In a reflection of what health means in our modern era, I pauses to recall all of those that I had the privilege of caring for during my nursing career. Their definition of health was at times expressed in their last breath, holding their hands and leaning in, sharing what a great life they had and how grateful to be departing life with no pain or suffering. Perhaps, health to them was a state of contentment and acceptance, or that of resiliency and grace.
Growing up we were taught to eat well and stay active to avoid becoming unhealthy, a common conventional understanding of health associated with year 1948’s World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of health, being “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organization [WHO], n.d. a, para. 1).
The WHO’s definition presents a rigid and outdated understanding of health in light of modern global health trends and catastrophes. Logically, such a definition fails to apply to societies in developed countries, with higher life expectancies and fairly managed chronic illnesses and health condition in light of medical advancements (Lichtenberg, 2017)
Thinking back to what health means to me and my immediate community, it often means that our chronic conditions imposes humble impact on our ability to conduct daily obligations, or enjoy unobstructed access to vaccines and life-saving treatments. Hence, health is a personal and relevant state of thriving.
To redefine health through a modern social lens, Oleribe et al argues that WHO’s definition excludes health-determinants means of measurements, whereas, health being a state of physical and psycho-social completeness and lack of ailments, is simply unattainable in light of the modern determinants impacting our state of health (2018).
In this day and age, our state of health is impacted by various factors such as, equitable access to research-informed care services and person-centered holistic care. According to Oleribe et al modern definition, health is “a state of satisfactory and acceptable state of physical, mental, emotional, economic, and social wellbeing” (2018). This definition allows individuals living with chronic conditions achieve a state of health contentment and relative stability, whilst avoiding being labelled as “unhealthy”, simply due to a cookie-cutter seventy-years old outdated definition of health.
According to WHO, year two thousand and twenty was the year of the nurse and midwife, followed by the year of health and care workers, two thousand and twenty-one (WHO, n.d. b; WHO, 2020). Ironically, both years presented our modern global community with its biggest public health challenge to date, the COVID-19 global pandemic. Health my friends, is a holistic state of contentment and coping with our psychological, spiritual, and physiological mediums. So what does health mean to you and I in the pandemic and post-pandemic ear?
References
Lichtenberg, F. R. (2017). The impact of biomedical innovation on longevity and
health. Nordic Journal of Health Economics, 5(1), 45-57.
doi:dx.doi.org/10.5617/njhe.1290
Oleribe, O. O., Ukwedeh, O., Burstow, N. J., Gomaa, A. I., Sonderup, M. W.,
Cook, N., . . . Taylor-Robinson, S. D. (2018). Health: Redefined. Pan African Medical
Journal, 30(292). doi:10.11604/pamj.2018.30.292.15436
World Health Organization (2020b). 2021 designated as the International year of
health and care workers. Retrieved February 8, 2021, from
https://www.who.int/news/item/11-11-2020-2021-designated-as-the-international-year-
of-health-and-care-workers
World Health Organization. (n.d. a). Frequently asked questions. Retrieved from
http://www.who.int/suggestions/faq/en/
World Health Organization (n.d. b). Year of the Nurse and the Midwife 2020. Retrieved
February 8, 2021, from https://www.who.int/campaigns/year-of- the-nurse-and-the-
midwife-2020
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