Developing a measure of dignity for stress-related health outcomes

Jonathan Mann asserted that violations of dignity serve as underlying factors that negatively impact the health of individuals. He called for the public health community to develop an empirical understanding of ill health through the fundamental concept of dignity. This article explores definitions of dignity and presents a model to demonstrate how violations of dignity may cause chronic stress and, therefore, poor health. By combining human rights, capabilities, and ecosocial approaches, it may be possible to develop a multi-dimensional instrument to quantify and measure dignity violations. The most promising testable hypotheses concerned with dignity violations are related to violent victimization, poverty and deprivation, and discrimination -each of which has been linked to chronic stress and poor health.