Health and Subjective Welfare Cover Image

Zdravlje i subjektivna dobrobit
Health and Subjective Welfare

Author(s): Dubravka Miljković
Subject(s): Education, Psychology, Health and medicine and law
Published by: Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti - Zavod za znanstvenoistraživački i umjetnički rad u Bjelovaru
Keywords: health; subjective welfare; the Bjelovar-Bilogora County

Summary/Abstract: The self-assessment of health is one of key components of the quality of life and subjective welfare. The survey conducted on a representative sample of the citizens of Croatia (Prizmić Larsen et al., 2011) put health on the very top of the list of priority components. Health is, according to it, more important than the relationship with family and friends; the feeling of physical safety; being accepted by the living environment; life achievements; and financial status. However, satisfaction with one’s health does not go hand in hand with the assessment of its importance. In comparison with health, people are less satisfied only with their financial status. The comparison among counties showed that the citizens of the Bjelovar-Bilogora County were the least satisfied with their health; only 24 % of them assessed their health as excellent or very good, against 38 % for Croatia on the whole (Japec and Šućur, eds, 2007). On the one hand, the citizens of the Bjelovar-Bilogora County evaluate the quality of their health care system with the lowest grade (4.1 as opposed to the average figure at the state level, which is 5.2). On the other hand, taking into consideration the number of citizens stating that they suffer from a chronic disease or one limiting them in their activities, the reality does not seem as bleak (26 %, which is below the state-level average). It is necessary to engage in improving the quality and availability of health care services, as well as undertaking activities relating to the prevention and early discovery of diseases, but also in education: health education of all classes and age groups, as well as – in the context of the content of this paper – education on the interdependence of health and subjective welfare.

  • Issue Year: 2013
  • Issue No: 7
  • Page Range: 223-237
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Croatian