Healthying the World

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defined health in 1948 as a ‘state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. This coincides closely with the holistic view seeing the patient first as a person within their family, community and workplace, and recognising the positive and negative influences each can have on the person. Helping an ill person back to better health requires due account to be taken of factors other than their physiology and anatomy; meeting psychological, social, spiritual and environmental needs are important.