Defining Health in our Modern World

The 1948 definition of health by the World Health Organization (WHO) has been frequently criticized and described as bold and unattainable (Misselbrook, D., 2014). ). The WHO define health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organization, n.d, para.1). It’s been argued that this view is less realistic as it focuses only on the absence of any abnormalities, without considering the various struggles individuals face in our modern world (Misselbrook, D., 2014). I think we can all agree that it is nearly impossible to attain such wholeness of good health at any given time, and this reality shouldn’t define us as “unhealthy”.

Through my readings on this topic, I stumbled across an interesting definition. Starfield (2001) defined health as “the extent to which an individual or group is able, on the one hand, to realise aspirations and satisfy needs and, on the other hand, to cope with the interpersonal, social, biological, and physical environments” (p.453). This definition considers health as a positive resource for daily living rather than solely the objective to life (Starfield, 2001). It also takes into consideration the importance of the different determinants of health, and how they can influence our state of wellbeing. Thus, heavily contrasting the definition provided above by the WHO 74 years ago. In my opinion, this definition adapts effectively to our current reality where social-economics and determinants of health have a large influence on our individual health (Government of Canada, 2001).

It is clear through my readings that many definitions of health exist, and each can be interpreted differently. I believe that any modern definition that considers the complexity of our social-economic determinants of health is well adapted. This also brings me to believe that the WHO must take responsibility to ensure their well-known definition is kept up to date, to accurately encompass health in our modern world.

References:

Government of Canada. (2001, November 25). Social determinants of health and health

inequalities. Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/population-health/what-determines-health.html

Misselbrook, D. (2014). W is for Wellbeing and the WHO definition of health. British Journal

of General Practice. 64 (628). 582. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp14X682381

Starfield, B. (2001). Basic concepts in Population Health and Health Care. Journal of

Epidemiology & Community Health, 55(7), 452–454. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.55.7.452

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Constitution of the World Health Organization. World

Health Organization. https://www.who.int/about/governance/constitution