Do Family Structure and Social Factors Influence Adult Health Status?

Abstract

An investigation in an urban family practice Definitions of health vary widely from narrow biological definitions to approaches which emphasise the social nature of health. According to Larson, the literature on health status and health indicators seems to point to five models, namely the medical, the holistic, the wellness, the environmental and the eclectic model. The medical model defines health as a functional ability, morbidity and mortality; a rather narrow biomedical approach. It is not sensitive to social health and healthy interaction with others and it ignores the social causes of ill-health.