Health & Ilness
Cards (34)
- health- physical, social, and mental well-being- absence of a disease and weakness- good health vs. not healthy
- illnes- feeling that one is not well- health and illness is based on a social construction
- social construction- perceptions of health and illness is based on social construction:- it becomes a social realityEX: for some, they go to the doctor when they have a cold while others take medicine and drink plenty of water and get sleep
- medicalization of society- medical responses applied to everyday social problems- deviance viewed as physical/social disorder rather than criminality- it's expected that there is a medical response to everyday social problems
- medicalization of deviance- deviance as a medical problem (use medicine to be healthy); sick/ill (treated) rather than bad (punished)- medical approach is humanitarian and scientific
- three major functions of medicine (functional theory):- maintenance of health- medical research- social control
- maintenance of health- medical professionals with the most basic task is to keep people healthy; do not harm- restore health to the sick- promote healthy activities (diet, exercise, stress levels, etc.)
- medical research- knowledge gained- through universities or hospitals
- social control- public health policies carried out by medical professionalsEX: what kind of vaccines the public should get
- conflict theory- disagree that functional theory is helping people in such an organized way- health care is expensive- profit motive of medicine
- health care is expensive:- partial coverage only through jobs; different jobs have different health privileges or coverage- unequal access to health care; privilege rather than right
- profit motive of medicine:- businesses interested in making profits rather than treatment- treatment is expensive- more tests doctors do, the higher the cost
- feminist theory- focus on gender (girls and women)- healthcare and medicine has been mainly focused on menEX: when a medicine bottles say adults should take 2 tables, this is based on a 5'9 male
- differences between developed and developing countries- developing countries have young girls dying from issues related to regular things like pregnancy
- social class differences- girls and women from upper and middle classes often have more control over their health and more of a voice than those from lower classes
- doctor-patient relationship- sick role- physician's role
- sick role- when one is sick, they are allowed to deviate from the norm- one receives privileges like being absent from daily activities- expected to get healthy- playing the sick role (excuse)EX: purposely saying they're ill so they don't have to turn in a paper
- physician's role- assist patients; authority over patients- treatment-oriented rather than prevention-oriented- make profit by providing treatment and helping with health- well-respected; most prestigious occupation and status (hospital status)
- socialized medicine- government support health services- when government is involved in healthcare; everyone is involved and accounted for- health care is a right- universal health care (access for all)- gov also decides how much or little they will cover
- fee-for-service- charged per service (business model and profit motive)- health care is a privilege; everything has a charge- doctors are no different than business people trying to make a profit- supported by the American Medical Association (AMA)
- deprofessionalization- doctors feel that there's a loss of autonomy by physicians- used to be viewed as more prestigious compared to now because of insurance companies that dictate what will and will not be covered
- urban-rural differences- more medical facilities in urban than rural areas- more specialists in major citie
- U.S.- only developed country without a national health care program- government participation challenges individualism- dictate what kinds of medicines we have or what kind of procedures to get
- age- life expectancy increasing and death rate decreasing- fewer infants dying and people are living longer due to medical technology- elderly are the group that needs care and resources
- infant mortality rate- number of babies who die before age of one per 1,000 births- U.S. does not do well compared to other countries- poverty factor: high percentages of certain racial & ethic groups brings this rate up
- gender- women healthier than men- from birth to death at every age level, girls and women are always healthier- a son is more likely to be ill, have mental disabilities and colorblindness- men usually have the heart attacks and strokes
- social class- higher class healthier than lower class- higher classes have healthier lifestyles- people who are poor or working class/poor take more sick days- life expectancy shorter for those in lower class- more stress and worry contributes to health
- race and ethnicity- differences in access to health care and views about healthEX: Italian Americans very concerned about pain and want it relieved immediatelyJewish Americans view pain as something that could be a long term complication and interested in hearing what doctors have to say about treatment
- demographic transition theory- way to understand population and health- 3 major stages in terms of countries and what they go through- can not have low birth rate and high death rate (end of society)
- high birth rate and high death rate- many infants and people die- developing countries- families have many children even if they cannot support them
- high birth rate and low death rate- rapid population growth with surviving infants and less people dying- good thing, but rapid growth puts pressure on economy
- low birth rate and low death rate- developed countries- very few children being had in families; less people dying means there is no need for infants to replace them- can't sustain society this way
- cultural norm- norm of what's best for every society: low birth rate and low death rate
- large families in developing countries- traditional, rural, and agricultural societies- rural communities have more children than urban- lower classes have more children (farming communities)- focus on quantity(developed countries focus on quality of life)EX: China having one child policy