The World Health Organization formulated its definition of health following World War II, during a period when the social health of societies was in question. Since that definition in 1946, social scientists have dutifully followed its precepts and attempted to operationalize its concepts, including social wellbeing. But, American social scientists have found that psychosocial well-being may be a more accurate formulation of mental and social well-being, and they have questioned the reasonableness of a definition that requires complete health. It is proposed that scholars refine the WHO definition over the next several years, while at the same time creating bridges between a new conceptual definition and more detailed operational definitions. An expansion of the WHO definition may be necessary to include a spiritual dimension of health if social scientists can agree that spirituality is part of health and not merely an influence.
The World Health Organization's (WHO) definition of health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being" now is conventional wisdom. Health is no longer defined simply in physical terms, as the absence of disease or disability, but now includes mental and social dimensions.
Before the WHO definition, one common adage for health was a "sane mind in a sound body," according to Brock Chisholm, the first Director General of World Health Organization (1948)(1949)(1950)(1951)(1952)(1953). Chisholm, also a member of the group formulating the new WHO definition, recounts development of the definition in the period immediately following World War II. During that period, there was a profound pessimism about man and society. Chisholm wrote in 1948 "we have responsibility for social health, for being able to live in peace and contributing to the welfare of other people. The social responsibility of the individual has never been recognized before on such a wide international basis" (Chisholm, 1948: 364).
Chisholm observed "a new kind of citizen is necessary if the human race is going to survive." That citizen's loyalty "should not stop at anything short of world loyalty" (Chisholm, 1948: 367-368). This was the mood when the WHO definition was developed, a mood