Introduction to Medical Sociology 2023 PDF

9/28/2023 Introduction: What is medical sociology? SOC 162 09/28/2023 1 Welcome! • What to expect in this class? • • • • Professor, TA. Meeting times and place; no discussion sections; a term paper. Office hours. Topics and format. • Requirements: • • • Attendance and participation – a fully i...

9/28/2023 Introduction: What is medical sociology? SOC 162 09/28/2023 1 Welcome! • What to expect in this class? • • • • Professor, TA. Meeting times and place; no discussion sections; a term paper. Office hours. Topics and format. • Requirements: • • • Attendance and participation – a fully in-person class; Lecture capture” NOT available. Readings – Book and articles. 3 Exams and 1 research paper. • Housekeeping – What to do when I … • Miss a lecture? Have questions about course materials or my research for the paper? Am late with an assignment? 2 1 9/28/2023 More on Housekeeping: Dos and Don’t during Lecture • Do take notes. • Do ask questions. • Do participate actively • Don’t be late (or start packing when I am still talking). • Don’t browse your phone or surf the web. 3 What’s this class about? • How health and illnesses are more than our genes…. • “Unnatural Causes” • Is there anything from the video clip that you find surprising, disturbing, or curious? 4 2 9/28/2023 The “Social” of the Medical (1) • When we focus on the symptoms: • “Is the arm broken? Where/how is it broken? What’s the most appropriate medical treatment?” • When we see patients as social beings: • “Is she scared? Was there domestic violence involved? Where are the parents? Are they living in poverty? Incarcerated? Undocumented? Divorced? Does she have health insurance?” 5 The “Social” of the Medical (2) 6 3 9/28/2023 7 8 4 9/28/2023 Discussion • Political or social factors that might have explained the high COVID death tolls in the US? • Possible answers: • Cultural? • Public health policies? • Socio-economic factors? 9 Overview of the Field: From “Medical Sociology” to “Sociology of health and illness” • “Medical sociology:” critical reflections of the biomedical model. • Blind spot in biomedical model: Social contexts of patients and illnesses; patients’ own interpretations; other traditions of healing, etc. • These questions gradually expand the field of med sociology. • “Sociology of health and illnesses:” relationships of illnesses, health, and society. • “Social construction” of medicine; • Illness experiences outside of the clinic; • Concepts about the body; • Cultures of health; • Social inequalities and health, etc. 10 5 9/28/2023 “That’s a lot of stuff! My head is hurting….” “Don’t worry! We’ve got maps!” 11 “Maps” of the Field (1) • Organizing the field by the “levels of analysis” of the research: • Individual: Studies that focus on individuals’ experiences and perceptions about illnesses. (E.g., “How do cancer patients maintain hope?”) • Social: Studies that focus on social groups, as well as social creation of disease categories and healthcare organizations. (E.g., What are the “social determinants of health?” “How did insomnia come to be recognized as a medical condition?) • Societal or systemic: About national healthcare systems within their political contexts. (E.g., “Why is the United States the only wealthy country without universal healthcare?” What are the pros and cons of different types of universal healthcare?) 12 6 9/28/2023 “Maps” of the Field (2) • Organizing the field by “purposes” of research • Sociology “in” medicine: Research that help doctors change patient behaviors. • E.g., how to improve patient compliance? How to get patients to change their unhealthy lifestyles? • Sociology “of ” medicine: Research that challenges doctors’ or healthcare system’s assumptions and priorities. • E.g., should pregnancy be treated as a medical problem? (Is it really good for pregnant women? Who is pushing the “medicalization of pregnancy”?) 13 “Maps” of the Field (3) • Organizing the field by sociological theoretical traditions the research draws upon: • Functionalism (A theory that assumes: appropriate social roles serve social function.) • E.g., What should doctors’ and patients’ roles be, so that patients get well quickly? • Symbolic interactionism (A theory that assumes: our subjective understandings about reality are created through social interaction). • E.g., how do doctor-patient interactions shape the patient’s attitude about cancer treatment? • Conflict theory (A theory that assumes: Social relations are by and large shaped by power and inequalities). • E.g., How are black or LGBTQ patients discriminated in healthcare encounters? 14 7 9/28/2023 In-Class Exercise: The Opioids Crisis in the US • 106,699 deaths caused by drug overdose in 2021, including illicit drugs and prescription opioids.. • In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to prescription opioid pain relievers, and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates. This subsequently led to widespread misuse of these medications before it became clear that these medications could indeed be highly addictive. Opioid overdose rates began to soar. [Adapted from https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-deathrates] 15 16 8 9/28/2023 17 What’s to most question for you, regarding the Opioids crisis? • “How can doctors and patients work together to help individuals recover from an Opioid addition?” • “Why does the pharmaceutical industry in the US have so much power in shaping medical policies and practices?” • How do men and women who are in recovery develop different narratives of hope? 18 9 9/28/2023 What’s to most question for you, regarding the Opioids crisis? • “How can doctors and patients work together to help individuals recover from an Opioid addition?” (A “sociology in medicine” question at the individual level, informed by functionalism) • “Why does the pharmaceutical industry in the US have so much power in shaping medical policies and practices?” (A “sociology of medicine” question at the societal level, informed by conflict theory) • How do gender, race, and class shape the narratives of hope for patients who are in rehab? (A “sociology of medicine” question at the group level, informed by symbolic interactionism) 19 Positioning Yourself • What initially brought you to this class? • [“Why are you taking this class?”] 20 10 9/28/2023 Where do you see yourself on the maps? Where am I on the map (now)? Where am I on the map (end of quarter)? Why do I change? Levels Purposes Theories Levels Purposes Theories Individual Soc “in” medicine Functionalism Individual Soc “in” medicine Functionalism Social Soc “of ” medicne Symbolic interactionism Social Soc “of ” medicne Symbolic interactionism Conflict theory Societal Societal Conflict theory 21 11