When most people think of the term "HEALTH," the presence or absence of disease is usually the first thing that comes to mind.
As if health is somehow either black or white, no room for gray.
For example, some common thoughts are: I am in good health if I do not have a cold, if I am not obese or if I do not have any type of cancer (just to name a few).
As a psychobiology major in college, I must admit that I fell into the trap of thinking about health only in a scientific sense, with a focus on disease. My classes gave me a fairly good background on medical “health,” including biology, chemistry and many mental and physical health issues. However, while I could understand how different diseases infected the body and their effects, these classes never challenged me to think about the social, political and cultural forces driving health, issues I always wanted to learn about.
However, through reading "Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man who Would Cure the World," by Tracy Kidder, I came to a deeper understanding of the meaning of HEALTH, a complex notion that must be considered in a broad and culturally dependent manner in order to enact lasting change. This book pushed me to think about health as a basic human right, not solely a privilege of the rich and for those in developed countries.
As this blog is the first in a three part series, I want to focus today on what I mean by understanding health in a BROAD sense.
I believe this means that changing a population’s health problems requires taking an interdisciplinary approach (aka not only focusing on medication). Health involves the interplay of a multitude of vital factors such as sanitation, access to clean water and adequate nutrition, and education. For example, if a population lacks access to clean water, this means that there could be bacteria, viruses and other pathogens that the children and adults alike are ingesting each day. This also means that the population will have overall sanitation and hygiene issues (think about things like brushing one's teeth, providing water for a baby's formula or even cleaning a wound). Therefore, it makes sense that this population would be more at risk for transmitting certain diseases and thus suffering from poorer health.
By understanding factors like sanitation, and thinking of ways to solve such an issue, one can see how such varying factors play vital roles in the onset of disease. Farmer says, “the great burdens of disease are just a symptom of a general deprivation,” meaning that simply treating the symptoms will only go so far. Thinking about one aspect of health is not enough. The key is to not only provide essential medical treatment but also work at the general public health level to understand health as a compilation of several distinct and changeable factors.
In summary, health must be considered in a BROAD sense, and while changing the complex factors behind health issues may come in small strides, maintaining hope is essential. As Farmer says, “I have fought the long defeat and brought other people on to fight the long defeat, and I’m not going to stop because we keep losing. Now I actually think sometimes we may win.” I too am determined to join in this battle and hope to enter the field of international health, focusing on community health interventions.
I definitely encourage each of you to read this book and to discuss you ideas about what health means to YOU and factors that you think affect a populations health!
(Thanks for reading and stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 in the next few days, in which I will discuss health and the importance of sustainability and cultural understanding).
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I think health includes what you said, but I think it also includes large mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects. Someone can be a physically healthy as possible, but still not be well due to one of the other factors.
Oh I completely agree, and the mental health area has definitely been one of my largest focus in my own studies (as a psychobiology major). Mental health issues are often ignored and many think they are not as important as physical health, but this is completely false and they are actually closely tied. For example, someone with severe depression with most likely have serious physical health problems (such as a loss or gain in weight, frequent illnesses, etc). Thank you for pointing this out!