What does being healthy actually mean?
The World Health Organisation’s definition of health is:
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Despite the controversy of this definition, it is clear that to be healthy and well, as individuals and as a society, there are multiple domains that we need to address. Under each of those domains are subdomains and it can be seen in one sense that attainment of health could be dramatically overwhelming, or that there is much that we can do to improve our overall health and wellbeing.
Over time, I will discuss some of these domains here, and then add links to further blogs, discussing some items in more detail.
Physical
- Physical capacity
- Physical ability
- Physical fitness
Mental
- Ability to self-manage
- Ability to accept
- Barriers to exercise – confidence, perception of body image
Social
- Peer support
- Support from family
- Support from friends
- Support from healthcare