What Is Health Flashcards
What is normal? How can it be defined?
Normality is a concept
Statistical basis: Gaussian distribution whereby 95% of the population are +/- 2 sd of the average and reference ranges with upper and lower limits
Optimal basis: defined by what is required for optimal health (BMI/GFR/Vitamin D)
Social basis: social norms - what society finds acceptable and is influenced by culture and time
Change from the persons normal values are most reliable
Define Disease
A pathological process, deviation from the biological norm, which can be confirmed by signs/investigations
Definition changes over time as medical knowledge advances
Define Illness and Sickness
Illness is a subjective experience, personal, whereby symptoms are defined and responded to in different ways by different people (can occur in absence of pathology)
Sickness is a social role adopted by people perceived to be ill
What is health?
A state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
Outline and compare the two explanatory models of health
Medical model: health is the absence of biological/pathological disease changes so it’s a monocausal model as A results in B
Multi-causal model better as it takes into account the social and psychological factors that influence biological functioning and is better suited to chronic/degenerative conditions which have complex pathology
Social model: accepts that ill health is also caused by social (income, living and employment, gender, ethnicity, culture, education) and psychological (beliefs, cognitions, dispositions, resilience) factors so takes into account lay beliefs and attempts to tackle that at the population level
Social model better as it respected patient autonomy as a person can have a disease but still consider themselves healthy
What are some lay health beliefs?
Health as a absence of illness: if I am not sick I am healthy
Health as functional ability: if I can still go to work I am not ill
Health is wellbeing: my mind, body and spirit are all connected and need to be in sync for good health
Health as physical fitness: I am health because I play football twice a week
What can influence lay health beliefs?
Gender, age, ethnicity, place in society (socioeconomic shape)
Why is a biopsychosocial approach beneficial to health?
Because health is multidimensional so it’s important to recognise the psychological and social aspects of health and illness as well as the biomedical aspects
Social and psychological implications of biological illness can make the condition worse/effect recovery
