Health

Benefits/Determinants

Exploring Health Benefits and Determinants of Health

Maria Claudia Esquivel Vasquez
805 349 214
October 9, 2013
NURS 162: Health Assessment
Humber College ITAL

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Benefits/Determinants

Introduction
Todays society has many definitions of what health is or should be for an individual to
be content. Some may say that it is having a deep spiritual connection, while others claim that
they just need to have a sense of purpose. For me, being healthy includes maintaining a content
emotional state, eating nutritious food and maintaining an active physical life style. To some this
might be easy to obtain, but for others some obstacles will stand in the way of achieving overall
health. Not having the resources like education which will provide income and some will not
have the opportunity to go to school to get the education due to having to work from an early age
to help support their families.
Definition of Health
My definition of health begins with everyones emotional state; that is to have a positive
outlook on life and to be able to live every day without an accumulation of negative thoughts,
which will lead us into depression. To be healthy, one must also have a balanced nutritional
lifestyle that is suitable for our body frame; eating the right amount of vegetables, carbohydrates,
fats and dairy. Lastly, being healthy includes being involved in any physical activity that will
add to maintaining a healthy Body Mass Index, and having optimal working internal organs to
aid in the prevention of any illness or disease. The WHO definition of health states that Health
isastateofcompletephysical,mentalandsocialwellbeingandnotmerelytheabsenceofdiseaseor
infirmity.ThewayIunderstandthisdefinitionissimilartominebecauseeventhoughttheymightnot
betheexactwordsotherthanphysicaltheygohandinhand.Tobehealthyweneedmentalhealththat
willdetermineouremotionalstate;happy,sad,depressed,etc.Withouttherightamountofmentalhealth
ouremotionswillgodown.Socialwellbeing,PhysicalandNutrition,arealsointerrelatedbecauseby
havingaproportionedcleandiet,itwillgiveustheopportunitytotakepartinactivitiesthatwill

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involvemeetingotherpeoplewhichdefineoursocialwellbeing.Byhavingallthesefactorsinbalance,
wearegivingourbodiestheopportunitytobestressfree,tohaveenergy,andhaveoptimalworking
orderstoaidinthepreventionofanyillnessorweakness.
CurrentHealthBeliefs
Maintainingasatisfactoryemotional,nutritionalandphysicalstateand/orbalancedoesnotcome
easyattimes.First,wehavetohaveagoodandhighlevelofeducationtobeabletoobtainagoodpaying
job.Tosome,goingtoschoolmightnotbeavailablesincetheyneedtostartworkingtohelpsupporttheir
familiesfromaveryearlyage.Somecountriesmaynothaverulessetoutastohowearlyachildcanstart
working,becausethedemandofincometosurviveistoogreat,likeitmightbeinthirdworldcountries.
InCanada,therearesetrulesineveryProvinceastohowearlyapersoncanbegintowork.InNew
Brunswick,forexample,theminimumworkingageis14buttherearerestrictionsastowhattheyare
allowedtodo.Also,thepersonworkingmuststillbeattendingschoolandnotwork between the hour

of 10 p.m. of any day and the hours of 6 a.m. of the following day (Government of Canada. n.
d.). After completing post-secondary school we will be able to get a good paying job to have
secure steady income. We need income to be able to buy the nutritious organic food we need, to
be able to go to the gym and to be able to maintain a minimal level of stress if not stress free.
Two determinants of health factors to be able to attend school and earn income, are to have
enough energy which the nutritious food will give along with the exercise and a happy emotional
state to have the motivation to want to go to school and/ or work. Beingfinanciallystablealso
meansbeingabletogoonarelaxingvacationthatwilltakeallthestressaway,andtobeableto
affordnotjustthenecessities.Havingmoneywillpreventunnecessarystressthatinreturn,will
preventanyharmfulemotionalthoughtscausingdepression.

