Potoczne myślenie o zdrowiu i chorobie
Colloquial way of thinking about health and disease

Summary/Abstract: Public health policies aiming to create a healthy lifestyle of society are supported by mass communication. It can be improved by the knowledge of media recipients ways of thinking. The paper is an attempt to synthetic analysis of what Poles think about health issues – how they value it, how they perceive health and illness, what health depends on, how they judge their attitude to knowledge about the impact of lifestyle on health, how they assess their own health care and how their knowledge translates into actions. The material are results collected from numerous surveys conducted over the past several years in Poland, including those implemented by the author. Due to difficulties in comparing detailed statements, general picture of social awareness shown is of a general nature. The analysis revealed many inconsistencies in thinking about health issues – although it is generally depended on the individual and their lifestyle, it is also quirk of fate, even though it is generally highly respected value, its good condition is not that valued. The analysis revealed too many mental obstacles to healthy living – including rare thinking about their impact on health, the belief of healthy living, numerous excuses of passive attitude to health. It also showed the uncertainty of medicine authority and subjective judgement criteria in this area. The complexity of the colloquial thinking about health suggests the need to make good use of interactive media channels, including direct doctor-patient relations and online communication.

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