Exploring the Meaning of a Good Health – Types, Factors, & More

The word "health" refers to a state of complete emotional and physical well-being. Healthcare exists to help people maintain this optimal state of health.

While good health is central to handling stress and living a long and active life, some key facts on health are listed below:

• Health can be defined as physical, mental, and social well-being, and as a resource for living a full life.
• It refers not only to the absence of disease but the ability to recover and bounce back from illness and other problems.
• Factors for good health include genetics, the environment, relationships, and education.
• A healthful diet, exercise, screening for diseases, and coping strategies can all enhance a person's health.

The Definition of Health

Health is not just the absence of disease but a state of overall well-being.

The World Health Organization, in 1948, defined health as
"A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

However, a further clarification from WHO on health came in 1986, stating
"A resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities."

Recently, researchers have defined health as the ability of a body to adapt to new threats and infirmities. They base this on the idea that modern science has dramatically increased human awareness of diseases and how they work in the last few decades.

Types of Health
Mental and physical health are the two most commonly discussed types with spiritual health, emotional health, and financial health among other types.

Physical Health: Physical wellbeing involves pursuing a healthful lifestyle to decrease the risk of disease. In a physically healthy person, bodily functions work at peak performance, not only due to a lack of disease, but also to regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and adequate rest.

Mental Health: Mental health refers to a person's emotional, social, and psychological wellbeing. Mental health is as important as physical health to a full, active lifestyle.
Mental health is not only the absence of depression, anxiety, or another disorder.
It also depends on the ability to:

• enjoy life
• bounce back after difficult experiences
• achieve balance
• adapt to adversity
• feel safe and secure
• achieve your potential

Factors that Affect Health

A person is born with a range of genes, and in some people, an unusual genetic pattern can lead to a less-than-optimum level of health.
Environmental factors play a role. Sometimes the environment alone is enough to impact health. Other times, an environmental trigger can cause illness in a person who is genetically susceptible.
Access to health care plays a role, but the WHO suggests that the following factors may have a bigger impact on health than this:

• where a person lives
• the state of the surrounding environment
• genetics
• income
• education level
• relationships with friends and family

These can be summarized as:

• The social and economic environment: Including how wealthy a family or community is
• The physical environment: Including parasites that exist in an area, or pollution levels
• The person's characteristics and behaviors: Including the genes that a person is born with and their lifestyle choices

Preserving health

The best way to maintain health is to preserve it through a healthful lifestyle, rather than waiting until we are sick to put things right. This state of enhanced well-being is referred to as wellness.

The McKinley Health Center at the University of Illinois IL defines wellness as:
"A state of optimal well-being that is oriented toward maximizing an individual's potential. This is a life-long process of moving towards enhancing your physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, and environmental well-being."

Wellness promotes an active awareness of and participation in health, as an individual and in the community.

Maintaining wellness and optimal health is a lifelong, daily commitment.

Steps that can help us maximize our health include:

• a balanced, nutritious diet, sourced as naturally as possible
• regular exercising
• screening for diseases that may present a risk
• learning to manage stress
• engaging in activities that provide purpose and connection to others
• maintaining a positive outlook and appreciating what you have
• defining a value system, and putting it into action

Peak health will be different for each person, and how you achieve wellness may be different from how someone else does.