Health and human development concepts and perspectives
What you must be able to define and use
Start with the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of health: a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Know that it is criticised for the word complete (few people are ever fully well, and it can exclude people living with chronic conditions) and for omitting spiritual health. Learn the dimensions of health and wellbeing - physical, social, emotional, mental and spiritual - and be able to give a concrete example of each. Then learn health and wellbeing as a concept with characteristics (subjective, dynamic, influenced by factors, interrelated) and indicators (self-assessed health status, life expectancy, mortality, morbidity, burden of disease). Finally, understand human development as creating an environment in which people can develop to their full potential and lead productive, creative lives according to their needs and interests, and the five human development concepts: equity, sustainability, productivity, empowerment and health.
Traps that appear in questions
- Confusing health status (a measure) with health and wellbeing (the overall state).
- Listing physical examples when asked for mental or spiritual - mental health is about the mind and thinking, spiritual is about meaning, purpose, hope and peace.
- Treating the dimensions as separate; questions often ask how one dimension influences another.
- Using equity as meaning equal - equity means fairness and minimising avoidable differences, not sameness.
- Describing human development as economic growth alone.
Rule of thumb
If a question says 'using the WHO definition', quote its key elements (complete, physical, mental, social, not merely absence of disease) and then evaluate. If it says 'interrelationships', name two dimensions and explain the direction of influence with an example.
Worked example: 'Explain how a chronic illness could affect more than one dimension.' A person with limited mobility (physical) may withdraw from sport and social contact (social), feel anxious about the future (mental/emotional) and lose a sense of purpose (spiritual) - showing interrelatedness, not just one effect.