The concept of health has a long history and is a complex topic. In its simplest form, it refers to the state of being free from disease and infirmity. However, it is much more than this. People view health differently and have a variety of definitions for it.
Some definitions emphasize specific activities that promote health, such as diet and exercise. Others rely on personal choices, such as whether to smoke or not. Still others focus on social factors, such as a person’s ability to access healthcare. These definitions can lead to an overly functional and mechanistic approach that may reduce the experience of and value for health.
A more comprehensive view of health focuses on adapting to and managing one’s environment. This includes a recognition that the health of an individual is profoundly connected to and influenced by other individuals and the larger global community. This approach can help explain why health crises, such as COVID-19, elicit such wide-reaching and severe effects.
This perspective recognizes that personal and environmental factors are not static and can change quickly. It also acknowledges that these changes may have a positive or negative effect on health. For example, a man who has a genetic allergy to an allergen may avoid it for years and live a healthy life, but when the allergen re-appears he can suffer from anything from a mild rash to shock, coma or even death.
Similarly, a woman who lives with cancer may manage her symptoms and find meaning in the rest of her life. Despite living with a chronic health condition, she finds that she enjoys her family, her job and the many other things in her life.
This broad approach to health provides an alternative that allows for a more holistic, experiential and humanistic understanding of health. It is a good alternative for those who feel that the more functional and mechanistic approaches to health are not adequate for capturing the richness of the human experience of health. This definition also avoids the problem of an absolutist position by recognizing that health is not a perfect, a static and unchanging state. It is a dynamic process that requires ongoing adaptation to the ever-changing context of our lives. The authors would like to thank the students and staff of the Zagreb Andrija Stampar School of Public Health for their assistance in compiling this article. They would particularly like to acknowledge the role of Svetlana Lazarova, a senior research fellow in the Department of Philosophy and Ethics who contributed significantly to the content of this paper.