Focusing on work produced in France from the sixties on, the author reviews the ways in which Durkheim's concept of social representation has been updated within the health care field. While some theoretical limitations underlying the use of this concept are admitted, the author argues in favor of its continued fecundity as an analytical tool in studying phenomena of health care and illness. She also points to some theoretical developments that may possibly be achieved through use of the concept in this particular field.
Social representation; health; illness