Sociology of Health and Illness Quiz

Introduction to Sociology of Health and Illness

• Health is not fixed, it's relative
• According to the WHO, health is a state of physical, mental, and social wellbeing, not just the absence of disease.

Why Sociology of Health and Illness?

• Medical practices and beliefs are social
• Medical sociology examines policies, the practice of medicine, and the uptake of medical interventions.

Foucauldian Medical Gaze

• Biomedical paradigms are built on patient stories ("The Birth of the Clinic," 1963).
• Doctors have an authoritative position in the doctor-patient relationship.
• Doctors interpret patient information, making diagnoses, prognoses, and prescribing treatments.
• Power dynamics exist in the medical relationship.
• Objectification and control of the human body are involved.
• Institutionalization of medicine is crucial.

Sociological Approaches to Health and Illness

• Policy sociology: Aims to improve healthcare delivery through sociological research and data to guide policies for better health and wellbeing.
• Critical sociology: Examines the practices of multinational pharmaceutical companies, medical institutions, and for-profit clinics focusing on how race, gender, ethnicity, age, class, affect experiences in healthcare.
• Healing is shaped by social factors

The Sick Role

• Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) introduced the concept of the sick role (or patient role) in "The Social System" (1951).
• Four expectations of the sick role:
  • Exempted from normal social responsibilities.
  • Should be cared for, not expected to care for themselves.
  • Obligated to try to get well.
  • Obligated to seek competent medical help.
• Structural functionalism assumes social uniformity of health experiences, which is challenged by other sociologists.

Critique of Parsons' View of the Sick Role

• E.L. Koos (1954) criticized Parson's view, highlighting differences in health experiences based on socioeconomic class.
• Access to healthcare and the capacity to play the sick role vary depending on social class.
• Gender, race, and age also influence perceptions of the sick role.

New Expectations for the Sick Role in the New Economy

• Ivan Emke (2002) proposed five new expectations for Canadians in the sick role.
• Patients are responsible for their illnesses, with a focus on individual choices.
• Patients should tread lightly on the healthcare system.
• Patients are typically not trusted, and escalating health care costs are linked to so-called "unnecessary" visits to healthcare providers.

The Social Course of Disease

• A medical breakthrough in the 19th century was recognizing the natural course of diseases, including illness symptoms, recovery (or worsening).
• Medication can alleviate symptoms and speed up recovery.
• Social factors affect how a disease or disorder is handled (ethnic background, culture, class, age, sex).

Orthodox and Complementary Medicine

• Biomedicine uses Western scientific principles in diagnosing and treating illness, focusing on physical causes and applying physical treatments.
• Alternative (or complementary) medicine falls outside conventional biomedicine and considers psychological, social, and emotional factors influencing illness. (acupuncture, yoga, massage, home birth).

Critique of Biomedicine

• Biomedicine is criticized for its reductionist approach, attributing conditions to single factors and ignoring broader circumstances.
• It is criticized for ignoring cultural contexts in medicine.

Medicalization

• Medicalization is the process of defining behaviors or conditions as medical problems.
• This involves the focus on remedy, social control, and pathologization.
• The over-medicalization phenomenon reduces the diversity in the approach to healthcare problems.
• Medicalization is reductionist, oversimplifies factors beyond biomedical, sociocultural or political factors.

Medicalization, Continued

• Ivan Illich (1927-2002) critiqued medicalization, highlighting doctor-generated epidemics and industrial society's impact on health.
• Iatrogenesis refers to epidemics and issues created by doctors, which avert people from preventing and treating illnesses.
• This perspective highlights negative outcomes due to over-reliance on medical interventions.

3 Kinds of Iatrogenesis

• Clinical: Medical interventions worsen the health situation.
• Social: Societal conditions obscured or overlooked by medical systems.
• Cultural: Overemphasis on medical knowledge, neglecting patients' contributions to healing.

Big Pharma

• "Big Pharma" refers to large pharmaceutical companies that profit from developing, manufacturing, and marketing drugs.

Medicalization and Deaf Culture

• The Deaf community is a challenge to medicalization.
• They view deafness as a cultural aspect, and do not consider themselves disabled.
• Medicalization sees it as undesirable, and they resist diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.

Critical Issues in Medical Sociology

• Unemployment and immigration of doctors: Shortage of doctors in some Canadian communities, immigrant credentials often insufficient, brain drain.
• Rural communities: Some rural areas face significant healthcare shortages and needs designated as “underserved.”

The Racialization of Disease

• A disease can become racialized, leading to negative treatment of specific racial or ethnic groups, despite potentially affecting everyone.
• An example is the SARS outbreak, which initially focused on certain ethnic groups despite affecting a broad range of races.

Gender Relations in Medicine

• Women were previously underrepresented in medicine.
• The field is now feminized, with rising numbers of female doctors.
• Women tend to specialize differently – particularly more likely to take up family medicine, leave the field sooner, and work fewer hours.

The Inverse Care Law

• The availability of good medical care inversely correlates with the need in a population group.
• Often, poor areas have a high need but face shortages, overworked staff, and insufficient facilities or outdated equipment.

Conclusion

• Health is a complex social concept, affected by multiple factors, including biomedical, political, and individual psychosocial factors.
• Factors such as disability or health crises are also part of the health spectrum.
• Understanding and addressing these complex factors is crucial for improving general health and wellbeing.