Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T04:28:11.387Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - The validity of health measurements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

J.R. Kemm
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
Nicholas G. Norgan
Affiliation:
Loughborough University
Get access

Summary

What is health?

Health is a term that is widely used (for example, in the title of this symposium) but the underlying assumption that readers share a common understanding of its meaning is rarely justified (Seedhouse, 1986). Before the validity of health measurements can be discussed, the meaning of health must be clarified. A useful starting point is the definition of health included in the charter of the World Health Organization (WHO, 1946): ‘Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or physical infirmity’.

As a statement of ideals it cannot be faulted, but it is doubtful that it describes an attainable goal and it does not offer a useful basis for measurement. A different definition is ‘Health is a state in which a person is enabled to work to fulfil their realistic chosen and biological potential’ (Seedhouse, 1986). From a practical point, this is much to be preferred, recognizing as it does that different individuals have different potentials. However, for purposes of measurement, it complicates things even further requiring not only the present state of each individual to be assessed but also their theoretical potential.

None the less, three important characteristics of health emerge from these definitions:

Disease is absent.

Other features (‘positive health’) are present.

The concept is multidimensional.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×