Health and wellness
What is health? How can I tell if I am healthy? Can I control my own health? How can I influence my future health? You may have just begun to ask yourself questions like these. At one time you might have said that a healthy person is anyone who does not have a cold or some other illness. Now that you are older, you may feel that this definition does not include all the things that cause you to feel well or to be healthy.
Aspects of Health
The term health has come to have a wider meaning than it used to. It no longer means just the absence of illness. Health is now used to refer to the well-being of your body, your mind, and your relationships with other people. These types of well-being are called physical health, mental health, and social health. The concept of health that includes all three of these aspects is called wellness.
When you are physically healthy, you are able to carry out everyday tasks without becoming overly tired. You have enough energy to enjoy leisure activities and to meet emergencies. If you are mentally healthy, you like yourself for your achievements, and you learn from your mistakes. You can cope with the demands of life and adjust to new situations. When you have healthy social relationships, you get along well with others. You have friends, and you are capable of loving relationships. You respect the rights of others, and you know how to give and accept help.
It is easy to see how the three aspects of wellness are related. When you are ill or facing many problems and pressures, your relationships with your friends and family may suffer. When you are coming down with the flu, for example, you may get upset if you are asked to do the dishes or take out the garbage. If you are worried about an exam in a difficult subject, you may get a headache or stomachache. If you are lonely and have few friends, you probably do not feel good about yourself. You may even feel tired or overeat because of your unhappiness.
This view of wellness as a combination of physical, mental, and social well-being is also known as a holistic concept of health. Holistic means whole, and here it refers to the connections among these three aspects of health as they affect the whole person. People with a holistic view of wellness are aware of and work to improve all three aspects of their health. They regard wellness as an important goal, the result they want to achieve through their actions.
Another way to express the holistic concept of wellness is with the term quality of life. Quality of life refers to how satisfying and rewarding your life is. Recently, this term has received more attention in our society. One reason for this increasing emphasis can be found in the length and conditions of life that people have now come to expect. For much of the history of the world, just staying alive and active until age 47 was quite an accomplishment. This is still true in some parts of the world today. You can imagine that people living in areas of drought and food shortages are'not concerned about what we call quality of life. They are too busy just trying to stay alive. In this country and other countries, however, many people are concerned about how they will feel and what they can accomplish and enjoy during these added years of life expectancy. These people are concerned not only about feeling good in the present but also about planning for a lifetime of wellness.
What Determines Health and Wellness
What are some of the factors that influence your wellness and life expectancy? Can you control or influence any of these factors?
To answer these questions, consider another set of statistics comparing 1900 to the present. The three leading causes of death in 1900 were not the same as the leading causes of death today. The leading causes of death then were diseases that could be passed from one person to another (pneumonia and influenza, tuberculosis, diseases of the stomach and intestines, heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, accidents, cancer, childhood diseases, diphtheria). In contrast, today's leading causes of death are diseases that are strongly influenced by your individual life style, the way you choose to live your life (heart disease, cancer, stroke, accidents, lung disease, pneumonia and influenza, diabetes mellitus, suicide, liver disease, atherosclerosis).
As you will see, the way you choose to live your life strongly influences the quality of your life, both now and in the future. Of course, some other factors also influence your health and wellness. These include heredity, environment, and culture, but even these factors are affected to some extent by your life-style decisions.
HEREDITY
To some extent, heredity, all the traits that are passed on biologically from parent to child, determines a person's level of wellness. These traits include hair color, eye color, height, build, and many other characteristics. Heredity also influences the soundness of your body, your reactions to stressful situations, and the aging process.
As you probably know, some disabilities, diseases, and tendencies toward certain illnesses are inherited. Although inherited disabilities put some limits on an individual's level of wellness, there are still many things a person can do to reach his or her optimum health, the highest level of wellness possible. Many disabled people are energetic and productive and enjoy a high quality of life in spite of their disabilities.
Overcoming a disability is an extreme example of using mental, social, and physical resources to make up for a limitation. There are also less dramatic examples. For example, some people inherit a tendency toward high blood pressure, a condition that can contribute to heart disease and shorten life. If they are aware of their condition and know how to cope with it, they can make diet and other life-style changes to control their blood pressure. Their actions allow them to lead long and healthy lives in spite of this inherited tendency.
Except in a small number of cases, heredity does not prevent a person from enjoying a healthy life. For most people, the life-style choices they make every day are far more important than heredity in maintaining, harming, or improving their wellness.
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Your environment is all your surroundings and the influences they have on you. To be healthy, everyone needs a healthful physical environment, or physical surroundings. You know that climate, extreme heat or cold, and extremely dry or damp air can affect your wellness. It is also true that air pollution, water pollution, radiation, and even loud noise can injure your health. If you are aware of environmental hazards, you can take steps to protect yourself. You can avoid swimming in polluted water, wear a sunscreen for protection against the sun's rays, and always keep your radio's volume at less-than-harmful levels.
