Why is self rated health so essential for a holistic practice?
- Judyann McNamara, DHOM, N.D., DHP
- March 31, 2023

"What does science say is the most reliable indicator of health? You may be surprised to discover that how you rate your health is more reliable than any other diagnostic tool. "
The questionnaire we’ve devised is an excellent method to evaluate how effective your present method of intervention is addressing your whole being. To get a measure of your whole health, fill in the questionnaire for yourself. Research shows that “Self-rated health (SRH) — a person’s subjective evaluation of his general health — is a more valid and powerful predictor of morbidity and mortality than any other combination of objective and self-reported measures.” [1]
The validity of self-rated health (SRH) measures, in terms of their predictive import for mortality risk, has been established in multiple studies. SRH is an independent predictor of mortality, above and beyond physician assessments of health. [2]
Self evaluation provides accurate determinants of health, morbidity and mortality, and prognostics (whether or not you will get better or how you are going through a disease). MICH developed its system of evaluation of response to treatment based on research done at the McGill Pain clinic and other centers that use self evaluation as a key indicator of health and well being. We based our system on what has been found to be the best kind of evaluation: one that would ask about whole person self perceptions of health. Because the factors influencing an individual’s health interact in complex ways and any analysis of just one part of the person does not capture the complexity of interactions that are happening in the whole body-mind organism, whereas a whole person questionnaire reveals the end result of the intricate body-mind interactions so crucial to life. [3]

About Judyann McNamara, DHOM, N.D., DHP
Originally a physicist and biomedical researcher (biophysics), Judyann has had a clinical practice for over 25 years, has held conferences since 1984 and has been a teacher of courses in physics, science, health, holism and spirituality since 1975. She is a Homeopath with classical unicist training, a Naturopath, and the founder of MICH.
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Reference links [1] Picard M, Juster R, Sabiston C. Is the whole greater than the sum of the parts? Self-rated health and transdisciplinarity. The International Journal of Whole Person Care. Vol 1, No 1 (2014) Link to Research Gate [2] Idler EL, Benyamini Y. Self-rated health and mortality: a review of twenty-seven community studies. J Health Soc Behav. 1997;38(1):21-37. Link to ncbi article [3] Picard M, Sabiston CM, McNamara JK. The need for a trans-disciplinary, global health framework. J Altern Complement Med. 2011;17(2):179-84. doi:10.1089/acm.2010.0149. Link to ncbi article