I diversi significati di salute: oggettiva, soggettiva e globale

Defining health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing and not simply the absence of disease or infirmity”, the World Health Organization (WHO) does not reduce physical well-being to mean merely the proper functioning of the body, but considers it according to psychic and social perspectives as well. Health status is an expression of interactions occurring at socio-economic, cultural and environmental levels. Indeed, health is affected not only by individual factors (such as age, sex, chromosomal set, etc.), but also by those linked to lifestyles, community network, the socio-economic context, and the environment in which we live. Focusing on the body as an interweaving between observable materiality (perceived object), perception of the subject (lived body), and organism in the environment (network of internal and external relations), it is possible, thanks to corporeity, to recognize and enhance the objective, subjective, and global dimensions of health. Medical practice should recognize these three dimensions, but the individual and society should also be aware of the different meanings of health. Indeed, the health response offered by medicine is influenced by the health demand formulated by the individual and the community.