In
psychologyPsychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the systematic, and sometimes scientific, study of human or animal mental functions and behavior...
behavioral health, as a general concept, refers the
reciprocalReciprocal may refer to:*Multiplicative inverse, in mathematics, the number 1/x, which multiplied by x gives the product 1, also known as a reciprocal*Reciprocal , a relationship between grammatical agents...
relationship between
human behaviorHuman behavior is the collection of behaviors exhibited by human beings and influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority, rapport, hypnosis, persuasion, coercion and/or genetics....
, individually or socially, and the well-being of the body, mind, and spirit, whether the later are considered individually or as an integrated whole. The term is more commonly used to describe a field of scientific study, academic proficiency and clinical healthcare practice.
Like similar terms such as
mental healthMental health is a term used to describe either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life...
and physical health, behavioral health is a basic English term which derives its meaning from the simple association between noun and adjective.
In
psychologyPsychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the systematic, and sometimes scientific, study of human or animal mental functions and behavior...
behavioral health, as a general concept, refers the
reciprocalReciprocal may refer to:*Multiplicative inverse, in mathematics, the number 1/x, which multiplied by x gives the product 1, also known as a reciprocal*Reciprocal , a relationship between grammatical agents...
relationship between
human behaviorHuman behavior is the collection of behaviors exhibited by human beings and influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority, rapport, hypnosis, persuasion, coercion and/or genetics....
, individually or socially, and the well-being of the body, mind, and spirit, whether the later are considered individually or as an integrated whole. The term is more commonly used to describe a field of scientific study, academic proficiency and clinical healthcare practice.
Like similar terms such as
mental healthMental health is a term used to describe either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life...
and physical health, behavioral health is a basic English term which derives its meaning from the simple association between noun and adjective. Normal variations in the definition of such terms may be expected, given common variations seen in the component words, behavioral and health. When the term is employed in the scientific or clinical sense, variations in the focus, if not the meaning of the term, have been observed.
In 1978 the term
behavioral medicineBehavioral Medicine is an interdisciplinary field of medicine concerned with the development and integration of knowledge in the biological, behavioural, psychological, and social sciences that are relevant to health and illness...
was formally introduced and described as
the interdisciplinary field concerned with the development and integration of behavioral and biomedical science, knowledge and techniques relevant to health and illness and the application of this knowledge and these techniques to prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.
In 1979 behavioral health emerged as that aspect of behavioral medicine
promoting a philosophy of health that stresses individual responsibility in the application of behavioral and biomedical science, knowledge and techniques to the maintenance of health and the prevention of illness and dysfunction by a variety of self-initiated individual or shared activities.
Unlike its progenitor, behavioral medicine, the emphasis of behavioral health had been placed squarely in the arena of health maintenance and the prevention of illness.
Notwithstanding minor adaptations of health related terms to the realm of professional study and practice, the term “behavioral health” has remained relatively stable and closely linked to its basic English roots, until quite recently. In recent years, there has been increasing public pressure to address health care access in the context of virtually unbounded access to information through electronic media such as television, radio, and internet. The juxtaposition of public interest with unchecked access to unchecked information has compromised the health literacy goals of consumers, practitioners, health care administrators and public leaders
Controversy
. This disconnect is apparent in the many distinct definitions one can encounter on a brief internet search for the term “behavioral health”.
The need for accurate and consistent communication of health information is gaining recognition in the information age, as are the responsibilities and challenges associated with health literacy of the public and risk communication by health practitioners and public leaders. The US Department of Health and Human Services defines health literacy as
[t]he degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.