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Defining Health is a glossary of sorts filled with definitions and abbreviations used across the health and wellness industries in hopes to help build better common language.

Definitions and abbreviations are listed alphabetically with link provided with additional details and their source. This list is updated regularly with the acknowledgement that definitions change, what we know today may not be what we know tomorrow, and words/abbreviations can have many meanings.
Enjoy and please feel free to provide feedback, questions and request words/abbreviations to explore.

Anthroposophic Medicine – An integrative multimodal treatment system based on a holistic understanding of man and nature and of disease and treatment. It builds on a concept of four levels of formative forces and on the model of a three-fold human constitution. It is integrated with conventional medicine in large hospitals and medical practices. It applies medicines derived from plants, minerals, and animals; art therapy, eurythmy therapy, and rhythmical massage; counseling; psychotherapy; and specific nursing techniques such as external embrocation. Anthroposophic healthcare is provided by medical doctors, therapists, and nurses. Kienle et al. 2013

Anthroposophy –  i) View on humanity and nature that is spiritual and that at the same time regards itself to be profoundly scientific. Kienle et al. 2013
ii) The “consciousness of one’s true humanity” and is intended to be a way that “leads what is spiritual in the human being to what is spiritual in the universe.” Bartelme 2017

Autogenic training (AT) – A relaxation technique developed by German psychiatrist Johannes Heinrich Schultz and was first published in 1932. AT is designed to support self-generating or self-regulatory mechanisms for counteracting the effects of stress. It has been widely used in clinical practice and research to foster the mind’s ability to produce relaxation in the body. Shapiro & Lehrer 1980 & VA Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation Accessed 10/2023

Biocultural Medical Anthropology – Strives to understand why people grow and develop as they do and why they may be at risk for health problems. It explores the nexus between culture and human biology and examines human genotypic and behavioral plasticity in context. It investigates short- and long-term health outcomes that result from changing and differential access to resources (e.g., stunted growth and development due to malnutrition and poor survivorship resulting from limited access to primary health care), differential exposure to environmental stressors (e.g., from exposure to pollution to exposure to the stresses of poverty, overcrowding, fear of hunger, violence, and oppression), and the cultural practices and social institutions that mediate the effect of these stressors. A biocultural approach focuses on what is cultural about biosocial relations. McMahan & Nichter 2011

Biopiracy – The unauthorized extraction of biological resources and/or associated traditional knowledge from developing countries, or the patenting of spurious inventions based on such knowledge or resources without compensation. First coined by the Canadian activist group Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI). Imran et al. 2021 & Neimark 2017

Communities of Practice – Groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. Coined by Drs. Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger-Trayner, a Community of Practice (CoP) has three defining characteristics:
1) Domain: CoP members share a commitment to the domain and a collective understanding of each other’s competencies and basic understanding of their shared concern or passion.
2) Community: CoP members engage in joint activities wherein they learn how to improve their similar programs, share best practices, and discuss areas of growth. These joint activities are foundational for building the “community” in a Community of Practice.
3) Practice: CoP are practitioners; they develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems—in short a shared practice. Wenger-Trayner 2015 & UC Davis Center for Diverse Healthcare Workforce accessed 10/2023.

Digital Health – i) the convergence of science and technology with health, health care, living, and society. Bhavnani et al. 2016
ii) the use of information technology and electronic communication tools within the delivery of healthcare services. Burrell et al. 2022

Ecofascism – i) A reactionary and revolutionary ideology that champions the regeneration of an imagined community through a return to a romanticised, ethnopluralist vision of the natural order. It is suggested that ecofascism is a subform of fascism, not an equal merger of fascism and ecologism. Campion 2023
ii) Any environmentalism that advocates or accepts violence and does so in a way that reinforces existing systems of inequality or targets certain people while leaving others untouched. It is basically environmentalism that suggests that certain people are naturally and exclusively entitled to control and enjoy environmental resources. Some types of people, in other words, are “native species” and others are “invasive.” Hancock 2022 – UConn Communications. Accessed 11/2023

Emic View – The perspective of a member of the culture being studied, an indigenous approach to data collection; research that fully studies one culture with no (or only a secondary) cross-cultural focus.
Explores a particular psychological construct from within the culture. With the emic approach, instruments and theories indigenous to the target culture are developed by relying on a systematic process (through psycholexical studies, focus groups, interviews, content analyses of popular media, or culturally informed traditional scale development methods) that generates a set of local or “indigenous” attributes and stimuli. Benet-Martínez 2021, Fetvadjiev & van de Vijver 2015

