Changing Times: New Possibilities for Community Health and Well-Being

Since antiquity, humankind has been concerned with disease and curing disease and with health and the conditions of health. Asclepius, the Greek hero who later became the Greek god of medicine and healing, used drugs to treat many diseases and taught others, including his children, about the healing arts. Two of Asclepius’s daughters, Panacea and Hygeia, represent the two health models still in effect. Panacea (Greek for all healing) represents the medical model with its focus on curing disease. Hygeia (Greek for health) represents the model that focuses on preventing disease, maintaining health, and living rationally by exercising regularly, eating nutritional foods, and creating healthful living environments. The National Expert Panel on Community Health Promotion refocuses attention on the conditions of health consistent with Hygeia’s view, attending not only to habits of living but also to the environment in which we live.