Placing self-assessed health within the systems framework: a preliminary insight into social synergy and syntony

Abstract

The issue of self-assessed health (SAH) has been discussed within the scope of multiple interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies, gathering the attention and interest of scholars from various fields of study. Emerged at the confluence of subjective and objective measurements, the construct has triggered controversies and debates on its relevance and reliability, yet it is employed in many analyses as a pertinent reference point for individuals’ perceptions regarding their health status or wellbeing. Starting from these considerations, the current study aims to move the discussion further, by placing SAH in a broader argumentative perspective, as a multivalent process dependent on a myriad of individual, social, environmental, digital, etc. factors apposite to complex social systems. Therefore, the specific contribution intended via this approach is the advancement of a preliminary outlook on SAH within the social systems framework with a special emphasis on synergy and syntony. Against the backdrop of a conceptual undertaking, several factors are brought forward – i.e., environmental factors such as housing, neighborhood, residence and social (interactional) factors such as digital exposure, face-to-face communication, and social trust – hewing the path for future in-depth investigations on the topic.