WHAT IS HEALTH QUICK WRITE: What do you think of when you hear the word health. What did you do this summer that may have improved your overall health?

Aims Explore the notion of health from a variety of perspectives including professional and lay viewpoints related to age, gender, social class and culture. Appreciate that there are a range of views about the nature of health. Introduce the concept of models of health. Highlight the Evans and Stoddart model to set the scene for future lectures.

Personal health beliefs Think about the last time you experienced yourself as healthy. Jot down a few phrases that describe the feeling, and the context.

Who is the healthiest?

Defining health Official or professional definitions Popular or lay definitions.

Negative, Professional Definitions So called bio-medical or scientific view of health. Health as the absence of disease. Health as the absence of illness.

Definitions Disease – presence of pathology or abnormality in a body part Illness – feelings of anxiety, pain or distress usually associated with a disease

Positive/Holistic, Professional Definitions World Health Organisation, 1947 A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being rather than solely as absence of disease

Professional Definitions Positive/holistic views Health as an ideal state Health as physical and mental fitness Health as a commodity Health as personal strength or ability Health as the basis for personal potential.

Lay beliefs - being healthy / being ill 9000 individuals questioned:- –Absence of disease. –Physical fitness –Functional ability Blaxter (1995)

Health beliefs change throughout the life-course

Lay health beliefs - Age Older people concentrated on functional ability Younger people tended to speak of health in terms of physical strength and fitness Blaxter (1995)

Lay health beliefs - social class. People living in difficult economic and social circumstances regard health as functional – the ability to be productive, to cope and take care of others. Blaxter & Paterson (1982) Women of higher social class or with higher educational qualifications have a more multidimensional view of health. Blaxter (1995)

Lay health beliefs - gender. Men and women appear to think about health differently Women may find the concept of health more interesting Women include a social aspect to health. Blaxter (1995)

The causes or determinants of health So far we have discussed what we mean by health Now I want you to think about what may cause some people to be healthy while others are not

Main learning points Health is conceived differently depending on whether you are a professional or not, where you live, what circumstances you find yourself living in, how old you are and whether you are a man or a woman. There are a variety of models of health which have sprung from social scientists and others attempting to define what health is and what causes health and ill health.