What is health?

Health and living well are an integral part of my life, personally and professionally. As a dietitian I place a high value on the role that food can play in preventing diseases like heart disease, some cancers, and diabetes. I studied the WHO (1948) definition of health many years ago when I was a student working on my applied science degree. At the time I recall thinking it was inadequate and very limiting as I was learning about the benefits of nutrition and activity on health and helping people overcome disease with nutrition. I had forgotten about the definition and was surprised to learn that despite much criticism of it, there has yet to be an update or new version since 1948.

During my training we learned that a person is not defined by their disease and I continue to try to utilize this thinking in my practice. Huber (2011) highlights this for me with the idea that we can adapt to our health adversity and still live a full life, despite illness. I learned this concept of health firsthand when I worked in a hemodialysis clinic. There I met several young adults with multiple health conditions attending their dialysis treatments in the evenings in order to get to work every day and support their families. Despite comorbidities, they found a way to live with a life-limiting illness. However, if measured against the WHO (1948) definition “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” it may be difficult to believe that.

The idea that a person can have symptoms of a disease but not feel any adverse effects is common yet does not fit within the constraints of the aforementioned definition of health (Sartorius, 2006). Many people find ways to adapt to their condition to ensure that they can live their life in the best way possible. This highlights the value in our perception of our own health.

Keeping the patient at the centre of health provision helps me to evolve my thinking beyond the WHO definition and perhaps that is why I found a discord with it many years ago when I learned about it. I often hear one of my professors whisper in my ear “the person has diabetes; they are not a diabetic” when I catch myself referring to a patient as one of their medical conditions. This helps to create a more humane way of patient care, and reduce the judgement we sometimes have (Sartorius, 2006).

I have always considered myself a person who considers health from a holistic view. I try to gain a good understanding of the patient perspective and find ways to support them on their health journey through nutrition. My goal is to find way that meets their needs and empower people to take control of their health (Glouberman & Millar, 2003). My training as a dietitian, gave me a foundation to be successful. Supporting patients to live their life to the fullest even with chronic disease supports the definition of health I would like to embrace.

References:

Glouberman, S., & Millar, J. (2003). Evolution of the determinants of health, health policy, and health information systems in Canada. American journal of public health, 93(3), 388– 392. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.93.3.388

Huber, M. (2011). HEALTH: HOW SHOULD WE DEFINE IT? BMJ: British Medical Journal, 343(7817), 235-237. Retrieved February 6, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23051314

Sartorius N. (2006). The meanings of health and its promotion. Croatian medical journal,

47(4), 662–664.