Relative & Dynamic Nature of Health

• Relative nature of health

  Health can be viewed as relative, meaning it is defined in relation to something else
• Comparisons that influence our perception of people's health

  • Another period of time
  • Our potential
  • Others
• In order to assess health and get a fair indication of how healthy someone is, we would have to compare them to other people with similar characteristics e.g age, exercise habits, etc.
• Example of relative nature of health

  • Cancer patient in recovery: someone with breast cancer who has had a mastectomy has had their level of health changed relative to others, and to their previous state of health. They may consider their health good during recovery compared to how it previously was, yet still poor when compared to people without cancer.
• Dynamic nature of health

  Health is not something that remains static or stable. A person's health status is constantly changing and dynamic, and is impacted by
• Factors that impact dynamic nature of health

  • Time (Acute and chronic changes in health)
  • Individual circumstances (genetics, sociocultural factors, socioeconomic status and environmental factors)
• Example of dynamic nature of health

  • Sudden illness or injury: Still a healthy life, but circumstances have changed
• Example of dynamic nature of health

  • Changing health over lifespan: Changes to For younger people it may be physical fitness and an active social life, whereas for older people may be completing everyday tasks independently