CHILDREN'S HEALTH ISSUES

Children's Health Issues



Children's Health Issues

Health and Illness

Many empirical studies have examined the social and/or medical determinants of health status, but neither has evaluated whether those determinants vary by the definitions and the measurement of health. The majority of researches assume that there are no variations in the determinants of health, which is clearly not the case; because a study conducted by Bourne revealed that differences exist between the social determinants of health by the sexes and the area of the residences. Education and social class were the social determinants of health for females, but, not for males; and social assistance was a social determinant of health for males, but not for females. Clearly embedded in Bourne's work are the disparities, which exist in the social determinants of health, based on particular variables and this has never been examined in the health literature within the context of the definitions and/or measurement of health (Johnston and Shields, 2007, pp. 76).

Health models that have published provide a listing of the social and/or medical determinants of health as well as studies, but these fail to recognize the probability of the differences that are based on the conceptualization of health and the implications of such disparities for public policy and planning. Despite the fact that evidences show that differences do exist in the social determinants of health based on particular demographic characteristics, there is a paucity in health literature that have examined whether such differences are present, based on the definitions of health, as well as the measurement of health.

While psychologists like Brannon and Feist opined that using illness to measure health is a pessimistic approach, they also posited that health is more than illness, which they referred to as the positive approach to health. The positive approach to health is in keeping with the broader definitions of health that include social, mental and physical well being and more than the absence of illness. The aforementioned issues highlight the expanded definition of health, to include social, psychological and physical well being and not merely the absence of diseases, as offered by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the preamble to its Constitution in 1946. The WHO's definition of health recognizes that health was and can be measured by using illness. Such a conceptualization required studies to operationalize it; to use it in health studies and to guide health policy formulation for the society.

Scholars like Grossman, Smith and Kingston have used self-reported health status, which is keeping with the broader definition of health, to model the social and/or medical determinants of health. Studies conducted by the WHO and/or affiliated scholars have utilized the health status to measure health, from which specific social or medical determinants emerged. On the other hand, by using self-reported illness, Bourne modeled the social determinants of health; and Hutchinson et al used well being, which is more in keeping with the positive approach to health as offered by the WHO.

Outside of the definition of health, be it illness, health status ...