We explain what health is according to the World Health Organization. What are its components, and the different types of health.
What is health?
Health, according to World Health Organization, It is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not only the absence of affections or diseases.
This definition is the result of a conceptual evolution, since it arose in replacement of a notion that was had for a long time weather, which presumed that health was simply the absence of biological diseases.
Starting in the 1950s, the WHO revised this definition and finally replaced it with a new one, in which the notion of human well-being transcends the merely physical. The Pan American Health Organization then provided one more piece of information: health also has to do with environment that surrounds the person.
The doctor Floreal Ferrara It took the WHO definition and tried to complement it, circumscribing health to three different areas:
- Physical Health. It corresponds to the ability of a person to maintain the exchange and resolve the proposals that are raised. This is explained by the history of adaptation to the environment that the manTherefore, their health or disease states cannot be excluded from this interaction.
- Mental health. Optimal performance within the capabilities it possesses, related to the environment that surrounds it. Health lies in the balance of the person with his environment in this way, which implies a possibility of resolution of the conflicts that appear to him.
- Social health. It represents a combination of the two previous ones: to the extent that man can live with a psychodynamic balance, with satisfaction of his needs and also with his aspirations, he enjoys social health.
Health components
The WHO, after characterizing the concept of health, also established a series of components that comprise it:
- State of adaptation to the environment (biological and sociocultural).
- Physiological state of balance.
- Balance between form and function of organism (feeding).
- Biological and social perspective (family relationships, habits).
The relationship between these components determines the state of health, and the non-compliance of one of them generates the state of disease, linked to a triadic relationship between a host (subject), agent (syndrome) and environment (factors involved). Every disease consists of a relationship between a host (subject), an agent (syndrome) and environment (intervening factors).
Another aspect on which the characterization of WHO focuses (which belongs to the UN) is the organization of the public health. This refers to all the measures that can be taken from the bodies managed by the Condition for the prevention of ailments and disabilities, for the prolongation of the life and for the education of individuals when it comes to personal hygiene. The WHO affirms that “health is part of the responsibility of the governments”.
In this sense, much can be done, including the improvement of public hospitals, the promotion of private initiative (which considers that health is a right of all individuals) and the protection of the environment.
Occupational health
In the workplace, the WHO also speaks out when referring to occupational health. This term is understood to be the activity that promotes the health of people in their work environments.
Occupational health has to do with the physical conditions of the employee, but also with the psychological conditions. When entering a job, people are subjected to a health examination, but work accidents, repetitive movements associated with certain tasks, exposure to harmful conditions or stress and pressure from superiors can deteriorate their conditions.
To avoid this, it is necessary for those who hire workers to do so ensuring adequate working conditions, framed by standards of security, and it is also necessary for the State, through its control bodies, to promote compliance with the laws in this sense. Today there are many plans (preventive medicine, safety, hygiene) that have like objective preserve the health of employees in their work environment.