"health assessment" has been separated by authors from physical assessment to include the focus on health occurring on a continuum as a fundamental teaching. in the healthcare industry it is understood health occurs on a continuum, so the term used is "assessment" but may be preference by the speciality's focus such as nursing, physical therapy, etc. in healthcare, the assessment's focus is biopsychosocial but the intensity of focus may vary by the type of healthcare practitioner. for example, in the emergency room the focus is chief complaint and how to help that person related to the perceived problem. if the problem is a heart attack then the intensity of focus is on the biological/physical problem initially.