HLSC 3820U Lecture 2: Understanding the Concept of Health
Document Summary
Diverse interpretations and meaning to different cultures and across a lifespan. Health is a process, not a single goal. Interactive journey through one"s physical, biochemical, sociopolitical, cultural, and spiritual environments. During the stone age, nomadic and semi-nomadic people survived by hunting and gathering a large range of food. Safe disposal of feces and animal waste products were not seen as a risk to health. Based healing, mythologies, and religious practices off nature. Believed in evil spirits, angry gods, and deities as the cause for all bad health. Carried during special rituals to please demons and cure the sick. Mask represents sickness demon and 8 servant demons that all represent a different disease. In ancient times, holes were drilled into skulls of people who were deemed as possessed or insane. Some beliefs related to health were based on spirituality. Knowledge of health was based on empirical observations from anatomy, clinical diagnosis, and medical interventions (surgery, medications)
