A preliminary study on the concept of health among the Chinese

Abstract

In this qualitative study, lay people's conceptions of health were explored through focus group discussions. Two hundred and one college students and 45 community female adults participated in the groups and they were considered as informants. Content analysis supported a four-dimensional model of health, hierarchically organized to represent clinical health, role health, adaptive health and well-being health. Although such a multidimensional model of health was similar to the Western models in structure, Chinese conceptions of health placed far greater emphases on social harmony and being at ease with life. The unique Chinese heritage of the Yin-Yang theory, its emphasis on homeostasis, and the characteristic Confucian values of social orientation were further discussed in the context of health.