Massey University, New Zealand.
J Health Psychol. 1997 Jul;2(3):399-411. doi: 10.1177/135910539700200308.
A large and expanding literature demonstrates the existence and persistence of socio-economic differences in health. This literature is extensive, but very little of it examines the individual's experience of health. This article argues the need for research into socio-economic differentials in health from a qualitative perspective, and draws on research from this perspective to present and discuss several issues of relevance to health differentials. These include talking about health, contact with health professionals, views on modem medicine, the meaning of health, control and fatalism, smoking and health, diet and food, exercise and fitness and the healthy body. Findings illustrate considerable differences in the ways people from upper and lower socio-economic positions understand and experience health and illness, and also demonstrate how their health-related concerns are embedded in the fabric of everyday lives. Further research from this perspective has potential for improving our understanding of socio-economic differentials in health. In closing, the article offers some directions for future research, and identifies three issues: the type of qualitative approach adopted; the nature of linguistic accounts; and the need for a theoretical framework, to which future research should attend.
大量且不断扩展的文献证明了健康方面存在着且持续存在着社会经济差异。这方面的文献非常广泛，但很少有研究关注个人的健康体验。本文主张从定性角度研究社会经济差异对健康的影响，并借鉴这一角度的研究，提出并讨论几个与健康差异相关的问题。这些问题包括谈论健康、与健康专业人员的接触、对现代医学的看法、健康的意义、控制和宿命论、吸烟与健康、饮食与食物、运动与健康以及健康的身体。研究结果表明，来自社会经济地位较高和较低的人群在理解和体验健康和疾病方面存在着相当大的差异，同时也表明了他们与健康相关的担忧是如何嵌入日常生活的结构中的。进一步从这一角度进行研究有可能增进我们对健康方面社会经济差异的理解。在结束时，本文提出了未来研究的一些方向，并确定了三个问题：所采用的定性方法的类型；语言描述的性质；以及理论框架的必要性，未来的研究应该关注这些问题。
