What Are Some Individuals’ Critical Health Conditions?

Health, as defined by the World Health Organization, is a condition characterized by a high level of well-being with no restrictions on the individual’s activity or ability to engage in normal daily activities. Different standards have been applied for different purposes. There are four areas in which good health is primarily perceived: physical, mental, social and emotional health.

The World Health Organization recognizes five universal areas of personal resources for health promotion. These are physical capabilities, behavior, knowledge, information, and interpersonal relationships. It is believed that people are able to manage their health through the processes of these domains, but it is not always clear how these domains contribute to optimal health. These include processes that address prevention, early detection, treatment and rehabilitation, while some models of health promotion consider only the processes that are involved in disease prevention and control.

A fourth area considered critical in an individual’s capacity for optimal health is the definition of social capital. This includes the capacity of the person to interact with others, their environment, and the community to create opportunities for self-fulfillment. Social capital has become an increasingly important element of the health care and research agendas of many governmental agencies. The definition of the concept was first published in 1990 by the National Academy of Sciences, which concluded that the definition should be constructed in a way that would not include the ability of a person to escape responsibility for his or her own health. The academy also felt that the definition should also cover situations in which the person had little control over his or her health and that self-control was not relevant.