Health Promotion in Practice
Chapter One
IMAGES OF HEALTH
Joan Arnold
Laurel Janssen Breen
What do you imagine when you think about health-your health? Do you
view yourself as healthy? What health goals do you possess now for yourself
and your family? Do factors in your community contribute to your personal
health and your family's health? Is your community healthy? In your own unique
way, how do you define health? These critical questions beckon examination by
the client and the health care professional. Searching for their clarification provides
opportunities for discovery about images of health and direction for professional
health care interactions and interventions. Once conceptualized, an image
of health provides direction for health promotion actions.
Health is baffling. Contemporary thinking about health emphasizes empowering
nations, community groups, and individuals to realize their own health
aims. In the face of widespread interest in defining health at the theoretical level,
the development and the use of clinical practice frameworks to support interventions
ar ... read full excerpt from Health Promotion in Practice ebook
