Social representations of health and illness: The case of the Chinese community in England

This paper reports results from a qualitative study on social representatio ns of health and illness among the Chinese community in England. It is assu med that representations of health and illness are grounded in cultural fra meworks and are constructed through communication, social interaction and t he practices of daily life. Our findings show that in spite of differences related to age and degrees of acculturation, Chinese people in England shar e a common representational system with respect to health and illness. This system is based on the traditional notions of "balance" and "harmony" betw een the interdependent forces of Yin and Yang. Health results from balance, whereas illness is brought about by disequilibrium. It is through these tr aditional Chinese concepts that Western biomedical knowledge is incorporate d, producing a mixed representational field where Chinese and Western knowl edge co-exist. This representational field is transmitted through the most fundamental dimensions of culture: food, language and kinship relations. We conclude by showing that social representations of health and illness are inseparable from the struggles over identity experienced by the Chinese peo ple in England. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.