Designing a framework for the concept of health

Abstract

We discuss a set of ideas related to defining health - using the World Health Organization definition, several debates in the academic literature, and the Meikirch Model of Health. Given the complex and dynamic nature of health, we cannot aim to generate a once-and-for-all agreement on its precise meaning. Instead, let us work to develop a general framework to guide further explorations to identify and measure the complex components and determinants of that elusive aspiration we call health. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.