Disability and Health Affiliation Darshini Ayton, Narelle Warren and Lenore Manderson School of Psychology and Psychiatry Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Monash University 900 Dandenong Road Caulfield East, Victoria, 3165 Australia Darshini.Ayton@monash.edu Lenore.Manderson@monash.edu Narelle.Warren@monash.edu Synonyms Disability: Affliction, Ailment, Defect, Impairment, Incapacity, Infirmity, Handicap, Malady Health: Wellbeing, Wellness Definitions Health: “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organization 1948) Disability is a complex phenomena that results from interactions between health conditions and contextual factors, both external environmental (including, but not limited to, social norms and expectations, physical or built environment, legal and social structures) and internal personal factors (including demographic characteristics, personal experiences, personality and disposition, and individual influences on the perception of disability). Disability involves dysfunction at one or more of three levels – a) the body or body part, b) the whole person, c) the whole person within social context – in one or more of three ways: impairments (in body structure or function), activity limitations or difficulties, and restricted participation in multiple life spheres (World Health Organization. 2002)