Etic View – The perspective of an outsider looking in. An imported approach to data collection; research that studies cross-cultural differences.
An imposed-etic approach, which is the most commonly used one, typically involves the use of translated instruments that were originally developed in another language and cultural context. Typically involves the use of translated instruments that were originally developed in another language and cultural context. Benet-Martínez 2021, Fetvadjiev & van de Vijver 2015

Ethnomedicine – i) The study of natural resources traditionally used to cure or manage ailments in diverse ethnic culture. Scientifically, the study of “traditional medicine” of ethnic communities, their knowledge and practices that transmitted orally over centuries, and evolved over millennia of human existence. Mahapatra et al. 2019
ii) Area of anthropology that studies different societies’ notion of health and illness, including how people think and how people act about wellbeing and healing (healthcare or just treatment). Medicine – like language, music and politics – is a subset of culture which is situated locally. Jirata 2017

Health – i) State of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Constitution of the WHO. Accessed 11/2023
ii) To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, an individual or group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is, therefore, seen as a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. Accessed 11/2023

Humanics – The study of the human nature. Williams 1954

Indigeneity – A broad, working definition of Indigeneity is that it is a quality of a person’s and a group’s identity that links them to specific places with knowledge of and respect for original ways.
One need not identify as Indigenous to work within a framework of Indigeneity.
In fact, respect for Indigenous sovereignty requires those who are not Indigenous to understand that Indigenous people have specific protocols and preferences for identifying as Indigenous and for sharing knowledge. Of course, Indigenous people whose identities are not original to the place where they reside are just as responsible for understanding those protocols as non-Indigenous people are. – Emory University, Accessed 9/2023

De-implementation – Discontinuing or abandoning practices that are not proven to be effective, are less effective or less cost-effective than an alternative practice, or are potentially harmful, overused or inappropriate. Walsh-Bailey et al. 2021 & Prusaczyk et al. 2020

Integrative Medicine – the practice of medicine in a way that selectively incorporates elements of complementary and alternative medicine into comprehensive treatment plans alongside solidly orthodox methods of diagnosis and treatment. Its focus being on health and healing rather than disease and treatment. It views patients as whole people with minds and spirits as well as bodies and includes these dimensions into diagnosis and treatment. It also involves patients and doctors working to maintain health by paying attention to lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, quality of rest and sleep, and the nature of relationships. Rees & Weil 2001

Medical Anthropology – Combing the emic perspective of ethnomedicine with the etic measure of bioscience.
1) Identifies the health problems and how it is conceivably healed according to locals.
2) Objectively assess the remedy’s ability to produce emically desired effects.
3) Identifies the areas of convergence and divergence between the emic and etic assessment. [Browner et al. 1988]

Medical Pluralism– Coexistence of differing medical traditions and practices grounded in divergent epistemological positions and based on distinctive world views. The availability of different medical approaches, treatments and institution that people can use while pursuing health. Existence of multiple medical systems in a given society.

Primary Determinants of Health – Includes the social, economic and physical environments and the person’s individual characteristics and behaviors.
The maintenance and improvements of health, accordingly, depends not only on external or environmental factors (including systems of care), but also on the efforts and intelligent life style choices of the person, in fact it depends on wellness.

Salutogenesis – A model of health which focuses on the factors that promote physical and mental well-being rather than those that cause disease.
Related to health promotion and preventive medicine.
In a nutshell: Disease prevention focuses on minimizing health risk factors and health promotion focuses on maximizing healthful behaviors.
Salutogenesis focuses on the resources that move people toward overall well-being, even during stressful times. – Psychology Today accessed 2023, Mittelmark & Bauer 2016.

Syndemic Theory – Focuses on the adverse interactions between diseases and social conditions (co-morbidities) specifically drawing attention to the mechanisms of these interactions. Identification of syndemic interactions allow for a new way of understanding the prevention and treatment of the involved conditions.

Wellness – An active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward a more successful existence.
1) Conscious, self directed and evolving process of achieving full potential.
2) Multidimensional and holistic, encompassing lifestyle, mental and spiritual wellbeing and the environment
3) Positive and affirming [Stoewan 2015, CANVET J]