Think health - speak health - achieve health

Introduction: Health has been lost in the current healthcare system, replaced by a near exclusive focus on discrete diseases. People feel healthy if they perceive a relative balance between their physical, emotional, social and cognitive experiences. The role of the healthcare system, therefore, must be to facilitate a rebalancing of these domains in those who experience illness, regardless of the presence or absence of identifiable discrete biomedical conditions. Looking at health from a community epidemiological perspective highlights that the experience of health follows a Pareto distribution (although known as the 80:20 split). The majority of people are healthy enough not to require health care. Of the 20% who perceive to require health care, the majority require primary and community care, with very few in need of tertiary hospital care. This article reflects on the notion of health, highlighting that health is a subjective and dynamic state. Conclusion: Combining these two strands leads to the conclusion that health care must focus on people and their health (and illness) experiences. A health-focused healthcare system will be aligned to provide the structures and functions that allow people to regain their personal health, defined by their own subjective experience.