By Peter Oliver, Catholic Health Association of Saskatchewan (CHAS)
Our son Louis (age 23) strode into the living room a few days ago and announced, “I identify as a healthy person!”
His announcement led to a robust conversation about an audiobook he’d been listening to which highlighted the importance of habits and cues that prompt positive choices. The discussion set off a cascade of interesting reflections.
I thought to myself, why have I never reflected on the importance of identifying as a healthy person? I know that I have often identified as a responsible person, as a father, as a Saskatchewanian, and as a Catholic. In some cases, I’m even conscious that my identification as a responsible person has come at the expense of my health. What would it mean to seriously incorporate an identification as a healthy person?
As a start, I put the question to AI (artificial intelligence): Define, healthy person. Here’s what it came up with:
“A ‘healthy person’ is generally defined as someone who enjoys a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. This includes having bodily functions and processes working at their peak, regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and adequate rest. It also indicates good mental health which involves emotional stability, the ability to handle stress, and maintaining a positive outlook on life. And finally, it includes social well-being which encompasses having healthy relationships, a supportive social network, and the ability to interact positively with others.”
Artificial intelligence responses to a question can be helpful because they provide insight into what is popularly believed about a subject. In this case, the response attempts to provide a holistic description of a healthy person, noting the physical, mental, and social aspects of health.
Interestingly the AI response has omitted any reference to religion: however, as clearly demonstrated by Dr. Harold Koenig (a researcher from Duke University), religious practice is correlated with significantly better health outcomes in every dimension of human life.
It is also interesting to notice that the AI definition points to things such as “bodily functions and processes working at their peak.” Following from this, one might conclude that a disabled person, an elderly person, or a person with Down Syndrome cannot really be a healthy person. This fits nicely into society’s preoccupation with image, power and achievement but is that really what it means to identify as a healthy person?
Certainly, a healthy person will want to give balanced attention to physical, mental, social, and religious engagements. But it strikes me that the elderly person or disabled person who meets each day with discipline, prayerfulness and generosity is making choices that reflect an identification with health. In fact, I would go further and assert that even a person who is dying, who can no longer take care of their own needs, can properly be understood as an individual who identifies as a healthy person.
The idea of identifying as a healthy person can be enormously valuable if it is understood within the contours of a faith-filled anthropology. To be healthy, to be balanced in one’s engagements, to have a view of life that understands death and suffering – not as the antithesis of health, but rather as a gateway to the fullness of life, – this is an outlook that can be wonderfully fruitful.
As I say this, I’m thinking of friends dealing with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer two years ago. Judy, with the support of her husband Henri, has journeyed through numerous chemo treatments and doctors’ appointments. But together they have continued to embrace each day with hope and confidence in God’s providential care.
The poor, who have been central to their ministry throughout their entire lives, continue to receive from their generosity. Their children and their grandchildren have continued to be warmly welcomed in their home and supported, even during the COVID pandemic – which is quite extraordinary when you consider the way chemotherapy weakens your immune system. They go camping, travel and host celebrations in their home. They are enjoying their life and they have been a joy in the life of all those who they know!
They identify as healthy people, and going forward I want to incorporate this kind of identification in my own life as well.
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Peter Oliver is Executive Director of The Catholic Health Association of Saskatchewan (CHAS), which was formed in 1943 to be a voice for Catholic hospitals and Catholic long-term care facilities, and to protect and promote Catholic health care in the province of Saskatchewan.