Chapter 1: The Sociology of Health, Illness, and Health Care

Imagine that you are researcher trained in the sociology of medicine who wants to study diabetes. Give an example of a research question you might study. How would your questions change if you used a sociology in medicine approach?

How does diabetes differ in young people 18-25 versus people aged 50+? It would change because we would need to know the specific form of diabetes.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The primary federal agency that conducts and supports public health activities in the United States. The CDC is part of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

the sociological perspective

-social patterns rather than on individual behaviors. -popular American belief that individuals create their own fates and that anyone can succeed if he or she tries hard enough. - identify critical research questions that might otherwise go unasked. - look at the surrounding culture and social structure.

What topics can be included in the sociology of health, illness and healthcare?

1. social forces 2. experiences of people 3. analyze the health care system as a whole.

World Health Organization (WHO)

A group within the United Nations responsible for human health, including combating the spread of infectious diseases and health issues related to natural disasters.

health

A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being

sociology in medicine

An approach to the sociological study of health, illness, and health care that focuses on research questions of interest to doctors *From sociology in medicine*

What are the first five cities?

Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, Richmond

What does this textbook mean by a critical approach? By power? Give an example of how power affects health care delivery in the United States.

Critical approach- social perspective, issue explained by structural inherit fairness, resource held by those in power. power- the ability to get others to do what one wants, whether willingly or unwillingly. For example, lack of power exposes poor persons to unhealthy living conditions. Work 2 jobs and not have enough money for food. Sick buildings and pollution.

Pandemic

Disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population.

epidemic

any significant increase in the numbers affected by a disease or to the first appearance of a new disease. Ex) European cities, people lived in close and filthy quarters, along with rats, fleas, and lice— perfect conditions for transmitting infectious diseases such as bubonic plague and smallpox. Cities lacked sewer systems, families would dump human waste into the streets, it would be washed into local rivers. Typhoid, cholera, and other waterborne diseases that live in human waste flourished.

endemic

confined to a particular country or area, where cities had long existed.

chronic diseases

last several years or more Ex) muscular dystrophy and asthma, heart diseases, stroke

acute diseases

diseases that occur and resolve quickly Ex)Tb, influenza

random samples & big data

each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected huge studies that pull together multiple sets of data from entire populations.

What is the sociological perspective? How do the questions sociologists ask differ from the questions asked by psychologists or health care providers?

social patterns rather than on individual behaviors. framing problems as public issues, rather than simply personal troubles. Identify critical research questions that might otherwise go unasked. Look for patterns. Health care provider- leave her abusive husband, and get therapy Sociologist- explore social forces to explain the why what's happening

Medical sociology is the systematic study of:

subfield of sociology used to examine the social determinants of health. Behavior, culture, and society shaping the way health outcomes positive or negative. broader concept of understanding.

sociology of medicine

subfield of sociology used to examine the social determinants of health. Behavior, culture, and society shaping the way health outcomes positive or negative. broader concept of understanding. *of sociology specific* Broader/more general of illnesses

life expectancy

the average number of years individuals can expect to live -increased from 47 to 60 years for whites and from 33 to 48 years for African Americans

epidemiological transition

the shift from a society characterized by infectious and parasitic diseases and low life expectancy to one characterized by degenerative and chronic diseases and high life expectancy. Ex) deaths from tuberculosis, scarlet fever, and typhoid were all declining steadily by the early 1900s, even though doctors had no effective treatments for these diseases until the 1940s.