EXAMINING WHAT SELF-RATED HEALTH QUESTION IS UNDERSTOOD TO MEAN BY RESPONDENTS

The aim of this methodological study is to examine what self-rated hea lth is understood to mean by survey respondents. The data are derived from semi-structured (re-)interviews with 42 middle-aged participants of the 1994 Finnish Survey on Living Conditions. When the respondents are asked to describe their present health, the results show concrete, contextual, and partly contradictory conceptions of ''health''. Healt h is presented primarily as absence of ill-health, but also connected to personal experience and life situation, and as a result of action. Second, when assessing self-rated health all respondents base their as sessments on ill-health, modified by the severity, duration and restri ctions posed by ill-health. Further analysis shows that some responden ts base their assessments also on fitness and health behaviour. The re sults suggest that in addition to the medical model of health, adoptin g health promotion messages and ''healthy'' lifestyles are important f actors contributing to health assessments.