Meanings of health introduces What does health mean to individuals? It begins to provide insist into the many various perceptions of what health is. “Meanings of health” may sound strange as there should only be one (1) meaning of health, but our postmodern society has identified that how people perceive particular concepts or ideas varies from person to person. As such, there are multiple meanings of health held by a vast array of people. This applied to your classroom, school, suburb, city, state, country and the world. 

In addition to the varied perspectives on health, meanings of health will discuss the five (5) dimensions of health: spiritual, social, physical, mental, and emotional. Sometimes people combine emotional and mental health, but the two are distinctly different as you will learn soon. The five (5) dimensions of health help you to understand that health has many varying factors and is influenced by things beyond our control.

You will also examine the relative and dynamic nature of health, relating this back tot he dimensions and varying concepts of health. Meanings of health requires you to think about health can change with time, and circumstance.

It is particularly important in this dot point that you understand the five (5) dimensions of health and how they relate to each other. You should explore how a drop or rise in any of the dimensions will affect the other dimensions and the health of the individual as a whole. You should also consider the degree of control individuals exert over these dimensions.

The syllabus for meanings of health states:

Practice questions

Examine the relationship between the dimensions and the dynamic nature of health.   6 marks

Discuss the relative and dynamic nature of health.   4 marks

What is health?   4 marks