Health assessment and the capability approach

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Economics
• Philosophy of Well-being

Background:

• Health significantly impacts quality of life and is a target for public policies.
• Amartya Sen's Capability Approach (CA) provides a framework for assessing well-being and interventions.
• Practical challenges exist in applying CA to health, including defining assessment features and incorporating freedom aspects like agency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a framework for health assessment using the Capability Approach.
• To address the challenge of distinguishing between functioning and capability in health contexts.
• To integrate agency as a crucial component of freedom within CA-based health assessments.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of the Capability Approach in relation to health.
• Identification of key indicators for health assessment within the CA framework.
• Discussion on the inclusion of functioning, capability, and agency.

Main Results:

• A health assessment using CA should differentiate between achieved health functioning and health capability (resources and conversion factors).
• Agency, representing freedom to achieve health, is a critical, often neglected, element.
• The proposed framework integrates these three dimensions for a holistic health evaluation.

Conclusions:

• A robust health assessment via CA requires indicators for health functioning, health capability, and agency.
• Incorporating agency enhances the assessment of freedom in achieving health outcomes.
• This approach offers a more comprehensive understanding of health and well-being for policy development.