The meaning of healthy and not healthy: older African Americans and whites with chronic illness.

Qualitative in-person interviews with 114 older African Americans and whites with chronic illness were conducted to assess whether they thought of themselves as healthy or not healthy and the meanings associated with that assessment. The first and most frequently assigned attribute of healthy was the presence of functional capacities; for not healthy it was the presence of medical conditions or physical symptoms. While both African Americans and whites responded similarly regarding the assessment of whether they were healthy or not healthy, African Americans described the attributes associated with healthy or not healthy somewhat differently than whites. Also, both groups reported more varied meanings to the concept of 'healthy' than to 'not healthy', suggesting that 'healthy' may be a multidimensional construct more connected to ones' total life experiences than is 'not healthy'. This study concludes that social and cultural factors such as race, ethnicity or health experiences may influence how individuals perceive and describe their health status and the processes used in making these assessments.