A healer from the Chinese, Indian, or Native American traditions would give very different opinions about the meaning of health from those given by a Western physician. The Western view of health, in the past, was often described as the absence of disease or other abnormal conditions. That definition expanded to include the view that health is not a static condition; the body undergoes constant change and adaptation to both internal and external challenges.



The majority of conventional medical practitioners would define health as a state of well-being. They may disagree, however, about who determines well-being—the health professional or the individual.

Those practicing alternative medicine describe health as a condition of wholeness, balance, and harmony of the body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Health is not a concrete goal to be achieved; rather, it is a lifelong process that represents growth toward potential, an inner feeling of aliveness. Physical aspects include the optimal functioning of all body systems. Emotional aspects include the ability to feel and

express the entire range of human emotions. Mental aspects include feelings of selfworth, a positive identity, a sense of accomplishment, and the ability to appreciate and create.

Spiritual health is experienced within the self, with others, and as a part

of society. Self-related components are the development of moral values and finding a meaningful purpose in life. Spiritual factors relating to others include the search

for meaning through relationships and the feeling of connectedness with others and with an external power often identified as God or the divine source. Societal aspects of spiritual health can be understood as a common humanity and a belief in the fundamental sacredness and unity of all life. These beliefs motivate people toward truth and a sense of fairness and justice to all members of society. The World Health

Organization (WHO) states, “the existing definition of health should include the spiritual aspect and that health care should be in the hands of those who are fully aware of and sympathetic to the spiritual dimension.”

The curative process is another example of divergent viewpoints. Conventional medicine promotes the view that external treatments—drugs, surgery, radiation—cure people, and practitioners are trained to fix or repair broken parts. The focus is on the disease process or abnormal conditions. Alternative practitioners look at conditions that block the life force and keep it from flowing freely through the body. Healing occurs when balance and harmony are restored. The focus is on the health potential of the person rather than the disease problem.

Conventional and alternative medical systems have different perspectives on the promotion of health. Conventional medicine focuses on disease prevention. Consumers are taught how to decrease their risk of cancer, cardiac disorders, and other life-threatening diseases that cause most premature deaths in Western society.

As important as these behaviors are, however, disease prevention is only one pieceof health promotion. Health promotion from the alternative perspective is a lifelong process that focuses on optimal development of our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual selves. An individual's worldviews, values, lifestyles, and health beliefs are considered to be of

critical importance. People are encouraged to adopt healthier lifestyles, to accept increased responsibility for their own well-being, and to learn how to handle common health problems on their own through greater self-reliance.