Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health professionals and allied health fields. Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, midwifery, nursing, optometry, audiology, psychology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, athletic training, and other health professions all constitute health care. The term includes work done in providing primary care, secondary care, and tertiary care, as well as in public health.
Graphic of hospital beds per 1,000 people globally in 2013, at top; NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, a hub for health care and life sciences, is one of the world's busiest hospitals, below. Pictured is its Weill Cornell facility (white complex at the center).
Primary care may be provided in community health centers.
The emergency room is often a frontline venue for the delivery of primary medical care.
Hospital train "Therapist Matvei Mudrov" in Khabarovsk, Russia
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, sensory, or a combination of multiple factors. Disabilities can be present from birth or can be acquired during a person's lifetime. Historically, disabilities have only been recognized based on a narrow set of criteria—however, disabilities are not binary and can be present in unique characteristics depending on the individual. A disability may be readily visible, or invisible in nature.
A sign in Taiwan showing a wheelchair accessibility ramp.
Museum of disABILITY History, Buffalo, New York
A 28-year-old Iraqi woman who lost both of her legs during the Iraq War in 2005
The Cripples, Pieter Bruegel, 1568