Gepubliceerd in:
01-03-2014 | Spectrum
Public health in the new definition of health
Auteur:
Bohn Stafleu van Loghum
Gepubliceerd in:
TSG - Tijdschrift voor gezondheidswetenschappen
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Uitgave 2/2014
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Extract
Already in an earlier edition of TSG attention was given to the new definition of health. Its introduction by Huber et al., in which health is defined as the ability to adapt and to self manage in social, physical and emotional challenges, has led to a revival of the international debate on the collective aspects of health. Within this new definition, the collective dimension of health, public health, would get too little attention. In her contribution, Marleen Bekker rightly points the finger on that spot, and she indicates that including the concept of adaptive capacity in the form of “health capital“ in this definition can meet this critic. This is followed by reflections on this idea by Machteld Huber, Karien Stronks and Jan-Kees Helderman. Striking in this discussion is that it is argued that the relative little Dutch attention to the collective aspects of health might be related to the fact that in The Netherlands public health as a value lives much less than in the United Kingdom. Jan-Kees Helderman adds to that a second possible explanation that in The Netherlands the central position of the health care and health insurance system within the social protection system was realized at the expense of attention to public health. …