To define yourself as
healthy is something we all seem to overlook to much at times, are we really
healthy?  The oxford dictionary defines
health as ‘The state of being free from illness or injury.’ (Oxforddictionariescom,
2018). This definition is a biomedical. The world health organisation (WHO)
also published a definition of health in 1948 which states ‘a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity” (Whoint, 2018) this is a holistic model of health. The third
definition of health is ‘health is a state that allows the individual to
adequately cope with all demands of daily life ‘(Nihgov, 2018). This could
be viewed as either biomedical or holistic, because in order to live with
everyday life you must be free from illness or injury yet you also need to have
the four perspectives of holistic health in good health. The author thinks the three
definitions  all  have strong arguments that they are correct,
you cannot say any of them are wrong, to be healthy does mean you do not have
illness or injury but equally, you may not have any illness or injury yet still
not be healthy, an example of this is mental health. The WHO’s definition of
health takes the person as a whole including their mind as well as their body.
If your body is functioning well but your mind is struggling to cope are you
healthy? As in definition one you would define as ‘healthy’, yet in definition
two you are ‘unhealthy’. The author thinks in order for you to look at yourself
to consider yourself as healthy you need to consider all impacts on your health
and all aspects of your life. The author thinks the second definition is the
best description of health that takes into account all of the impacts that may
affect you. People that view definition one as correct may be seriously
overweight, poor cardiovascular system, sleeping poorly and stressed yet they
do not feel sick, so they consider themselves healthy. (Dinkmeyer,
D. 1979).

Human life consists of four
aspects: the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels of
existence.  In order to find balance,
wholeness and fulfilment in our lives, we need to heal, develop, and integrate
all four of these aspects within ourselves. Again this implies that definition
two has the strongest argument as being the best description of health

Our physical aspect is our
physical body. It also includes our ability to survive and thrive in the
material world.  Developing the physical
level of our being involves learning to take good care of our bodies, and to
enjoy them.  It also means developing the
skills to live comfortably and effectively in the world.

Our mental aspect is our
intellect, our ability to think and reason. 
The mental level of our existence consists of our thoughts, attitudes,
beliefs and values.  Our minds can be our
greatest gifts, and our greatest curse. 
Our minds can cause us to have terrible confusion or bring us profound
understanding.  Developing the mental
level of our being allows us to think clearly, remain open minded, yet discern
intelligently.  Our minds enable us to
gather knowledge and wisdom from our life experience and from the world around
us.

Our emotional aspect is our
ability to experience life deeply, to relate to one another and the world on a
feeling level.  It’s the part of us that
seeks meaningful contact and connection with others.  Developing the emotional level of our being
allows us to feel the full range of the human experience (with the five
senses), and find fulfilment in our relationships with ourselves and each
other.

Our spiritual aspect is our
inner essence, our soul, the part of us that exists beyond time and space.  It connects us with the universal source and
the oneness of all life.  Developing our
awareness of the spiritual level of our being allows us to experience a feeling
of “belonging” in the universe, a deeper meaning and purpose in our
lives, and a broader perspective than we have from our personality alone.  The spiritual level provides a foundation for
the development of the other levels.

All four of these aspects
are equally important.  If we want to
feel whole and lead healthy, satisfying lives, we need to focus a certain
amount of time and attention on understanding, developing, healing and
integrating each aspect. This is viewed as the holistic model of health.(Balancingmindbodysoul,
2018)

When you have become ill or
receive a diagnosis some people do not look past the advice of their GP, they
take on board the knowledge they have and continue with their lives acting on
the GPs advice whether it would be taking medications for the rest of their
lives/surgery etc, they’re  following the
biomedical model. Some people will get a diagnosis or illness and take a step
back and re-evaluate their life, is this self-inflicted? Is this something the
author can change themself with a simple lifestyle change thus not having to
take medication every day. Of course, in some situations biological
intervention is a must and it cannot be healed holistically, for example a
broken leg. To take this approach would be holistic, to try different methods
of improve your condition instead of the generic biomedical route. Yet some other
illness can be helped or even cured via either complimentary therapies ( used
alongside conventional medical treatments to help you feel better or cope with
a condition) many cancer patients will have complimentary therapies to help
with side effects of chemotherapy or alternative therapies (completely instead
of any conventional medical treatments) examples of alternative therapies are;
acupuncture & chiropractor

