Sociological Approach To Health And Illness

As stated by the World Health Organization (WHO), ‘health’ is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 1948). The health and wellbeing of individuals is generally determined by their circumstances and environment, a phenomenon referred to as the social determinants of health. WHO describes the social determinants of health as:

Sociology: Some guiding principles Social exploration of health – Group & individual experiences – Unique, individual factors of health/illness BUT also shared, social  factors Medical knowledge, practice, & technology  – Often constructed as THE TRUTH, without reference to the historical  and cultural development of medicine ‐ sociology critiques what is  meant by TRUTH. Health is socially shaped – What is means to be healthy or ill shifts between generations and  within generations; across cultures and within cultures 3 2/17/2016 Identifying a sociological approach Key features of a sociological approach:   Social distribution and production of health patterns of health and illness eg gender, class, age Social construction of health defining and meanings of health and illness Social organisation of health social processes to manage health and illness eg power; which health services receive funding priority etc., ‘who does what and to whom’

According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 1978), health can be defined not only in terms of absence of disease, injury or infirmity, but also, as a state of mental, physical and social well-being. Over the last decades, many studies have emphasized the role of social circumstances on health status. The tight link between health and a wide range of socioeconomic, environmental and demographics factors have been increasingly recognized and proffer an alternative perspective on how to consider public health, social justice and even restructuring of the health care system (Daniels et. al., 2004). The increasingly acknowledgement that health is also a result of cumulative experience of social conditions and exposure to environmental

Social determinants of health encompasses ethnicity, gender and social class. It is seen as the essential

There has always been a link between social class and health, even with the welfare state and the improvements made to health in all sections of societies over the years, a difference still remains in this area. This difference is applied to all aspects of health, which include life expectancy, general levels of health and infant mortality. Many people argue that as long as the quality of life is

In this assignment I hope to effectively discuss and evaluate the patterns and trends associated with health and illness within the higher and lower social classes. I am going to do this by discussing and evaluating the following explanations and perspectives within sociology; Artefact explanation, Natural or Social Selection explanation, Cultural or Behavioural explanation and Materialist or Structuralist explanation.

Throughout society there are many different sociological approaches to health and ill health. Within society there are many different perspectives towards whom the responsibility for health falls upon and also what defines people as ill? Your health is defined by the general condition of your body and mind. An illness is defined by an impairment of normal physical or mental function. To help explain the different sociological approaches to health and ill health I will be referring to the case study of Aziz and Tamsela. Aziz and Tamsela have four young children; Tamsela’s elderly parents also live with them in their three bedroomed houses in a deprived and depressing area of London. Their house is in desperate need of repair; it is damp and

Mortality rates: In gender men generally die earlier than women because of many aspects of their life, for instance in general women tend to take care of them self more physically. A lot of women go on diets and a lot of exercise DVDs and detunes are mainly aimed at women. Women in general do try to eat healthy and go on diets whereas men usually aren't very aware of their diet and don’t have much intention on improving it. Women also tend to go to the doctors and seek medical advice more often and have their illnesses diagnosed and treated more often than men. Because women' generally take more care of themselves and do more to keep themselves healthy.

This essay will discuss ways in which a person’s socioeconomic class and his/her social situation can have an impact on his/her health, using examples. We believe that there is a direct link between socioeconomic/social class and health (Adler et al. 1994). I will be defining the key terms: socioeconomic and health, social class then proceed to discuss about how poverty, income, employability, environment and housing can impact on a person’s social situation and their health.

This essay will be discussing the extent to which social class and poverty affects health and illness. Firstly, what is social class? Each person’s perception of social class can be different; is social class defined by a person’s accent, the area they live in, or something as simple as their income? Project Britain describes social class as “The grouping of people by occupations and lifestyle”. (Cress, 2014). To find social class Sociologists group people according to common factors, they compare people and various criteria can be conveniently used to place people in social groups or classes. Next we ask the question what determines a person’s health, the NHS defines health as “Physical and mental, it is the absence of disease”. (NHS 2017).

The aim of this essay is to examine the influence that socio-economic status has on an individual’s health.

The “Sociological Perspective on Health and the Health Care” introduced perspectives about social structure, and social relations. The readers learn the sociological theory and the main misconceptions related to health care, and their policies. It provides an explanation of the production and the distribution of health care services. Firstly, structural functionalism focuses on individuals and groups in society and how it maintains a social role. Furthermore, symbolic interactionism focus on the conflicts in interaction amongst individuals. Moreover, social constructionism focuses on the medical facts and social authority and the reign over all in society. Also, gender and race influence the social conditions, and implications evident in Canadian health. Class conflicts with the control of power and the relationship between the employers and employees. It enhances the inequality evident in workplaces and the social stratification; ranking one by their assets. Materialism portrays that society is a social consensus rather than a conflict. However, this conflicts between the rich and the poor. Therefore, the healthcare impacts the minority, and affects it the most. Since the rich have an advantage of other options, however the minority struggles to afford private health care or buy their way around. Furthermore, the Marxist theory and oppression focuses on the exploitation by capitalism. It emphasizes on

The conceptualisation of medicine as an institution of societal control was first theorised by Parsons (1951), and from this stemmed the notion of the deviant termed illness in which the “sick role” was a legitimised condition. The societal reaction and perspective was deemed a pillar of the emerging social construction of disease and conception of the formalised medical model of disease. Concerns surrounding medicalisation fundamentally stem from the fusion of social and medical concerns wherein the lines between the two are gradually blurred and the the social consequences of the proliferation of disease diagnosis that results from such ambiguities of the social medical model.

“Healthy individuals cannot survive when society is sick.” On the other hand, aspects of social structure influence health and illness. Social factors not only affect life expectancy, but the possibilities the one will experience diseases and in turn, the health care that they will receive.

Understanding social factors in health has become a central issue recently and a large number of studies has been dedicated in this regard. Social factors are phenomena seen in the interaction between individuals and social groups. In this essay, the importance of understanding such factors and their influence on health are addressed by studying socioeconomic status. Studies results are incorporated to explain health inequalities that arise from socioeconomic status and possible explanations including the material and structural, social selection, cultural and historical explanations cited in the literature are briefly discussed.