Good health depends on emotional, mental, and physical well-being. Healthcare exists to help people stay well.
The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Physical
Physical health represents one dimension of total well-being and includes the way the body looks and feels. It also refers to how the body works, including whether it can handle everyday stresses and strains. It involves eating a balanced diet and getting enough exercise. Regular exercise helps prevent heart disease, stroke and diabetes, and it can also help reduce the risk of certain cancers.
Good physical health is also linked to mental health. It leaves you feeling more energetic and able to do the things that are important to you. However, it is important to remember that focusing only on physical wellness does not constitute a comprehensive wellness program and will only leave you partially healthy. It’s a good idea to focus on all aspects of health.
Mental
People need good mental health to be able to cope with life’s challenges, use their abilities, develop relationships, contribute to society and participate in community activities. This includes the ability to enjoy life, manage emotions, think clearly and communicate effectively.
Mental illness can affect people of all ages, races and religions. It is not caused by personal weakness or bad upbringing, and it can be treated.
People who have a mental health condition can benefit from a range of treatments, including exercise and healthy eating. They may also need therapy and counselling to change their thought patterns or behaviour. This is provided by psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists as well as some primary care clinicians. It can include cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy.
Social
When people think of health, they often think of a physical symptom or issue like a sprained ankle or a bad cough. But health has other dimensions that are just as important to overall well-being. One of those is social health.
Studies link low quality and quantity of social relationships with higher mortality and specific medical conditions. For example, isolation is linked to inflammatory biomarkers and impaired immune function, which can increase risk for heart disease and lead to poor outcomes in cancer patients.
These are all examples of social health factors and what researchers refer to as the social determinants of health (SDOH). Emerging initiatives seek to bring a greater focus on health within non-health sectors, while simultaneously recognizing and addressing SDOH through the health care system.
Spiritual
When it comes to being healthy, the body and mind are not the only things that need to be in good shape. Spiritual health is also important, and it can be achieved in many ways.
Spirituality can be a source of comfort and meaning in life, and it can help people to find balance and peace. It can also help people to feel more connected to nature and others.
Spiritual health varies in definition from person to person, but it often includes belief in something greater than yourself and connecting with others. It may also include meditation and prayer, volunteering, and finding a purpose in life. It can be achieved through many different activities, including religion, art, music, and a connection with nature. It can also be found through a spiritual community or a life of ethics and values.
Financial
Financial health consists of the ability to manage expenses and prepare for financial shocks, have minimal debt, build wealth and maintain a stable credit score. While it is a core component of the definition of economic security, financial health has been largely ignored in social determinants research and interventions.
To explore whether components of financial health can be systematically associated with salient health outcomes, we used principal component analysis to extract a measure of financial health from The Network survey data and created four domains of financial health: spend, save, borrow and plan. These components closely mirror the banking and finance industry’s Consumer Financial Health Index (CFFI), a tool that includes paying bills on time, having sufficient long-term savings and maintaining a credit score above a certain threshold.