Homeostasis: getting a balance

Abstract

The healthcare assistant and assistant practitioner (HCA and AP) must have an understating of how the body works and how it functions in both illness and in health, so as to offer people care that is safe, effective and person-centred. This series of articles offers the HCA and AP an understanding of how the human body works: its anatomy and physiology. The first article of this series ( Peate, 2020 ) provided insight into the terminology used in anatomy. This article focuses on homeostasis, how it is that the body maintains a stable internal environment regardless of the changes that occur externally. The third article considers the cells, which are the basic building blocks of all living things. The rest of the series considers each of the body's systems in turn. In this article, a definition of homeostasis is provided and examples are discussed as to how the body maintains homeostasis. The article ends with a glossary of terms and set of questions used as self-assessment.