The concept of health holds different
meanings for different people and groups. These meanings have also changed over
time. This change is no more evident than in Western society today, when
notions of health and health promotion are being challenged and expanded in new
ways.
For much of recent Western history, health
has been viewed in the physical sense only. That is, good health has been
connected to the smooth mechanical operation of the body, while ill health has
been attributed to a breakdown in this machine. Health in this sense has been
defined as the absence of disease or illness and is seen in medical terms.
In the late 1940s the World Health
Organization challenged this physically and medically oriented (導(dǎo)向的) view of health. They stated
that health is a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being and
is not merely the absence of disease (WHO, 1946). Health and the person were
seen more holistically (mind / body / spirit) and not just in physical terms.
The 1970s was a time of focusing on the
prevention of disease and illness by emphasizing the importance of the
lifestyle and behaviour of the individual. Specific behaviours which were seen
to increase risk of disease, such as smoking, lack of fitness and unhealthy
eating habits, were targeted. Creating health meant providing not only medical
health care, but also health promotion programs and policies which would help
people maintain healthy behaviours and lifestyles. While this individualistic
healthy lifestyle approach to health worked for some (the wealthy members of
society), it was of little benefit to people experiencing poverty,
unemployment, underemployment or who had little control over the conditions of
their daily life.
During the 1980s and 1990s there has been a
growing swing away from seeing lifestyle risks as the root cause of poor
health. While lifestyle factors still remain important, health is being viewed
also in terms of the social, economic and environmental contexts in which
people live. This broad approach to health is called the socio-ecological view
of health.
At the Ottawa Conference in 1986, a charter
was developed which outlined new directions for health promotion based on the
socio-ecological view of health. This charter, known as the Ottawa Charter for
Health Promotion, remains as the backbone of health action today. In exploring
the scope of health promotion it states that:
Good health is a major resource for social,
economic and personal development and an important dimension (尺度) of the quality of life.
Political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, behavioural and
biological factors can all favour health or be harmful to it. (WHO, 1986)
1.From the passage, we can infer that
_________.
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A．good health means not having any illness
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B．health has different meanings for different people in different
periods
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C．health has always been viewed in terms of the social, economic and
environmental contexts in which people live
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D．health has always been considered a major resource for social,
economic and personal development and an important dimension of quality of
life
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2.In the late 1940s, if you ___________,
that meant you were healthy.
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A．were strong enough
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B．were strong, optimistic and happy
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C．had enough money
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D．had a good lifestyle
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3. of
society benefited most from the healthy lifestyle approach to health.
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A．Rich people
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B．Poor people
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C．Old people
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D．Young people
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4.The socio-ecological view of health
includes the following broad areas EXCEPT ________.
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A．the social contexts
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B．the environmental contexts
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C．the economic contexts
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D．the area of personal development
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5.This passage mainly tells us that .
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A．wealth is health
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B．health means different things in different periods
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C．it’s
getting harder to be healthy
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D．people should change their understanding of health over time
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