Health Status and Culture
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. With that definition being said, does it seem possible for anyone to be able to attain this complete well-being? Highly unlikely, but in order to attempt to accomplish this, one must understand what major factors contribute to preventing individuals from achieving health. Geographical heritage, cultural practices, and one’s own experience equally contribute to the quality of one’s health status and are all factors that affect groups differently both from within the group and outside the group.
Health is directly related to one’s geographical heritage. Physical environment, such as climate, water resources, soil characteristics and indigenous animals and plants, all play a critical role in health. The risk of being exposed to different diseases depends on the physical environment and what diseases were prevalent in that certain location. Also, a disease is one area may be something …show more content…
An individual’s environment growing up can potentially make them more vulnerable to disease, while the cultural background can expose the individual to risky cultural traditions. Also, different cultures have different healing remedies, some of which prevent individuals from achieving health. Finally, a person’s own experience, politically and economically, can be a strong determinant on health status. Being deprived of basic resources to survive such as clean water and medical checkups also prevent individuals from achieving health. However, adaptation has been proven to occur within societies. This includes genetic adaptation, physiological adaptation and sociocultural adaptation, All in all, geographical heritage, cultural practices, and one’s own experience all equally contribute and interact simultaneously when determining
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. With that definition being said, does it seem possible for anyone to be able to attain this complete well-being? Highly unlikely, but in order to attempt to accomplish this, one must understand what major factors contribute to preventing individuals from achieving health. Geographical heritage, cultural practices, and one’s own experience equally contribute to the quality of one’s health status and are all factors that affect groups differently both from within the group and outside the group.
Health is directly related to one’s geographical heritage. Physical environment, such as climate, water resources, soil characteristics and indigenous animals and plants, all play a critical role in health. The risk of being exposed to different diseases depends on the physical environment and what diseases were prevalent in that certain location. Also, a disease is one area may be something …show more content…
An individual’s environment growing up can potentially make them more vulnerable to disease, while the cultural background can expose the individual to risky cultural traditions. Also, different cultures have different healing remedies, some of which prevent individuals from achieving health. Finally, a person’s own experience, politically and economically, can be a strong determinant on health status. Being deprived of basic resources to survive such as clean water and medical checkups also prevent individuals from achieving health. However, adaptation has been proven to occur within societies. This includes genetic adaptation, physiological adaptation and sociocultural adaptation, All in all, geographical heritage, cultural practices, and one’s own experience all equally contribute and interact simultaneously when determining