Abstract:
The World Health Organization defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and
social wellbeing and not merely absence of disease or infirmity. The contemporary thinking
is the recognition of dualism between objective and subjective measurements in measuring
of health well-being. However, many currently used indexes depend only on either
subjective or objective parameters. This study attempted a) to identify parameters to
describe health well-being using both subjective and objective perspectives, b) to use
identified parameters to construct an index, and c) to apply the constructed index to explore
health well-being in a selected community in Sri Lanka. Twenty-three parameters related
to health well-being were identified through a review of literature. Identified parameters
were grouped into five sub themes as, i) physical fitness, ii) mental fitness, iii) healthy
environment, iv) access to healthy food and clean water, and healthy behavior and v) and
accessibility of medical services. The Rekawa fishing community in Southern Sri Lanka
was selected to apply the prepared indicators. Four modes of fishing, a) beach seiners, b)
one day fishing, c) multiday fishing, and d) lagoon fishing, were practiced by the community.
Forty fisher households were selected from each of the four identified categories based on
predominant engagement in selected mode of fishing. Twelve qualitative interviews were
conducted to validate the quantitative findings.
The incidences of daily betel use, smoking, and liquor consumption are 72%, 69% and 43%
respectively. Mental fitness and healthy living environment is highest for lagoon fishers.
One day fishers report highest physical fitness. Best sanitation and health habits are
reported by beach seiners. Access to health services and availability of healthy food and
water are highest in multiday fishers. The community records an overall value of 0.7 in
health well-being index. There are no significant differences among health well-being of
households by fishing mode. In conclusion, the constructed index can be used to compare
health well-being of different sub groups of a community and among communities.
