Health is a complex concept, encompassing the presence or absence of disease or impairment and the extent to which an individual achieves personal goals and a sense of well-being. Health also is multidimensional, with many dimensions being interrelated and influenced by multiple personal and environmental factors. The current definition of health, based on the WHO, promotes a broad understanding of the concept, acknowledging that health is “more than the absence of disease or infirmity.”
This broadened perspective supports the concept that individuals have an important role to play in promoting and maintaining their own health through their lifestyle choices, the environment in which they live, and how they react and cope with changes and challenges. It is an essential change from the current dominant biomedical model in which individuals are viewed as passive recipients of treatment and care.
The broader perspective on health is an important one for people with disabilities, as the concept enables them to see that they can experience good health and purpose in their lives, even when they have limitations or have chronic diseases and conditions. This is illustrated by the fact that, for example, a competitive swimmer with Down syndrome can still enjoy good health and a satisfying life, or that a high school teacher with bipolar disorder can feel good about her health and function even when public swimming pools are closed due to COVID-19 or when medication prescriptions are changed by a physician.
In addition, the broader perspective on health can help individuals understand that their health is affected by a variety of factors outside the control of the medical system. For example, working conditions, the safety of neighborhoods, the quality of education, and a number of other social factors all have an impact on health.
The subtheme of health as multi-sided and adapting to change was identified in five articles (5/19) written from a social science perspective, while the subtheme satisfying life was identified in four articles (4/10) written from a human rights and societal perspectives. These results are reflected in the figure below. To read more about the themes and the subthemes, please see Supplementary Tables 2A to 2G (S2A-S2G). The research that informed this article was conducted under a Rehabilitation Research and Training Center grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additional information about the project can be found at www.nidilrr.osu.edu/nisonger/projects/health/.