terveydessään

Terveydessään is a Finnish adverbial noun phrase meaning "in health itself" or "as health in its own right." It is used to talk about health as a specific domain or attribute, often in contexts where health is considered separately from other factors such as wealth, age, or social status. The expression commonly appears in health communication, policy discussions, and analytical writing, where the focus is on health as a distinct aspect.

Grammatically, terveydessään is built from the noun terveys (health) with a possessive and locative suffix that marks "in the subject's own health." This form can occur at the beginning or inside a clause and serves to shift attention to the health aspect rather than to a person’s overall situation. In practice, it signals that the following statement concerns health as such.

Usage and nuance: The phrase emphasizes health as the topic of evaluation or discussion. It can convey that conclusions or comparisons apply specifically to health, not to other dimensions of life. In everyday speech, speakers may choose more common constructions such as discussing health indirectly or using phrases like terveyden mukaan (according to health) or terveydenhuollon kontekstissa (in the context of health care) for broader or different distinctions.

Examples:

- Terveydessään hän on hyvässä kunnossa, mutta pitkäaikaiset sairaudet vaikuttavat hänen arkeensa. (In health itself, he is in good condition, but chronic illnesses affect his daily life.)

- Terveydessään tilanne on parempi kuin ennen, mutta hoitoon liittyvät kysymykset ovat edelleen ratkaistavia. (In terms of health itself, the situation is better than before, but issues related to treatment remain to be resolved.)