You can also take steps to make your environment healthier. Everyone should be aware of the dangers of a polluted environment and help to limit or decrease pollution. That includes disposing of waste materials correctly, bicycling or walking short distances instead of driving, and recycling paper goods, cans, and bottles. Some teenagers are part of environmental watch groups that keep track of air and water cleanliness in their communities.
Your physical environment includes the environment indoors as well as outdoors. Your home, school, and workplace are part of your physical environment. Cigarette smoking in public places and disease- causing organisms in restaurant food are some indoor hazards of the physical environment. Your own knowledge and behavior can help make your physical environment safer.
SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
Your environment is made up of more than your physical surroundings. The people around you ~ your family, friends, and other people you spend time with - make up another part of your environment, your social environment.
When you were a child, your parents were the major part of your social environment. They taught you to speak and to communicate in other ways. They strongly influenced your feelings about yourself and your ideas of how to get along with other people. In addition, they probably taught you healt5h habits that are so basic you do not even think about them anymore. Washing your hands before eating or fixing a meal, for example, may have become routine, but now you understand that these habits help to prevent the spread of germs.
As you have grown older, your social environment has expanded to include your neighbors and schoolmates. Your teachers, relatives, friends, and those involved in the community activities you participate in are an important part of your social environment.
You have probably heard a lot of talk about peer pressure. Traditionally, the word peers has meant equals, those people who are in the same situation as you. Today, it is often used to mean your friends, or a larger group of acquaintances your own age. The friends you select from among your acquaintances can have an important effect on your level of wellness. Friends who practice unhealthful behaviors can put a lot of pressure on you to do the same. It is sometimes difficult to stand up to that kind of pressure. Selecting friends who choose healthful habits and life styles makes it easier for you to choose wellness.
CULTURE
Your social environment is only one part of your culture. Culture is all the ideas, customs, and ways of living that characterize a particular group of people. That group may be a nation, a region of a country, or an ethnic group. Culture includes accents and food preferences, attitudes and manners.
Sometimes you are not aware of the characteristics of your own culture until you come in contact with another culture. You probably do not think you have an accent until you visit a part of the country where people speak differently. In some cultures, it is rude to take off your
shoes when visiting someone else's house; in other cultures it is rude not to. In some cultures, people eat little or no meat; in others, meat is central to the diet. This is just one example of how cultural differences can affect your health. Can you think of other examples?
Sometimes, you may get "mixed messages" from your culture. For example, our culture emphasizes the value of health and fitness. At the same time, it suggests that unhealthful behaviors, such as smoking and drinking, are fun and part of a healthful life style. You have probably seen advertisements with young, healthy-looking people trying to promote products that are not really good for your health. Because your culture offers you so many choices, you must be informed about what promotes health and what does not. This way you will be able to make your own choices without being influenced by misleading messages.
Review
What are the three aspects of wellness?
What is a holistic view of health?
How are the three leading causes of death today different from those of 1900?
What factors determine your health? Which of these factors can you control?
What Do You Think?
What are two ways you could improve your physical health? Your mental health? Your social health?
Medical Specialists
Allergist treats people who have allergies or reactions to irritating substances.
Cardiologist specializes in diagnosing and treating heart disease.
Geriatric physician specializes in treating elderly people.
Gynecologist specializes in treating disorders and diseases of the female reproductive system.
Neurologist treats disorders of the nervous system.
Obstetrician concerned with pregnancy, labour, and delivery of a
baby.
Oncologist specializes in diagnosing and treating cancerous tumors.
Orthopedist specialized in treating disorders of the bones and joints.
Pediatrician specializes in the development and care of children and in treating diseases of children.
Psychiatrist specializes in diagnosing and treating mental and emotional disorders.
The health-care professional who takes care of most of your routine medical needs is your primary-care physician. Primary-care physicians are medical doctors.
To practice medicine, a doctor must spend at least one year as an intern in a hospital and pass the licensing test of the state in which he or she practices. Once licensed, a doctor can make a diagnosis, provide treatment, and write a prescription for medication. A diagnosis, is a doctor's opinion of the nature or cause of a medical condition. A prescription, is a written order from a doctor to a pharmacist, specifying the medicine to be given to a patient. A pharmacist is a person trained and licensed to prepare and give out medicines according to the prescriptions of medical doctors.
When you have a medical condition that requires specialized treatment, your primary -care physician will refer you to a medical specialist. A medical specialist is a doctor with additional training in a particular branch of medicine who has passed a test that certifies him or her to practice in this specialty.
The primary-care physician works with other health- care professionals to bring patients the care they need. These health-care professionals are often called allied health workers. They include nurses, dietitians, physical therapist, dental hygienist, and psychologists.
Nurses. A nurse is a licensed health-care professional who, working in collaboration with a doctor, provides direct care to patients.
