Good Health Is Your Responsibility

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Health is a quality of life that is often taken for granted. It is without a doubt an individual’s responsibility, although there is an abundance of factors that can affect whether an individual has the ability or knowledge capable of carrying this responsibility out. This essay will examine how health is an individual’s responsibility by firstly defining the key terms, these being health and responsibility. I will then discuss the factors that can hinder or remove a person’s ability to carry out their responsibility and how an individual will often not have the ability to control these factors and subsequently their individual health. In years gone by, you were considered healthy if you were free from illness and had the ability to perform physical activity. A good example of this would be early health screening for general enlistment into the military. If you were fit, strong and free from illness you were accepted for enlistment. Today, health is recognised as a relationship between an individual’s physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual well-being. These are referred to as the five dimensions of health. Only when these things are all functioning well, can a person be considered healthy. The defence forces today include both physical, mental health and psychological screening as components for entry for enlistment, and subsequently establishing complete good health. The oxford dictionary (2007: pg. 349) defines being responsible as looking after a person or thing and having to take the blame if something goes wrong. Therefore, for an individual to take responsibility for their own health an individual would utilise resources and knowledge they have about health to pursue good health. The first factor I will discuss will be how health as a social construct can affect an individual’s perception of health. An individual’s perception of health

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