We all have a basic idea of what health means, but many people have trouble defining what it means in their life. What is health to one person is not necessarily health to another. A number of different definitions have been applied to health throughout the years. However, one thing that everyone agree on is the fact that good health is worth all the effort and sacrifice a person makes to maintain it.
Managing Disease One way that we can all define health is by using the example of cancer. Just as all cancer definitions are somewhat fluid, the definition of managing disease can be similarly vague. This is important because cancer is a disease that affects nearly everyone at some point in their life. By the same token, the methods for coping with, and even preventing, disease should also change over time depending on circumstances.
Managing Disease The most immediate task when it comes to managing disease is to prevent them from starting. However, prevention takes time. Good nutrition and exercise are very effective ways of preventing disease. However, we still have to wait for the optimal quantity of those things in our daily diet and while we are healthy, we have to make sure we are taking care of ourselves in other areas, such as sleep and relaxation. Some specialists call this kind of preventive maintenance “complementary” health care which is not really part of the definition of healthy living, but it contributes to its maintenance.
Managing Disease And Illness In the field of medicine, the definition of health policy has also been stretched over time. What was once regarded as a medical emergency is now routinely treated in an outpatient setting with the possibility of being sent home to rest. Home care is very expensive and therefore the definition of health policy has had to change accordingly. We are more likely to get better treatment in an outpatient setting, so the definition of health policy related to health care costs has also had to change. There is now a lot of overlap between health services delivery and preventive maintenance, so much so that many health plans consider some services as “core” services, regardless of their applicability to a given situation.
Managing Disease In the context of prevention, the definition has to be extended further to include the reduction of prevalence of diseases. It is a given that if there are fewer diseases, the occurrence of new diseases will decrease as well. So it follows that the definition of health should also consider the number of deaths caused by new diseases. Although prevention remains the main concern, it is important to note that mortality rates also need to be considered, especially if the reduction in the number of deaths caused by diseases is significantly slower than the increase in population. This means that although deaths caused by new diseases tend to lag behind population growth, they cannot be entirely ignored.
Managing Disease And Illness The definition of health policy has to take into account the fact that absence or poor health is not the only risk factor for death. In fact, absence or poor health is not even necessarily the most significant risk factor for death, since sickness, disability, incapacitation, and life expectancy can have severe consequences on quality of life. Thus, even though absence or poor health is by itself a threat, it has become increasingly important to recognize the fact that illness, disability, and incapacitation can also be very serious threats to health. As such, even when absence from disease is unavoidable, the management of illness, disability, and incapacitation is an absolute necessity for good health policy.