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Defining health and health inequalities

OBJECTIVES: To examine existing definitions of health and health inequalities and to synthesise the most useful of these using explicit rationale and the most parsimonious text. STUDY DESIGN: Literature review and synthesis. METHODS: Existing definitions of health and health inequalities were identi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: McCartney, G., Popham, F., McMaster, R., Cumbers, A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6558275/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31154234
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2019.03.023
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author McCartney, G.
Popham, F.
McMaster, R.
Cumbers, A.
author_facet McCartney, G.
Popham, F.
McMaster, R.
Cumbers, A.
author_sort McCartney, G.
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: To examine existing definitions of health and health inequalities and to synthesise the most useful of these using explicit rationale and the most parsimonious text. STUDY DESIGN: Literature review and synthesis. METHODS: Existing definitions of health and health inequalities were identified, and their normative properties were extracted and then critically appraised. Using explicit reasoning, new definitions, synthesising the most useful aspects of existing definitions, were created. RESULTS: A definition of health as a structural, functional and emotional state that is compatible with effective life as an individual and as a member of society and a definition of health inequalities as the systematic, avoidable and unfair differences in health outcomes that can be observed between populations, between social groups within the same population or as a gradient across a population ranked by social position are proposed. Population health is a less commonly used term but can usefully be defined to encompass the average, distribution and inequalities in health within a society. CONCLUSIONS: Clarifying what is meant by the terms health and health inequalities, and the assumptions, emphasis and values that different definitions contain, is important for public health research, practice and policy.
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spelling pubmed-65582752019-06-11 Defining health and health inequalities McCartney, G. Popham, F. McMaster, R. Cumbers, A. Public Health Article OBJECTIVES: To examine existing definitions of health and health inequalities and to synthesise the most useful of these using explicit rationale and the most parsimonious text. STUDY DESIGN: Literature review and synthesis. METHODS: Existing definitions of health and health inequalities were identified, and their normative properties were extracted and then critically appraised. Using explicit reasoning, new definitions, synthesising the most useful aspects of existing definitions, were created. RESULTS: A definition of health as a structural, functional and emotional state that is compatible with effective life as an individual and as a member of society and a definition of health inequalities as the systematic, avoidable and unfair differences in health outcomes that can be observed between populations, between social groups within the same population or as a gradient across a population ranked by social position are proposed. Population health is a less commonly used term but can usefully be defined to encompass the average, distribution and inequalities in health within a society. CONCLUSIONS: Clarifying what is meant by the terms health and health inequalities, and the assumptions, emphasis and values that different definitions contain, is important for public health research, practice and policy. 2019-05-30 2019-05-30 /pmc/articles/PMC6558275/ /pubmed/31154234 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2019.03.023 Text en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
McCartney, G.
Popham, F.
McMaster, R.
Cumbers, A.
Defining health and health inequalities
title Defining health and health inequalities
title_full Defining health and health inequalities
title_fullStr Defining health and health inequalities
title_full_unstemmed Defining health and health inequalities
title_short Defining health and health inequalities
title_sort defining health and health inequalities
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6558275/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31154234
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2019.03.023
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