women 84.9, where as in Dover it is men 79.1 and women 82.8. This lower life expectancy can be linked to the individuals having a physically demanding and commonly less qualified job. This in turn leads to people’s health being poorer due to longer hours, not having time to look after themselves and eat in a healthy way. People have been told that to stay healthy you need to eat in a healthy way, this can be expensive and it takes time to prepare foods. If a person is on a lower wage, then they would be unlikely to be able to afford the fresh ingredients and would have less time available to put to preparing food for a