Читать книгу Contemporary Health Studies - Louise Warwick-Booth - Страница 45

One of the key issues when trying to define health that also impacts on perspectives about health is the idea that ‘health’ is socially constructed. This means that the way we think about health is determined by a range of factors that influence us at any given time, in any given place. As a consequence, the notion of health is seen to be organic and fluid, changing all the time. Social constructionism argues that ‘meaning’ is socially constructed. In terms of health then, we can see that the meaning we give to it, or the way that we understand it is not straightforward or uncomplex. From a social constructionist perspective the meaning of health is created (constructed) through the way that we, as social beings, interact and the language that we use. Through talking about health we draw on different discourses, creating social consensus about what health actually is. We then reproduce and reinforce ideas about health through our talk and use of different discourses. This means that ideas about health are both timebound and culture-bound – they change and vary across time and place. In addition, many different ways of talking about health (discourses) may (and do) exist at any one time.