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Social Support and Social Health

Is it Time to Rethink the WHO Definition of Health

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Social Support: Theory, Research and Applications

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASID,volume 24))

Abstract

For nearly thirty-five years, physicians, psychologists, sociologists, and epidemiologists have been attempting to include social support and social function in the definition of health status. Despite relentless efforts, it has been difficult to meaningfully define social support as a component of health. In this paper, I argue that the effort to define “social health” should be abandoned. Instead, efforts should be directed toward identifying the role of social support as a mediator of health status.

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© 1985 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht

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Kaplan, R.M. (1985). Social Support and Social Health. In: Sarason, I.G., Sarason, B.R. (eds) Social Support: Theory, Research and Applications. NATO ASI Series, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5115-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5115-0_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8761-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-5115-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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