Acupuncture is a treatment
derived from ancient Chinese medicine. Fine needles are inserted at certain
sites in the body for therapeutic or preventative purposes. Western
countries use acupuncture following a medical diagnosis. It involves
stimulating sensory nerves under the skin and in the muscles of the body. This
results in the body producing natural substances, such as pain-relieving
endorphins. It’s likely that these naturally released substances are
responsible for the beneficial effects experienced with acupuncture. A course
of acupuncture usually creates longer lasting pain relief than when a single
treatment is used. Traditional acupuncture is based on the belief that an
energy, or “life force”, flows through the body in channels called
meridians. This life force is known as Qi. Practitioners who adhere to
traditional beliefs about acupuncture believe that when Qi doesn’t flow freely
through the body, this can cause illness. They also believe acupuncture can
restore the flow of Qi, and so restore health Acupuncture practitioners –
sometimes called acupuncturists – use acupuncture to treat a wide range of
health conditions. However, the use of acupuncture isn’t always based on
rigorous scientific evidence. The National Institute for Health and Care
Excellence (NICE) provides guidelines for the NHS on the use of treatments and
care of patients. Currently, NICE only recommends considering acupuncture as a
treatment option for: chronic tension-type headaches &migraine. Acupuncture
is also often used to treat other musculoskeletal conditions and pain
conditions, including: chronic pain, neck pain, joint pain, dental pain,
postoperative pain. However, in many conditions where acupuncture is used,
there’s less good quality evidence to draw any clear conclusions over its
effectiveness compared with other treatments.  (Hawking, 2000)

Chiropractor- chiropractic is
regulated in the same way as conventional medicine. All
chiropractors must be registered with the General Chiropractic Council. You can
use the General Chiropractic Council website. (nhsuk, 2018)  Chiropractic is a treatment where a
practitioner called a chiropractor uses their hands to help relieve problems
with the bones, muscles and joints. Chiropractic can mainly help
with pain in muscles and joints, such as: back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain,
elbow pain & pain from osteoarthritis. chiropractors use different
techniques to treat problems with the muscles and joints, including: spinal
manipulation – using their hands to apply force to the muscles, bones and
joints in and around the spine, short sharp thrusting movements, gradually
moving your joints into different positions &pulling or stretching your muscles
in different directions Treatment isn’t normally painful, but some people
experience a bit of discomfort.  Most
people who have chiropractic treatment pay for it privately. It usually costs
around £30 to £80 per session. You don’t need to see your GP before making an
appointment, If you decide to contact a chiropractor yourself, make sure
they’re registered with the General Chiropractic Council (GCC). By law, all
chiropractors must be registered with the GCC. (nhsuk, 2018) Again the same as acupuncture
there is no real evidence based on the effectiveness of this therapy. You
cannot run a medical trial on many alternative therapies to help prove
effectiveness. What works for one person may not work for the next, most
alternative therapies are based person by person, what works for one might not
work for another.

One of the largest reasons
the medical model (conventional medical treatments) has the largest support and
more people fall into the category of receiving this kind of treatment is it receives
 90% of funding via the NHS all the other
holistic therapies tend to carry large cost attached and with it being likely
to involve on-going treatments people don’t make these decisions lightly.  The medical model views your body as a machine
and it is to be fixed when it is broken whereas the holistic model views your
body as something that needs to be fine-tuned in order to keep in running to
the best of its ability and altering different inputs at different stages
(whether diet, exercise or sleep etc.). The biggest difference is the medical
model looks to prolong life with no thought for the quality it results in,
whereas the holistic model takes into account the quality of life you will be left
with in result of your illness/diagnosis.

To conclude biomedical vs
holistic health, the author would always try the holistic approach first and
try to improve symptoms holistically, before the biomedical route unless
necessary. The author believes strongly that definition three should be used as
the main definition of health and all health authorities (NHS & private)
should adopt this approach, the author understands the funding and time
restraints against the NHS It would be difficult to complete this to the best
of its ability, but better education on self-health, healthy eating good sleep
and the need for exercise from a young age could help people see the importance
of not only looking after your body when its unwell but looking after your body
every day. The author thinks that the alternative and complementary therapies
should be more widely available as in the long run could lead to lower cost to
the NHS and provide more statistics to help me the proof of effectiveness.