This coursework will be based on unit 2, which is promoting health and well-being. I will look at understanding health and well being by including positive, negative and holistic definitions of health. Further, I will consider different aspects and cultures, which affect health. I am going to observe a client and analyse the PIES while taking health measures for him. In the end of my assessment, I would set targets for my client to improve his health and also provide leaflets and brochures and include information from experts to motivate him to stick to the plan. I will make him aware about the effects a bad lifestyle may have on him.
This coursework is laid in sections as section A, B, C and D. Section A will contain definitions of health, how cultures look at health and the history of the health care sector; how it changed over time. In section B, I will look at factors affecting health and will also introduce my client while looking at the factors affecting his PIES. In section C, I will collect life style records of Mr. Jayaweera, who is my client to look at his PIES in detail and prepare health plans. Section D will look at how my plans are SMART. This will give a description about how the plans will benefit my client.
Different people look at health in different ways. It can depend on their culture, environment, religion or age group. In order to have a clear understanding about how the people look at health, I have conducted a survey from a random sample of people who belongs to the above groups (e. g. people of different ages have been chosen). By looking at what different people say about health, it is clear that each one look at it differently. Therefore, there are many ways to define health. When we look at health, all physical, intellectual, emotional and social aspects should be considered because they all affect our health equally.
Health can be defined in many ways, positively, negatively and holistically. It depends on how the individuals look at their health and how concerned they are about it. Our state of healthiness will depend on many things such as where do we live, what job do we do, what do we eat, who are our friends and everything else related to our lifestyle. Our choice about our lifestyle can make a difference to our health. If we are interested enough in ourselves, we can improve our own health. Some people think, that it depends only on the health care we obtain; however, it doesn’t only depend on this.
It is connected to our lifestyle as well. Firstly, looking at the positive definition of health, it is a positive concept, highlighting social and personal resources together with physical capacities. According to the World Health Organization, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. This definition of health has not been changed since 1948. (Bib. 2) By referring to my survey, I have found that, the first person that is an adult has been successful up to a certain extent in defining health, more than the rest of the people.
Therefore, it proves that their age group will affect the definition of health by different people. If a person is having a disability or disease, they have a more tendency to think that they are not healthy only because of their disability or disease despite their age group. Looking at the fourth person’s answer in my survey can prove this. As he is old and is not fit enough to do his own work, he thinks that he is not healthy. However, by looking at health positively, he should consider his emotional, social and intellectual aspects of health as well as the physical health.
According to my textbook, which is the “GCSE Health and Social Care for OCR”, it is the “achievement and maintenance of physical fitness and mental stability”. Basically, it is feeling generally healthy. However, many people do not include their mental and social well-being, if they are asked to say what health is (Bib. 1). This was also proved by my survey. Nevertheless, it also must be taken into account. A positive definition of health should consider every aspect of our health such as physical and mental, as said in the above definitions.
Secondly, where the negative definition of health is concerned, some people believe that health is merely the absence of illnesses, injuries or diseases. Most of them only consider the physical aspects of their health. Again according to the survey, a child defined health as the ability to do hard work and be physically active in terms of running, jumping and carrying. Therefore it is clear that this person has also considered only the physical aspects. Therefore, as said before, the different age groups could have various definitions on health.
However paying an attention only on physical aspect could reflect the health in a negative way. According to my textbook, “achievement and maintenance of physical fitness and mental stability” falls into the negative definitions of health (Bib. 1). Finally, it is very important to give a holistic definition to health. In general, a holistic view means looking at something in each and every aspect taking into account everything such as physical, intellectual, emotional and social characteristics. The person will be very accurate when they define health, if they take a holistic approach to their health.