What are the Concepts of health and ill healthhealth and social care

Ill health means different things to different people. How people view ill health depends on a variety of factors; if they've been seriously ill before, how knowledgeable they are about illness and also what they would class as a "severe" or "mild" illness etc. There are three main concepts of ill health: ill health as a subjective sensation of illness; ill health as disease symptoms, and finally, ill health as a disorder or malfunction within the body.

The first concept is ill health as disease symptoms. This concept focuses on the symptoms associated with ill health, such as vomiting, diarrhoea, pain and also visible symptoms, such as rashes and lumps on the skin. This is a common concept among patients, rather than health professionals, as it is about what the sufferer feels, rather than what the doctor or nurse is classifying those symptoms as. This concept of health is beneficial as people who have this concept will pick up on symptoms much quicker, and therefore will more readily seek medical advice. However, a fixation or overuse of this concept may develop into hypochondria, where people constantly panic over very mild symptoms, believing they may have a serious or fatal illness when, in most cases, they are perfectly fine, or have a very mild infection or illness, such as a cold.

The second concept is ill health as a subjective sensation of illness. This is a general feeling of being ill or unwell, also known as "Malaise". Malaise is a general feeling of uneasiness or discomfort, and is often an initial stage of an illness or disease. It is a general term for all sorts of non-visual symptoms (symptoms that are not physically apparent), such as fatigue, depression, and the general feeling of being run-down and exhausted. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals view malaise as being a "warning light" to the brain, telling it that something is not quite right within the rest of the body (Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaise).

The final concept of ill health is ill health as a disorder or malfunction. This usually relates to more serious and life threatening diseases illnesses, such as heart disease, intestinal blockage or a brain tumour.