OTHER ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
Doctors are sometimes helped by physician's assistants. These are individuals who have received specialized training to perform certain tasks previously done by doctors. These tasks may include taking medical histories and performing physical examinations. Physician's assistants always work under the close supervision of a doctor.
Persons treated to rehabilitation patients disabled by problems such as back pain, fractures, burns, strokes, sports injuries, and nerve injury are physical therapists. A physical therapist uses various physical exercises and heat, to relieve pain and improve strength and mobility.
A dietitian is someone who has completed a degree programme in foods and nutrition. This training enables the dietitian to set up and supervise food services for institutions such as hospitals. Dietitians may also provide nutritional counseling to patients in health-care facility or in private practice.
A dentist is a health professional. Dentists examine your mouth, teeth and gums and fill cavities. Many dentists employ a dental hygienists, a technician who is trained to clean and x-ray the teeth and to assist the dentist in various procedures. If you have a specific dental problem, your dentist may refer you to a dental specialist. A dental specialist is a dentist who has had years of additional training in a particular branch of dentistry and who has been certified to practice in this specialty. An orthodontist is a specialist who has been trained to correct teeth that are out of position or misaligned. A periodontist is a dentist who specializes in treating various gum diseases.
Treatment for emotional problems is available from a number of different health professionals. A psychologist is a person who can evaluate and help people with emotional problems Psychologist cannot prescribe drugs.
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who has had special training in the treatment of patients with emotional problems. A psychiatrist can prescribe drugs and hospitalize patients who need special treatment.
Another type of professional in the mental health field is a social worker. A licensed social worker has a master's degree from a school of social work. Social workers are trained to involve the entire family rather than just the individual, in resolving emotional problems.
Health-Care Facilities
During the course of your life you will probably have different kinds of medical needs. Depending on what those needs are, you can seek medical care at private doctors' offices, clinics, hospitals or specialized health centres.
Perhaps the most frequently used facility is the doctor's private office, which can be in a hospital or in a private building. Here doctors and nurses do routine examinations as well as tests to diagnose and treat minor illnesses and injuries. Minor surgery such as removal of a wart, may also be done in the office.
If a medical test or surgical procedure is more complex, doctors may ask their patients to have the test or procedure done at an outpatient clinic. A clinic is a facility in which primary-health care is provided by one or more doctors and other allied health workers. A clinic may be an independent facility or part of a hospital. An outpatient is a person admitted to a hospital or clinic for tests or treatments that do not require an overnight stay. Many tests involving x-rays are performed at outpatient clinics, as are certain surgical procedures. For example, cataract surgery, surgery to remove a cloudy lens from the eye, can be performed on an outpatient basis. Outpatient care is less costly than a hospital stay because there is no expense for a hospital room, meals or nursing services.
Hospitals. Treatment for a serious disorders, such as heart attack, requires a period of hospitalization. A patient who is required to stay in a hospital for overnight or longer is called an inpatient. Health care given to a patient in a hospital is called secondary health care. The doctor visits the patient every day to note progress and make any necessary adjustments in the patient's care.
A hospital may be a general hospital or a specialty hospital. A general hospital treats all sorts of patients with various types of illnesses and injuries. A specialty hospital specializes in treating one age group or one type of disorder. Some hospitals are called teaching hospitals. Teaching hospitals are located near medical schools whose faculty members are on the hospital staff. Young physicians and allied health workers train at these hospitals. A teaching hospital also provides facilities for staff members to carry out medical research. Because of this research, teaching hospitals often offer advanced medical care.
LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES
Not all patients need the kinds of services provided by clinics or hospitals. Some patients need a setting that provides basic nursing care over a long period of time without costly services of a hospital. Facilities providing this type of care are rehabilitation or convalescent centres and nursing homes.
A rehabilitation or convalescent centre provides care for people who are recovering from surgery, an illness or an injury. These people eventually return to their homes. A nursing home is a facility that specializes in providing long-term care for the elderly or the chronically ill who are incapable of caring for themselves.
One special kind of nursing care is available for terminally ill patients. This care can be given either in the home or in a live-in facility called a hospice. Hospice care is usually short-term and focus on helping a dying patient live as comfortably as possible.
HEALTH-CARE SERVICES
Volunteer agencies offer many kinds of health-care services. The American Red Cross, for example, gives free medical care, housing, food and small amount of money during emergencies. The American Cancer Society frequently provides free transportation to local treatment centres and also lends equipment such as walkers and wheel-chairs.
Patients also can be given care and treatment in their own homes. Nurses coming into a home are usually less expensive than nursing - home care, since they are able to remain in family surroundings.
Local and state health departments also provide services at little or no cost. In many communities, public-health nurses visit local schools to give free hearing and vision tests or give immunization injections. Local and state health departments also provide dental care, mental health care, visiting nursing services, and care to pregnant women.