Health Studies Level 3 key terms

The process of enabling people to increase control over, and improve, their health. It combines education, policy, environmental change and community action rather than focusing only on individual behaviour.

A 1986 international agreement setting out five health promotion actions: building healthy public policy, creating supportive environments, strengthening community action, developing personal skills and reorienting health services.

A three-tier classification of health action: primary prevention stops disease before it starts, secondary detects it early, and tertiary reduces complications and disability once disease is established.

Testing apparently healthy people to identify those at higher risk of a condition so that early treatment or advice can be offered. It is not the same as diagnosing someone who already has symptoms.

Avoidable and unfair differences in health status between groups, often linked to income, housing, education, ethnicity or geography. They are measured by comparing outcomes such as life expectancy across populations.

The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including money, housing, education, employment and social support. These conditions shape health more strongly than healthcare alone.

The standard reference posture used to describe body structures: standing upright, face forward, arms at the sides with palms facing forward, and feet flat and parallel.

Imaginary flat surfaces used to divide the body for description: sagittal (left and right), coronal or frontal (front and back) and transverse (upper and lower).

Directional terms describing distance from the point where a limb attaches to the body. Proximal means nearer the trunk; distal means further away, such as the fingers relative to the shoulder.

The body's ability to keep internal conditions such as temperature, blood glucose and pH within a stable range despite external changes, mainly through negative feedback loops.

A control mechanism in which a change from the normal range triggers a response that reverses that change, bringing the body back towards its set point. Most homeostatic systems work this way.

Routine measurements of core body function: temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure and often oxygen saturation. Changes can be an early warning of deterioration.

Everyday self-care tasks such as washing, dressing, eating, toileting and moving around. Assessing them helps identify the support a person needs to live safely.

An approach that treats the individual as an equal partner, respecting their values, preferences, history and goals, and involving them in decisions about their own support and treatment.

A legal and ethical obligation to act reasonably to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of people in your care, while not exceeding your competence or role boundaries.

Action taken to protect children and adults at risk from abuse, neglect or exploitation. It includes recognising signs, recording concerns factually and reporting promptly to the appropriate person.

A person's ability, at the time a decision is needed, to understand information, retain it, weigh it up and communicate their choice. It is decision-specific and can fluctuate.

The principle that decisions made for someone who lacks capacity must consider their wishes, feelings, values and least restrictive option, and must not be based on convenience or cost.

Agreement to examination, care or treatment given freely by someone who has received and understood relevant information about benefits, risks and alternatives, and who has capacity to decide.

The duty to keep personal health information private and share it only with those who need it for care, with the person's agreement or where the law requires disclosure.

The limits that keep the relationship between a practitioner and a service user safe and appropriate, avoiding personal, financial or sexual involvement that could exploit the power imbalance.

Raising a concern about unsafe or unlawful practice, internally or with a regulator, in order to protect service users. Done properly, it is a protected act rather than disloyalty.

Nutrients needed in large amounts to supply energy and building material: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Alcohol also supplies energy but is not classed as a nutrient.

Vitamins and minerals required in small amounts for normal growth, metabolism and disease prevention. Deficiencies can cause specific conditions such as anaemia or scurvy.

The relationship between energy taken in from food and drink and energy used by the body. A sustained surplus leads to weight gain; a sustained deficit leads to weight loss.

A set of science-based figures for nutrient and energy intakes used to assess and plan diets for population groups, covering average requirements and safe upper limits.

A crude screening measure calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. It estimates weight status at population level but does not measure body fat directly.

A positive state in which a person can cope with normal stresses, work productively, feel connected to others and realise their own potential, not merely the absence of illness.

Negative labelling and stereotyping that devalues a person or group, often leading to discrimination, secrecy and reluctance to seek help, particularly in mental health and infection.

The capacity to adapt and recover when facing adversity, trauma or sustained stress. It can be strengthened through supportive relationships, coping skills and a sense of purpose.

A communication skill in which the listener gives full attention, uses open questions, reflects back what they heard and checks understanding, rather than planning a reply or interrupting.

The ability to understand another person's feelings and perspective and to communicate that understanding, without necessarily sharing or taking on those feelings yourself.

The principle that every person should be treated with equal dignity and have equal access to services, regardless of characteristics such as age, disability, sex, race or belief.

Fairness in the distribution of resources and care, which may require giving more support to those with greater need so that outcomes become more equal. It differs from treating everyone identically.

Treating a person or group less favourably because of a protected characteristic, whether directly, indirectly, or through harassment. It is unlawful in most health and care settings.

The principle that competent people should be allowed to make informed choices that carry some risk, rather than being over-protected in ways that remove independence and control.

Combining the best available research evidence with professional expertise and the person's values and circumstances when making decisions about care or service delivery.

A study in which participants are randomly allocated to an intervention or comparison group. Randomisation reduces bias and makes causal conclusions about effectiveness more credible.

Any systematic error that pushes findings away from the truth, such as selection, measurement or reporting bias. Bias differs from random chance variation.

The structured process of judging whether a piece of research is valid, reliable and relevant enough to inform practice, by examining its design, methods, analysis and limitations.

Independent scrutiny of a research paper by experts in the field before publication, intended to check quality and relevance. It reduces poor work but does not guarantee that findings are correct.

Two measures of a screening or diagnostic test: sensitivity is the ability to correctly identify those with the condition, and specificity is the ability to correctly identify those without it.