What Does Health Mean to You?

What does health mean to you?

When you hear the word health you would probably think of your physical fitness or eating habits and general lifestyle. You might also consider health in regards to emotional & mental health. You might even consider having healthy relationships a part of what health means to you. Well, if you thought any and all of these, you’re on the right track as they all matter!

The most common response to what health is defined as is “An individual being free of illness or injury”. This statement is correct with a grain of salt, as this doesn’t account for many other aspects of what creates a healthy life. 

A healthy life can be described as:

• Health as ‘not ill diseased’

  • The absence of sickness or diseases

  • Good health aside from a certain disease

• Health as a reserve

  • The ability to recovery quickly in the case of falling ill

• Health as physical fitness

  • Having good levels of strength, carrying out strenuous tasks & being a healthy body weight.

• Health as a ‘behaviour towards a healthier life’

  • Having high levels of energy, vitality & enthusiasm, and using this to help with various activities

• Health as a social relationship

  • This can vary by age, generally is focused on being active in having quality social network

• Health as a function

  • The functional ability to do something

• Health as a psycho-social wellbeing

  • The mental state and the happiness felt.

There are 5 main dimensions of health that you can look at. 

Physical has many ways to describe its meaning, some common ways people look at physical health are longevity, toning, quality of life, free of disease, enhanced performance and many more. Physical health is the umbrella for an individual's overall health status.

Social relates to a person's interpersonal skills to create and then maintain a healthy relationship with someone. These relationships can include family members, partners, close friends and even coworkers. Maintaining and upkeep these relationships involves behaving appropriately and maintaining socially acceptable standards

Spiritual is the ability to establish harmony & peace, spiritual health can be sometimes described as organised religion and prayer. Spiritual health can also be the ability to develop congruence between actions and values.

Emotional is the individual's ability to manage their feelings and behaviours, as well as handle stress effectively and adjust their lifestyles to it. Emotional health also includes their self esteem and confidence and ability to express their feeling effectively.

Mental is an individual's ability to cope, work and reach their potential. Sometimes this can get confused with mental illness, mental illness is disorders like anxiety & depression as these can negatively affect their mental health. When your mental health changes, either positive or negative, it can affect the other health pillars.

Health can be affected by determinants, this can be inclusive of:

• Social, Economic & political health

  • Some clients make less money which in turns can affect what they can purchase for food and quality of a coach. Social constraints can effect what they can eat sometimes as they can’t eat certain things due to culture or social normality around them.

• Cultural Health

  • Some cultures have certain traditions that affect what they can and can't eat, especially during certain timeframes and times of the day. A good example of this are people who observe ramadan which they can’t eat from sunrise to sunset.

• Population/social health vs individual health

  • Population health is the outcome of a group of individuals that has followed a similar lifestyle pattern due to policies and interventions. Individual health is the focus on a 1:1 support to assist an individual in working towards healthy eating and regular physical activity