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Health and Gross National Happiness: review of current status in Bhutan

Worldwide, contemporary measures of the success of health development programs have been mostly in terms of the reduction of mortality and morbidity as well as increasing longevity. While these goals have yielded much-needed health improvements, the subjective outcomes of these improvements, as expe...

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Autores principales: Tobgay, Tashi, Dophu, Ugen, Torres, Cristina E, Na-Bangchang, Kesara
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Dove Medical Press 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3155859/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21847351
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S21095
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author Tobgay, Tashi
Dophu, Ugen
Torres, Cristina E
Na-Bangchang, Kesara
author_facet Tobgay, Tashi
Dophu, Ugen
Torres, Cristina E
Na-Bangchang, Kesara
author_sort Tobgay, Tashi
collection PubMed
description Worldwide, contemporary measures of the success of health development programs have been mostly in terms of the reduction of mortality and morbidity as well as increasing longevity. While these goals have yielded much-needed health improvements, the subjective outcomes of these improvements, as experienced by individuals and the communities, have not been considered. Bhutan, under the overarching policy of Gross National Happiness, has provided due consideration to these subjective indicators. Here, we report on the current status of health and happiness in Bhutan as revealed by conventional objective indicators and subjective Gross National Happiness indicators. The current literature on health in Bhutan in relation to the Gross National Happiness Survey conducted by the Centre of Bhutan Studies has been reviewed. Bhutan has made great strides within a short period of modernization, as shown by both objective and subjective indicators. Tremendous challenges lie ahead to achieve the ultimate goal of health and happiness, and how Bhutan articulates its path to modernization may be a lesson for the rest of the world.
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spelling pubmed-31558592011-08-16 Health and Gross National Happiness: review of current status in Bhutan Tobgay, Tashi Dophu, Ugen Torres, Cristina E Na-Bangchang, Kesara J Multidiscip Healthc Short Report Worldwide, contemporary measures of the success of health development programs have been mostly in terms of the reduction of mortality and morbidity as well as increasing longevity. While these goals have yielded much-needed health improvements, the subjective outcomes of these improvements, as experienced by individuals and the communities, have not been considered. Bhutan, under the overarching policy of Gross National Happiness, has provided due consideration to these subjective indicators. Here, we report on the current status of health and happiness in Bhutan as revealed by conventional objective indicators and subjective Gross National Happiness indicators. The current literature on health in Bhutan in relation to the Gross National Happiness Survey conducted by the Centre of Bhutan Studies has been reviewed. Bhutan has made great strides within a short period of modernization, as shown by both objective and subjective indicators. Tremendous challenges lie ahead to achieve the ultimate goal of health and happiness, and how Bhutan articulates its path to modernization may be a lesson for the rest of the world. Dove Medical Press 2011-08-04 /pmc/articles/PMC3155859/ /pubmed/21847351 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S21095 Text en © 2011 Tobgay et al, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd. This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Short Report
Tobgay, Tashi
Dophu, Ugen
Torres, Cristina E
Na-Bangchang, Kesara
Health and Gross National Happiness: review of current status in Bhutan
title Health and Gross National Happiness: review of current status in Bhutan
title_full Health and Gross National Happiness: review of current status in Bhutan
title_fullStr Health and Gross National Happiness: review of current status in Bhutan
title_full_unstemmed Health and Gross National Happiness: review of current status in Bhutan
title_short Health and Gross National Happiness: review of current status in Bhutan
title_sort health and gross national happiness: review of current status in bhutan
topic Short Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3155859/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21847351
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S21095
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