Читать книгу Health Communication Theory - Группа авторов - Страница 15

Although most of us probably have an ordinary conception of health as a state of being disease‐free, more precise conceptualizations of it have been offered. The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well‐being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (The World Health Organization 2020, n.p.). Please note the focus on mental and social issues as well as physical health.

Building on this, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines health care delivery as “The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population” (NIH 2020, n.p.). Although this definition appears to focus on formal health care delivery, health communication scholarship goes well beyond this traditional emphasis. The best health communication work is that which is grounded in theory.