Defining Health.docx
- 1. Defining Health Defining HealthHealth can be defined as the degree of metabolic or functional efficiency of any living being. In humans, it is the condition of an individual’ s body, mind and spirit. Good health is the condition where one is free from pain, injury or illness. WHO defines health as a complete state of mental, social and physical well-being and not only the absence of infirmity or disease. Health is improved and maintained through the intelligent choices made by an individual about their lifestyle and also the efforts the person makes to see that these choices are adhered to. The determinants of health are the economic and social environment, the person’ s behaviours and characteristics and also the physical environment. Health is usually divided into two broad categories-the mental and the physical health. The physical health involves the body. Good physical health is attained through good nutrition, regular physical exercise and enough rest. Physical health is at times referred to as physical well-being which involves getting adequate sleep, hygiene, proper nutrition, abstaining from drug use, management of body weight, responsible sexual behaviour and avoiding the abuse of alcohol. Mental health on the other hand refers to an individual’ s emotional and cognitive well-being. Mental health includes self-actualization, the ability to be adapt and flexible, the ability to achieve moderation, the ability to feel secure, safe and to enjoy life.Curing is the act of giving a treatment or remedy that restores the health of the ill person while healing is the slow process whereby the body cells repair and regenerate to decrease the size of the necrotic or damaged area. Healing changes the soul or mind while the cure changes the body. This would make healing to happen at its own pace unlike curing which involves a series of therapies and medical interventions. Healing can therefore also b viewed as what happens when one is being cured that is the attitude of the patient towards the curing process.One of the rituals was that the child and the mother were separated from the community for a period of time. This ensured that they would be protected from any evil spirits that would harm them. Another ritual practice was that the baby would be rubbed with garlic or oil. The mother and baby would be watched closely for about 7 days as they were considered to be susceptible to evil spirits during the first 7 days. The Jews referred to the seventh night as the “ watch night.” In some Semitic nations, a sheep was sacrificed during the naming of the child to offer protection for the newly born baby. Various religious communities performed circumcision of the new born baby to redeem the baby from the taboos and superstitions of the early stages of life. Baptism was also done mainly by the Christians to expel the evil spirits that would harm the child. In other religious communities, the mother was isolated from the community for a
- 2. period of 40 days and was required to undertake a ritual birth before going back to the husband, community and family (Spector, 2008).Death rituals were conducted to protect the dead, the remaining members of the family and the dying from evil spirits. Several religious practices were conducted when a person died or was close to dying. One of the rituals was the ritual washing. Ritual washing is given to a Muslim who is dead just before they are buried. It is an act of purifying oneself and is also given to those considered to be impure due to discharge of blood or semen, touching a dead body and sexual intercourse. The ritual is known as Ghusl in Muslim (Rizvi, 1989). Another ritual involved storing water and food in the grave for the journey taken after death. The deceased were also protected from these evil spirits that are believed to come from the deceased’ s ghost. Entire religions are usually based on soul and ancestors worship (Aziz, 2009). Christians also believe that Euthanasia is contrary to the bible’ s teachings. There are also cross-national rituals that are done when one dies. One such practice is the military funeral conducted in all nations when a soldier, marine, sailor or airman dies in battle. It is also conducted for the heads of state, veterans or prominent military persons. It includes the firing of gun shots as salute, guards of honour and other military proceedings such as the covering of the coffin with a flag. Another ritual is the wearing of dark clothes or garments during funerals to indicate that the people at the funeral are grieving the dead. In western cultures, black is used to symbolize mourning and it has been considered as a sign of respect. It also serves to show how serious the occasion is. The goal of anyone attending the funeral should be to blend in with the occasion and to keep the attention to the family of the deceased since that’ s where the attention should be. Placing of death notices in the local newspapers is also another ritual that is observed throughout the nations. Some nations only indicate the name of the dead person, the family’ s name and the details of the funeral while other nations use such phrases as passed away, departed this life, died peacefully, went to be with our lord and many other phrases (Spector, 2008).Many people don’ t like talking about death as it makes them face the reality that they will one day have to face their own deaths. How then can we talk about death? It is good to realize that death is inevitable and it will one day come to every one of us. The longer we put the discussions off, the more the fearful we become. It is therefore appropriate to start speaking about death from an early age as we try to make the kids grasp what death is all about. It is required that you be honest and encourage questions. This creates an atmosphere of openness, comfort and has the effect of sending the message that there is no wrong or right way to feel about death (Kathy, 2006).When caring for the dying, you should try to keep the patient free of pain and as comfortable as possible. This would entail making the patient’ s final days as pain-free as possible for both the family and the patient ensuring that suffering is kept to the minimum level possible. The family also needs to be comforted while you are still trying to make the patient die peacefully. Dealing with dying people calls for a lot of love and humility.In conclusion, it is evident that the health of an individual from birth to death should be very much valued. Care should be given to all the people whether they are on their death beds or the family of the dying patient. Many communities have various beliefs and taboos and as a health officer, you should aim to understand this culture so as to know how best to handle patients from the different walks of life. It helps a health practitioner to be concerned with the beliefs of
- 3. their patients and this makes them comfortable as they receive treatment.Reference:Aziz, S. (2011). “ Do Souls of the Dead Return Back to the World?” Authentic Islamic Resources and Information.Kathy, G. (2006). Let’ s talk about death. Retrieved on 12th January from: www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2006/05/18/2809176.htm.Rizvi, S, M. (1989). The Ritual and Spiritual Purity. Ansariyan Publications: Qom Iran.Spector, R. (2008). Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness. New York: Prentice Hall.