Health and Illness

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As we move through the readings and better understand the foundations of the American health care system, we are reminded that social and institutional values and beliefs that emphasized disease more than health and prevention contributed to our astronomical costs and slowed down our progress toward attainment of a manageable and affordable system. Before we proceed, let's review a few conceptual health care models so that we are all on the same page.

 

Illness Identified by a person's perception and evaluation of how he/she is feeling People are ill when they infer a diminished capacity to perform tasks and roles expected by society

Disease Based on a professional evaluation Requires therapeutic intervention

 

How much of our poor health outcomes in the United States are due to health care. That depends on how you define health care. Watch Rebecca Onie's TED Talk below. What type of services do you think should be incorporated into health care settings.

TED Partner Series Rebecca Onie: What if our healthcare system kept us healthy?
Filmed April 2012 • Posted June 2012 • TEDMED2012

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