Chapter 13

Talcott Parsons' 4 elements of the sick role

1. person not responsible for illness 2. person should try to get well 3. person temporarily relieved from normal role obligations 4. person seeks competent medical care and complies with the medical regimen *implies that the physician is a gatekeeper

Bruce, 12, is susceptible to illness because he lives in a low-income neighborhood with poor food options

Alberto is a medical sociologist focusing his studies on health disparities among various populations, which of the following situations would Alberto most likely explore?

false- it would be medicaid unless she is over 65

Cho suffers from a degenerative muscle disease and is confined to a wheelchair. As such, she is unable to work and has very little income, so she most likely receives benefits from Medicare.

underinsurance

Katerina has health insurance, but her co-pays and deductibles are so high that she doesn't go to the doctor when she is ill unless she absolutely has to, this demonstrates the problem of ______.

Marzia may need to miss work to take care of the child; if the family doesn't have insurance, it may create a financial burden; Marzia's other children may feel neglected because she is spending more time with the sick child; Marzia's other children may catch the disease also

Marzia's child has the measles and can't go to day care, in what ways might this illness affect the family?

symbolic interactionist view of sickness

What it means to be sick (or healthy) has changed throughout history and also differs from one place to another.

medicaid

a government program that covers disabled people and those within a certain percentage of the poverty line

medicare

a government program that gives some health insurance to people older than sixty-five.

universal coverage

a health system in which the government guarantees that all citizens can recieve health care

neighborhood walking trails and crime rates

a sociologist interested in health inequality, who is comparing rates of exercise across communities would likely be interested in which of the following?

biomedical model

abnormal value based on the standard normal distribution ex: hypertension, bmi

pathological model

an abnormality you can see such as a broken bone, bleeding, a blocked artery, a cancerous cell

food desert

an area with limited access to healthy and affordable food

fundamental cause theory

argues that socioeconomic status is the most important factor that explains disparities in health; income constrains or expands access to resources that promote health (income and stress)

biographical disruption

can be caused by chronic illness where usual activities and social life are disturbed

Multipayer health insurance model

citizens are required to have health insurance, private companies offer health care and prices regulated by the government

the sick role

developed by Talcott Parsons, believed that being a healthy, productive member of society is functional for society and that too many sick people would harm society *structural functionalist view - illness is a dysfunction and sick people must behave in certain ways to have their lack of productivity excused, very individualistic concept, which does not take into account how social conditions can affect a person's health

chronic illness

diseases that last for several months or years or even persist until death ex: cancer, diabetes, heart disease, HIV infection

conflict theorists view of sickness

examines the health care system and the patterns of who is insured and who is not

mental illness

health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking, or behavior associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work, or family activities (People of lower socioeconomic status have a greater likelihood of having a mental disorder like schizophrenia and personality disorders, People of upper and middle classes are more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety and depression)

have brought in sales for drug companies through consumer direct advertising

illnesses like skin diseases were rarely discussed in the past, but now they ______.

acute illness

illnesses that come on and generally leave relatively quickly ex: common cold, influenza, chicken pox

true

in 2018, the number of insured people in the US declined

false

life expectancy varies by gender, but not race or ethnicity

true

pharmaceutical advertising has encouraged the medicalization of certain illnesses

National health insurance model

private health care providers provide health care for which the government pays

asian american, hispanic, white, native american, black

put these groups in order of life expectancy, from the longest to the shortest: hispanic, native american, hispanic, asian american, black

morbidity

rates of illness, injury, disease, or other unhealthy status

experiences with illness

sociologists who examine chronic illness and mental health and how they lead to biographical disruption

health disparities

sociologists who examine social patterns of health and illness- How discrimination, environmental racism, and government policies impact health

health care system

sociologists who look at how doctors interact with patients, what it is like to engage with the U.S. healthcare system, inequalities in medical treatment, and issues related to a lack of health insurance

social determinants theory

states that social status can determine a person's health- being of lower income level of SES causes higher morbidity and lower general health

drift explanation

states that there is a connection between income and health- if you have poor health, you may be less likely to find gainful employment

true

the association of american medical colleges believes it is important for physicians to understand how society and culture can affect health

selection theory

the connection between low income and poorer health- has mediating factors (like genetics, might affect both SES and health)

important to remember

the definition of illness can change over time, the social meaning of illness is important, false negatives and false positives are not good for patients, the sick role is a problematic concept

National Health Service model

the government pays for and provides health services to its citizens

medicalization

the process by which conditions become seen as medical conditions, also shapes how people experience illness, as health institutions grow, more conditions once seen as moral failures or simply bad behavior begin to be deemed illnesses ex: alcoholism, hyperactivity

functionalist view of sickness

the sick role, sickness is dysfunctional because it interferes with social system stability, being sick is not a delibrate choice, being sick represents a social role, sick cannot take care of themselves and need to seek medical advice and cooperate with physicians, Sick person may want to remain in role in order to receive "secondary gains"

true

the theory of fundamental cause argues that SES is the most important factor that explains disparities in health

Betty, a woman with arthritis, no longer attends church because she is embarrassed to use a cane

what is an example of the idea of biographical disruption?

mortality

what term refers to a particular group's death rate?

underinsurance

when a person has health insurance, but even with insurance, health services are not affordable

medicalization

when lana was younger, her heavy drinking was considered to be a bad habit, but now that she's older, she is getting treatment for alcoholism and her family is more supportive, this demonstrates the effect of _______.