Personal Philosophy of Health and Health Education 1

Personal Philosophy of Health and Health Education

Angie Valle

Johnson C. Smith University

Personal Philosophy of Health and Health Education 2

Health is defined by the World Health Organization as a “state of complete physical,

mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Several other

authors have provided more holistic definitions of health. Pörn and Whitbeck define individuals’

health as their physical and psychological ability to realize goals they set for themselves.

Musschenga outlines these common goals as functioning normally in basic social roles as a

parent, householder, worker, and citizen. Health to me is multidimensional; health is a wide

concept which covers every aspect of the individual. My personal multidimensional model

includes physical, social, environmental, spiritual/cultural, emotional and financial aspects. But

what makes an individual healthy? My philosophy of being healthy means that the individual

must achieve overall wellbeing in the various aspects of his/her health which refer to social,

physical, economic, spiritual/cultural and emotional health.

The individual is responsible in making sure every aspect of their health is where the

individual needs it to be. According to the Health Council of the Netherlands proposed health as

“the ability to adapt and to self-manage". Being healthy is different for everyone therefore in my

philosophy the individual must focus in the various aspects that are included in the

multidimensional model. The individual must work on the wellbeing of every single one of the

aspects to meet their personalized needs. Once an individual has reached a level of overall social,

physical, economic, spiritual/cultural and emotional wellbeing then I can conclude that the

individual is healthy. My health philosophy has different aspects that an individual must focus

on, it may seem a bit too detailed or overwhelming, but it is beneficial because it categorizes the

aspects of health. I find my philosophy of health practical because the community has an

immense focus on not overwhelming individuals by only focusing on certain topics at a time.

The community serves as a guide by providing resources, knowledge and skills to the individual.
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We all know every individual isn't the same and that works in our benefit when it comes to our

health. The community helps us by offering an array of individuals with a variety of specific

expertise to help our various dimensions of health be as healthy as we want it to be. My health

responsibilities and obligations to my community is to make sure I share my knowledge with

others who need it. I also feel it’s my obligation to invest in my community for it to improve.

Investing in my community to me means continuing to work as an interpreter to help those who

have limited English proficiency communicate effectively with their health care providers

despite their language barrier. I am also obligated to share resources available in the community

to low-income and uninsured individuals, I am focused in helping those who are at high risk of

health care access and literacy. I feel it's my obligation to give back to my community to make

sure all their dimensions of health are in their best interest.

My personal definition of health education is the process of sharing knowledge to help an

individual or community make positive lifestyle changes to restore and maintain the individual's

health. Health education can be done at all levels such as institutional, community and systemic.

Health education is vital because it expands the individual's knowledge and helps reshape the

individual's attitude and behaviors.

Practical Application Example

A practical example of my health definition will focus in the various dimensions of health

in older adults. Some adults define emotional wellbeing as a state of calm, content, free from

worries, in harmony with life and to have peace of mind (Van Leeuwen et.al, 2019). Others

described emotional wellbeing as a state of happiness based on their life decisions and their

current lifestyle (Van Leuuwen et.al, 2019). Another example is physical health, For some
Personal Philosophy of Health and Health Education 4

individuals' physical wellbeing can be exercising five times a day thirty minutes at a time for

other this amount of exercise can be considered enough or insufficient depending on the

individual's needs. That is why my definition of health focuses on the idea that health varies from

person to person.

A practical example of my health education definition is in the area of breastfeeding.

Maternal and breastfeeding education has been seen in a various range of ways. Education can

vary from videos, in-person classes/consultations or informational materials such as handouts or

brochures. Healthy People 2010 aimed for 50% of all mothers to continue breastfeeding through

the first 6 months and 25% to be breastfeeding exclusively (Shrifirad, Kamran, Mirkarimi,

Farah2012). One way to educate the community to get the percentages of breastfeeding mothers

to increase is by offering early lactation intervention. For mothers who are currently in their third

trimester it would be beneficial for the individual to attend a class led by a lactation consultant.

This way an experienced professional can educate the expecting mother of things she should be

participating in shortly after delivery when it comes to lactation. For example, educating the

expecting mother on the importance of skin to skin contact within one hour of delivery. The

mother can also be educated on the benefits of baby rooming in with her, the importance of

colostrum and breastfeeding on demand. Another education material that can be used after

delivery is playing a series of videos that demonstrate how to position her newborn during

feeding sessions. The video can focus on showing different positions in which the mother can

carry her infant, this will be of great benefit for both mother and baby because it will give mom

more options that are comfortable to her and her child. Establishing proper latching and

positioning will help the mother by reducing common breastfeeding problems. Handouts should

also be given after delivery as a reference guide to the mother. The handout can include different
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pictograms of positioning baby, it can include websites and numbers of local breast-feeding

resources in the community. Also, the handout can include information about breast pumps and

mastitis. The hope of providing early intervention classes, is to educate the mother before she

delivers so she knows what to expect. The goal of providing videos and brochures after delivery

is to continue to educate, intervene and reassure mother that she isn’t alone during the process of

establishing breastfeeding.
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References

Health education. (2013, October 18). Health education. Retrieved from

https://www.who.int/topics/health_education/en/

Health Council of the Netherlands. Publication A10/04.

www.gezondheidsraad.nl/sites/default/files/bijlage%20A1004_1.pdf.

Musschenga A , (1997). The relation between concepts of quality-of-life, health and happiness.

Journal of Medicine & Philosophy, 22(1), 11. 10.1093/jmp/22.1.11

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Pörn I , (1993). Health and adaptedness. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 14(4), 295--303.

10.1007/BF00996337

Shrifirad, G., Kamran, A., Mirkarimi, S., & Farahani, A. (2012). Effectiveness of breastfeeding

education on the weight of child and self-efficacy of mothers - 2011. Journal of

Education and Health Promotion, 1(1) doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/2277-9531.98569

Van Leeuwen, K.,M., ⨯ Miriam, S. v. L., van Nes, F.,A., Bosmans, J. E., Henrica C W de,V.,

Johannes, C. F. K., . . . Raymond, W. J. G. O. (2019). What does quality of life mean to

older adults? A thematic synthesisPLoSOne,14(3)

doi:http://dx.doi.org10.1371/journal.pone.0213263

Whitbeck C , (1981). A theory of health. In Caplan A L, Engelhardt H T, McCartney J J, (Eds.),

Concepts of healthand disease: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 611--626). Reading,

MA: Addison Wesley.