Measuring Health

Increasing attention is being paid to the consequences of health and ill-health and to the outcomes of health care provision. Indices of health status in current usage focus on ill-health and are based on negative conceptualizations of health (eg mortality and morbidity rates, the self-reporting of symptoms, illness and functional ability). More attention is now being given to the development of positive measures of health, a term which encompasses concepts of social health, social well-being and quality of life. This volume reviews a wide range of popular measures of functional disability and health status, as well as broader measures of health such as those concerned with psychological well-being (eg anxiety and depression), emotional well-being (eg life satisfaction, morale and happiness), and social networks, support and loneliness. The book should interest social scientists and all health care professionals involved in the measurement of health.