The Home and Health Relationship
The right home environment is essential to health and wellbeing, throughout life. It is a wider determinant of health. And we should all get the best advice and help when it comes to the health and well-being of our families.
A house can be deemed an unsuitable home due to safety factors such as being overcrowded or unsafe for a child or an elderly person. There might be air pollution involved, as some households experience pollution with the risk of toxic chemicals or simply because dump or dirt is present in big amounts. The key to improving health and keeping it in a sustainable state is to plan well for the maintenance and safety of the home and your family’s health. It also requires each individual to understand their personal responsibilities towards the maintenance and security of their home and health. It is paramount to understand the relationship between the 2. And the first thing we should consider is that we are all responsible for our homes and our health.
Each member of the household can and should contribute to the maintenance of their home and health by ensuring that the property is kept clean. Cleanliness is a vital factor to consider for a healthy family, as ill-maintained homes invite the risk of bacterial or other forms of infection. Many people tend to live in their homes without any refurbishment for extended periods of time and this accounts for the spread of germs, bacteria, and viruses from one area to another in the home, and health is put at risk by the dampness of the interior environment. A clean home encourages a sense of cleanliness in the residents and visitors and this may deter rodents and insects with ill intent from settling in the property. For example, the home and health relationship can be at risk from a lack of maintenance to the building itself, from the general state of the garden and lawn to the condition of the air conditioning unit and boiler in the home. All of them require attention to function properly, otherwise, they can be at times hazardous. For example, the air condtioner might lead to increased pollution if not properly serviced, or the lawn might attract rodents if not kept in order.
Final Thoughts
The right home environment protects and improves health, prevents physical and mental health from deteriorating. The state of our environment is directly reflected in our health and overall wellbeing, and this should not be forgotten.