Health and Illness from a Population Health Perspective:

The main goal of PHP (the population health perspective) is to sustain and develop the health of the entire population minimizes the inequalities in health among the population groups. Health is defined as lack of any illness but PHP has a wider definition. It defines it as being able to carry on in daily life and creating conditions for people to realize their life pursuit. This idea of health identifies a number of factors like social, economic and environmental factors that contributes to health. PHP refer to health in a broader sense by including a state of mental, spiritual, physical and social health.

Therefore, social, environmental and political conditions are a part of health issues. Exercising, eating organic and well balanced food and not indulging in smoking do not guarantee good health if we are oppressed in our living and working conditions. An adjustment in an individual analysis of health has an effect in the definition of health problems and has an impact on how the research is carried out (Murray 2002).

However, PHP places an individual in a wider context. Eventually, there are concerns that concentrating in wider circumstances can hide important elements of the experiences of an individual. The steadiness between macro and micro elements is vital. Individuals can change a number of determinants of health while others are altered by a population. An example is the income inequality which is basically a form of a population than that of an individual. Personal income is determined by the individual skills and also to taxes and redistributive programs which cannot be controlled by the individual. Therefore, the PHP tackles issues on conceptually different levels including the individual, his family, society and the community. The distinct levels consider the precursors, developmental procedures and the incidents of the individual. Therefore, health and illness issues should be attended to at different levels simultaneously (Bayer & Jennings 2007).