Health—Embodiment of corporeal experiences: Meanings of health among individuals living with comorbid type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension in The Gambia

• Published in: Social science & medicine (1982) Vol. 367; p. 117806
• Main Authors: Touray, Tahir Ahmad, Woodall, James, Warwick-Booth, Louise
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2025
• Subjects: Ability; Adult; Aged; Attitude to Health; Comorbidity; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - complications; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - epidemiology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - psychology; Embodiment; Female; Gambia; Gambia - epidemiology; Health; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension - complications; Hypertension - epidemiology; Hypertension - psychology; Interviews as Topic - methods; Lay meanings; Male; Middle Aged; Qualitative Research; Gambia; Hypertension; Ability; Health; Comorbidity; Gambia; Lay meanings; Diabetes; Embodiment
• ISSN: 0277-9536; 1873-5347; 1873-5347
• DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117806

Health, a universal human value and a fundamental human right, is a contested and elusive concept. Lay meanings of health are among the different dimensions of the understanding of health, and they have been of great interest to researchers because they help people to understand themselves and their world and influence their health choices and practices. They are subject to change with changing circumstances across the lifespan. The purpose of this study was the exploration of the meanings of health among individuals living with comorbid type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and hypertension (HTN) in The Gambia which, to our knowledge, was hitherto unexplored. The study design was interpretivist and data were collected through thirty-two qualitative interviews with eighteen participants, most of whom participated in two separate interviews, from November 2018 to July 2019. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis. Three main themes were generated to capture the meanings of health: (1) health: embodiment of corporeal experiences; (2) health: freedom; and (3) health: reward for virtue. The findings highlight the complexity of lay meanings and underscore the need for their incorporation into health promotion policy and practice to promote equality, participation and empowerment and bring the public back into public health. •Health embodies corporeal experiences, ability the main defining characteristic.•Health is instrumental and exists on an ability-disability continuum.•Health is freedom— the capacity to fulfil desires.•Lay meanings of health tacitly define disease as limitation on physical capacity.•Health is defined by its ‘determinant’: reward for virtue.