The Health Continuum

PART 2

How do we view Health?

What IS Health? The leading definition is: “the state of being free of illness or injury.” However, this is biased toward healthcare as an industry. Do you see that? People can still be in good or proper Health while dealing with an illness or injury. While a person without illness or injury can also be in poor Health.

The next definition is: “a person’s mental or physical condition.” This is closer, but does not consider spiritual health, which certainly overlaps with social, emotional, and a more specific psychological health.

Health is a continuum constantly in flux - its perspective and balance shifting. It constantly varies depending on circumstance, need, and desire. However there are absolutely critical factors that stand out as being more necessary to creating better Health than others. Sometimes circumstance, need, and desire will inflate the factors that provide recovery back to, or generally toward, better Health.

First we enter this continuum via genetics and tradition. Nature and Nurture.

Then there is Life, and lifestyle.

There is nutrition.

There is fitness.

There is wellness.

There is psychological and spiritual health.

There is accident and emergency care.

There is medical care.

Then there is Prescription and Hospice.

This continuum of Health could be printed out as a chart, as depicted through our file image, and it could be hung on a wall. Every individual, every day, could metaphorically throw a dart to where they feel they are on that continuum. Some days the image could be blown up, easy to define and easy to target, while other days it could be small and difficult to target even with hyper focus. Some days it can be blown up but your focus is so fragmented that the dart could easily hit other unintended areas. For instance, accidents are mostly unpredictable and can happen regardless of your state of wellness or lifestyle, which is why it exists everywhere just slightly off of center. At the onset of flu symptoms, the RX and REST area at the top will be inflated and easier to hit.

This image, emphasis included, is a visualization of how we (all humans) should approach Health. With a capital “H.” 

Health, with a capital “H,” is decidedly NOT healthcare focused. healthcare with a small “h” is an industry, and is markedly insurance or profit focused. Health is absolutely not. 

The area which houses medical care and accident and injury seems expansive, until…

…you highlight the area that you, the individual, CAN CONTROL (shown in the image by purple highlighted lines). This is not to say that physicians and other experts within the medical field should not be used or resourced! This simply means that you as an individual do not need to rely SOLELY on them for proper Health.

Part A - the largest area: Barring need from Accident or Injury, you can, and you should control most of:

Nutrition,

Fitness,

Mental, spiritual, and emotional health

Part B - the second largest area: Outside of the need from Accident or Injury, and while still consulting with and using the skills of medical professionals, you should *control much of:

Mobility,

Dental,

Vision,

Psychological care

*by “control” we mean the individual seeks out the care, filters the quality, sets regularity, educates themselves on prescribed practices, and participates in the practice outside of professional visits

Part C - the smallest area: Outside of the need from Accident or Injury, and while still consulting with and using the benefits of science and technology, you should control some of:

Pharmaceuticals,

Medical devices

Part A is the vast majority of what comprises Health. Note that Health on a continuum still exists while experiencing or recovering from accident or injury. Also, notice that nutrition does not only contribute to Health outside of Accident and Injury. It is very much a solution to overcoming (and sometimes avoiding!) accident and injury! (Likewise, it could also be the cause of accident and injury).

Part B as a medical area still overlaps wellness! You do not always have to be Sick to access medical care. Medical care like chiropractics can be preventive, as dental work is and can be.

Part C, although well beyond the focus of lifestyle, pharmaceuticals and medical devices is still a part of your everyday choices. Supplements, anti-inflammatories and other daily remedies off the shelf can and should be a part of your Health continuum, but certainly a very small portion! However, if you’ve ever stood in line at a Walgreens and gazed upon the bins and bins and overflowing bins full of prescriptions to be picked up, you would think that Part C is a much more dominant piece of our collective Health continuum.

I would propose that “Fitness” is another triangle inside of this continuum. FItness itself is a pyramid with its base in nutrition and extends to its peak inside of “sickness.” I have believed my whole life that there is restorative power in “fresh air” to recover from sickness. Scientifically, the vitamin D is necessary and helpful too, of course. So during recovery when I am physically able to get outside for at least a walk, I consider this both fitness and recovery from sickness.

Fitness also overlaps accident and injury. Physical Therapy is this overlap and although is a practice within the medical area, and more recently a part of the healthcare area, is and should be considered preventive as much as it is recovery.

As previously mentioned, there are circumstances, needs, and desires that change our view of Health from moment to moment, but our general view of Health should appear in line with the emphasis applied in this image.