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Cultural Beliefs
As a person of Hispanic background, specifically from Colombia, we believe that to be
healthy you must have a good education to be able to get a good paying job. This cultural belief
has a lot to do with my own personal belief even though I came to Canada when I was 10 years
old. My parents have taught me from an early that if I want to get ahead in life and not stress in
regards to money, I will have to have good education, not only to be healthy, but to be able to
enjoy life to the fullest, because lets be honest, unfortunately, we have grown up in a society that
is attached to the material things in life and as much as someone may want to say this is not true,
at the end of the day, we cannot live a stress free life without money. Money provides food,
shelter, clothes as it provides the opportunity to be able to go to a bar or movies with some
friends to maintain a social well-being.
Personal Health Practices
Without rules, habits and strategies to accomplish a certain level of health none of this could
be possible; eating the right food, exercising and being emotionally content. Two strategies that I
may use to improve my personal health practices would be to save more money since I only
work part time, and go to bed earlier than 12:00am or later every day. Since I cannot have a full
time job, by saving money I will compensate for the hours and earnings lost. My savings will aid
me in the luxury of being able to buy nutritious organic food that will give me the energy to go
to the gym. By going to bed earlier than 12:00am I am ensuring myself to get at least six to eight
hours of sleep every night which will also give me the energy to go to the gym which in return,

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will keep me happy and energized so that my emotional state is satisfied and have minimal
stress.
Classmates Health Beliefs
Since we all have a different definition of what health means to us, I asked Colleen Flynn
to describe what health meant to her. Similarly to mine, she also said that for a person to be
healthy one must be in a good emotional state; that is having the adaptability to new
environments, good self-esteem, social networks and being happy overall (C. Flynn. 2013). She
also mentioned being in a good Physical state which means to do regular exercise, eating a
nutritious diet, sleeping seven hours a night and disease prevention practices. Even though I do
not exactly mention some things she may have said, I belief they are all tied together. For a
person to be able to have good self-esteem and have social networks, we first have to feel good
about ourselves and most importantly love ourselves. Second, by feeling good about ourselves
physically, we allow ourselves to have a well off social network as we will not be shy to meet
other people and to open up to them. How do we achieve this? By eating nutritious food to be
able to have the strength to exercise which in return will put us in a better mood and achieve a
content emotional state. I believe that no matter our health beliefs, they will always have a
correlation and each will help one achieve the other.
Influence on Nursing Practice
After discussing my definition of health with Colleen and hers with mine, I randomly
asked a few other people about their beliefs. I found that not all of them were the same as mine,
as it should be, and it taught me to be more conscious about other peoples outlook on health and
life in general. This will be of great use in my nursing career because I will have the opportunity

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to understand, even though I may not agree, how other people think and the kind of things that
matter to them. I will be better able to assist with any needs they may have to feel more
comfortable. For example, if they really believe eating broccoli or a fruit everyday will help
them recuperate, then I will try to make sure they have broccoli and/or a fruit with every meal
they have. Also, if they really believe that being active will help them stay healthy or to
recuperate I will try to make sure they get some kind of physical activity if their condition allows
the patient to do so. This will also help me understand why some people do the things they do,
or why people believe in the herbalist/natural approach to getting better, than the medicinal
approach. This will also help me not judge a person just because they believe something
different than I do, since we all want the same thing; to be healthy
Conclusion
As human beings, most of us are always striving to be better and to have optimal health by
either maintaining a balanced nutritious diet or by exercising to keep in good physical shape,
which in return will aid us in living a less stressful life by allowing us to maintain a content
emotional state. We also have to remember that to be able to buy organic food and afford a gym
membership we have to be strong to go to school and acquire a good paying career. Also, just
because we all have different health beliefs, it does not mean that we are wrong; it just means
that we will be able to help patients with whatever it is they need to be more comfortable during
their stay at the hospital, being because they are there to recuperate or because that is the place
they will be spending their last days of life.

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References

New Brunswick Canada. (n. d.). Employment of Children. Retrieved from

http://app.infoaa.7700.gnb.ca/gnb/Pub/EServices/ListServiceDetails.asp?
ServiceID1=19676&ReportType1=All
World Health Organization. (1948, April 7). WHO Definition of Health. Retrieved from
http://www.who.int/about/definition/en/print.html