1) Health can be defined as the physical, mental and social well-being of an individual, not just the absence of disease. The WHO defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. 2) Physical health involves good nutrition, exercise and rest, while mental health refers to emotional and cognitive well-being. 3) Many communities have rituals and practices related to birth, death and caring for the ill/dying based on their cultural and religious beliefs. Understanding these differences is important for healthcare practitioners.

1. Defining Health
Defining HealthHealth can be defined as the degree of metabolic or functional efficiency of
any living being. In humans, it is the condition of an individual’ s body, mind and spirit.
Good health is the condition where one is free from pain, injury or illness. WHO defines
health as a complete state of mental, social and physical well-being and not only the absence
of infirmity or disease. Health is improved and maintained through the intelligent choices
made by an individual about their lifestyle and also the efforts the person makes to see that
these choices are adhered to. The determinants of health are the economic and social
environment, the person’ s behaviours and characteristics and also the physical
environment. Health is usually divided into two broad categories-the mental and the
physical health. The physical health involves the body. Good physical health is attained
through good nutrition, regular physical exercise and enough rest. Physical health is at
times referred to as physical well-being which involves getting adequate sleep, hygiene,
proper nutrition, abstaining from drug use, management of body weight, responsible sexual
behaviour and avoiding the abuse of alcohol. Mental health on the other hand refers to an
individual’ s emotional and cognitive well-being. Mental health includes self-actualization,
the ability to be adapt and flexible, the ability to achieve moderation, the ability to feel
secure, safe and to enjoy life.Curing is the act of giving a treatment or remedy that restores
the health of the ill person while healing is the slow process whereby the body cells repair
and regenerate to decrease the size of the necrotic or damaged area. Healing changes the
soul or mind while the cure changes the body. This would make healing to happen at its
own pace unlike curing which involves a series of therapies and medical interventions.
Healing can therefore also b viewed as what happens when one is being cured that is the
attitude of the patient towards the curing process.One of the rituals was that the child and
the mother were separated from the community for a period of time. This ensured that they
would be protected from any evil spirits that would harm them. Another ritual practice was
that the baby would be rubbed with garlic or oil. The mother and baby would be watched
closely for about 7 days as they were considered to be susceptible to evil spirits during the
first 7 days. The Jews referred to the seventh night as the “ watch night.” In some Semitic
nations, a sheep was sacrificed during the naming of the child to offer protection for the
newly born baby. Various religious communities performed circumcision of the new born
baby to redeem the baby from the taboos and superstitions of the early stages of life.
Baptism was also done mainly by the Christians to expel the evil spirits that would harm the
child. In other religious communities, the mother was isolated from the community for a

2. period of 40 days and was required to undertake a ritual birth before going back to the
husband, community and family (Spector, 2008).Death rituals were conducted to protect
the dead, the remaining members of the family and the dying from evil spirits. Several
religious practices were conducted when a person died or was close to dying. One of the
rituals was the ritual washing. Ritual washing is given to a Muslim who is dead just before
they are buried. It is an act of purifying oneself and is also given to those considered to be
impure due to discharge of blood or semen, touching a dead body and sexual intercourse.
The ritual is known as Ghusl in Muslim (Rizvi, 1989). Another ritual involved storing water
and food in the grave for the journey taken after death. The deceased were also protected
from these evil spirits that are believed to come from the deceased’ s ghost. Entire religions
are usually based on soul and ancestors worship (Aziz, 2009). Christians also believe that
Euthanasia is contrary to the bible’ s teachings. There are also cross-national rituals that
are done when one dies. One such practice is the military funeral conducted in all nations
when a soldier, marine, sailor or airman dies in battle. It is also conducted for the heads of
state, veterans or prominent military persons. It includes the firing of gun shots as salute,
guards of honour and other military proceedings such as the covering of the coffin with a
flag. Another ritual is the wearing of dark clothes or garments during funerals to indicate
that the people at the funeral are grieving the dead. In western cultures, black is used to
symbolize mourning and it has been considered as a sign of respect. It also serves to show
how serious the occasion is. The goal of anyone attending the funeral should be to blend in
with the occasion and to keep the attention to the family of the deceased since that’ s where
the attention should be. Placing of death notices in the local newspapers is also another
ritual that is observed throughout the nations. Some nations only indicate the name of the
dead person, the family’ s name and the details of the funeral while other nations use such
phrases as passed away, departed this life, died peacefully, went to be with our lord and
many other phrases (Spector, 2008).Many people don’ t like talking about death as it makes
them face the reality that they will one day have to face their own deaths. How then can we
talk about death? It is good to realize that death is inevitable and it will one day come to
every one of us. The longer we put the discussions off, the more the fearful we become. It is
therefore appropriate to start speaking about death from an early age as we try to make the
kids grasp what death is all about. It is required that you be honest and encourage
questions. This creates an atmosphere of openness, comfort and has the effect of sending
the message that there is no wrong or right way to feel about death (Kathy, 2006).When
caring for the dying, you should try to keep the patient free of pain and as comfortable as
possible. This would entail making the patient’ s final days as pain-free as possible for both
the family and the patient ensuring that suffering is kept to the minimum level possible. The
family also needs to be comforted while you are still trying to make the patient die
peacefully. Dealing with dying people calls for a lot of love and humility.In conclusion, it is
evident that the health of an individual from birth to death should be very much valued.
Care should be given to all the people whether they are on their death beds or the family of
the dying patient. Many communities have various beliefs and taboos and as a health officer,
you should aim to understand this culture so as to know how best to handle patients from
the different walks of life. It helps a health practitioner to be concerned with the beliefs of

3. their patients and this makes them comfortable as they receive treatment.Reference:Aziz, S.
(2011). “ Do Souls of the Dead Return Back to the World?” Authentic Islamic Resources and
Information.Kathy, G. (2006). Let’ s talk about death. Retrieved on 12th January from:
www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2006/05/18/2809176.htm.Rizvi, S, M. (1989). The Ritual
and Spiritual Purity. Ansariyan Publications: Qom Iran.Spector, R. (2008). Cultural Diversity
in Health and Illness. New York: Prentice Hall.