Abstract

The World Health Organization’s definition of “health” as “a state of complete, physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 1948, p. 100), expanded the concept of health beyond medical matters to encompass a wide range of human experiences. Well-being subsequently became a popular idea with varied applications, coming to be understood as a policy goal, a purchasable commodity, a desirable status and a valuable analytic lens for scholars interested in diverse aspects of health and health care (Fleuret and Atkinson, 2007; MacKian, 2009).