By the time they reach college age, most Americans are
familiar with the many ways in which health care is provided. Here are easily recognizable examples, all of
which serve to reinforce our traditional definitions of health. As you will learn, these definitions are
centered in the cure or management of illness and the extension of life. Note the concerns over morbidity (pertaining
to illness and disease) and mortality (pertaining to death) present in the
descriptions that follow.
Episodic Health Care
The vast majority of Americans use the service of
professional health care providers during periods (episodes) of illness and
injury, that is, when we are “unhealthy”.
We consult providers seeking a diagnosis that will explain why we are
not feeling well. Once a problem is
identified, we expect to receive effective treatment from the practitioner that
will lead to our recovery (the absence of illness) and a return to health. If we are willing to be compliant with the
care strategies prescribed by our practitioner, we should soon be able to
define ourselves as “health” once again.
The familiarity of episodic health care is
evident in the 823.5 million times that Americans visited physicians during
2000. Although some of these visits were
for preventive health care (see discussion on page 5), the vast majority were
in conjunction with illness. When viewed
by racial groups, Whites averaged 3.2 visits, Asians 2.9, Blacks 2.1 and Native
Americans 0.8 visits during that year.
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