Perspectives of Health and Well-Being - Essay Example

Perspectives of Health And Well-being Talal... of What perspectives of health we have; influence not only our concepts abouthealth but also the treatment and the wellbeing of ourselves and the society we live in. These perceptions evidently have an underlying cause and are hence somewhat traditional, cultural, and religious and even regional. With the advent of time man developed and researched methods of treatment which in turn made people more ‘aware’ and the general perception of the term health and the ways illnesses can be treated was altered. This alteration was not spontaneous and went through a slow progression of ideas and theories pertaining to health and the well-being of a human being, which as a consequence led to my own perspective of the term ‘Health’ being the peaceful existence of the body organs within,, in a manner greatly affected by regional, cultural, religious and traditional variables: effecting the perception indirectly, while affecting the treatment methodologies directly. Perspectives of Health and Well Being The Concept of ‘Health’ has been evolving since the very primitive days of mankind and what we perceive off the term, currently, is a factor of the preceding perceptions. The essay tends to delve deep into history to extract the very primitive concepts of the ‘Health’ of the human being and relate it to the current conceptions formulated and the diversity of these concepts across religious, regional, traditional and cultural grounds; across the globe. Contributions to the health and well being of the humane society along with my own personal concepts about what health is and how it defines our lives shall be discussed. Perceptions pertaining to the evolving concepts of health and the specific concepts promoted in different societies pertaining to health, disease and death shall be discussed with respect to the time period and the diverse societies. The first step, I believe; is to understand the meaning communicated to us by the terms to be discussed regarding which Stuart Hall states: “It is by our use of things, and what we say, think and feel about them – how we represent them – that we give them a meaning” (Hall, 1968). Hence ‘perception’ is what we attain by the application of terms, through which meaning is produced and communicated and is what we ‘perceive’. The meaning pertaining to the term Health and wellbeing is generated in the form of what we perceive off them. Health is a term perceived from various different angles and the very perception has evolved with time to its current form but the major constituents such as ‘the physical form’ and ‘the mental health’ remain the same. To put it in a simpler manner health constitutes a physical, as well as a mental aspect. "A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (Constitution of the World Health Organization, 1948) was the definition presented by the WHO in the year 1948, off which one perceives that ‘health’ is something more than the so said ‘absence of disease or illness’. What significance this definition is of? The term could not be better defined by it, however I personally disagree with the definition provided that the definition is based on a condition opposite or antonymous to the term itself and hence to define a term through an opposite does not formalise the perfect concept about the term under consideration. Hence what we perceive off the definition presented above is simply the fact that the expression is as vague as it could be. Another concept symbolizes the fact that health is defined by the peaceful existence of the organisms within the human body and as long as all the organs exist in that perfect synchronization, the body is said to be in good health. Yet we explore the presence of another opposite: the ‘bad’ health; a condition referred to a particular human being who is physically or mentally ill. Health being a phenomenal term that I cannot define in a manner formally presentable for consideration, yet noticing the defects in the very definitions of the term presented by W.H.O, I am rendered the ability to elucidate upon my perception of the term. Primarily my conceptions pertaining to the term under consideration are largely influenced by religious and cultural factors. For instance, when a person is ill or is in bad health the concept promoted in my society is that either the person is ill as a consequence of the person’s respective deeds or that the person’s illness is a test from God to depict the person under consideration’ steadfastness in the respective religion. This does not only impair the treatment applied but also the social support given; both in positive. And yet again considering the religious values and the cultural values upon which I depend, for the formulation of my perception promoting positive health sustaining behaviour is a common practice and promoted amongst people belonging to my culture, thus believing in the term ‘Prevention is better than Cure’. Considering the conceptualisation regarding the Health of a Human after being ‘aware’ of the knowledge gained, the fact values embedded inside me stay there untouched, however what the knowledge did play a role in; was to bring the scientific touch to the perception I had of the human health. It must be mentioned that the alteration of my perception did not take place but it would be imprudent not to mention what it ‘added’ as opposed to ‘altered’ to my perception. For instance now I believe if a person is ill, it is the God’s will but to research into getting the person better is what’s more important. Hence the addition of perception with respect to the treatment of illness was experienced by me. Changing concepts pertaining to health have helped a lot in the development of the treatment methodologies with the passage of time. From the very primitive treatments which basically consisted of nothing but herbal cure and theoretically diagnosed application of whatever medicine there was to the advanced and developed methodologies of looking into illnesses in a manner un imaginable before. M.R.Is, X-rays, C.T. Scans can perhaps be considered the most applicable diagnostic development which was consequential in the form of Radiation treatment, chemical treatment, Chemotherapy for chronic cancer, and the development of more advanced medications and their means of application. These scanning instruments also played a vital role in the diagnosis and research oriented work pertaining to the field of Biopsychology (Wozniak, 1992) in which chronic mental illnesses are the subject of research. The truth being that none of this would have been possible without the proper conceptualisation of the term ‘Health’. To discuss the different perceptions people and their respective societies have pertaining to health we must consider the following: “In the Western world, the body is often thought of as an intricate machine which must be kept "tuned-up," and illness is viewed as a breakdown of the machine” (Cengage, 2002). From what we observe in this quote is the specific description of the terms ‘body’ and ‘illness’ and it is this very perception that is specified to a certain society (MacFarlane & KelleherCorrespor, 2002); the western world in this case. Now consider the following statement in contrast to the previous one: “Ayurvedic concept of the body, a concept prevalent in India and South Asia, in which health is seen as a state of balance between the physical, social, and super-natural environment and illness can result from disturbances in many different spheres (Cengage, 2002)”. Another instance of a perception level confined to its region and own set of beliefs and pertaining to health and illness. Similarly, consider the following: “In the Western world, a symptom such as chest pain has a particular cultural significance and tends to be regarded with alarm. In Ayurvedic medicine, chest pain is also regarded with concern but as a symptom of emotional upset and not as the organic breakdown of bodily function (Cengage, 2002, p. 2)”. And thus another instance of how different understandings of health and illnesses are present in the world: with respect to our culture, region and traditions. To summarise it all; and from what I perceive off the research conducted for this essay; the ‘perfect’ perception of the term ‘Health’ has not been established yet. However the term employs vast levels of perception with respect to the region, religion, culture and traditions of a particular society. These values play an important role in not only the development of the treatment methodologies and technologies but also the very basic concepts about health that still linger on from our past. In the end, whatever perspective may be established pertaining to the term ‘health’ the fact that the concepts act as variables, ever-changing with time. Bibliography (2002). Lay Concepts of Health and Illness. In G. Cengage, & L. Breslow (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Public Health. Constitution of the World Health Organization. (1948). International Health Conference (p. 100). New York: Official Records of the World Health Organization. Hall, S. (1968). "Representation, Cultural Representation and Signifying Practices". Monash University Library , 1-11. MacFarlane, A., & KelleherCorrespor, C. (2002). Concepts of illness causation and attitudes to health care among older people in the Republic of Ireland . Social Science & Medicine , 54 (9), 1389-1400 . Rotegarda, A. K., Moore, S. M., Fagermoen, M. 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