Sociology analyses the social determinants of Health and utilises a number of Concepts and theories in order to understand health and illness. Draw on two Sociological theories to explain the social determinants of health and discuss how this differs from the medical model.
The term “sociology” covers a wide area including human societies, cultures, relationships and bonding. The essay focuses on the key sociological theories and concepts so that the readers can get a clear picture about the topic and can understand the established link between a number of social elements and its impact on the health aspects of humans.
Since in the current times a number of factors that exist in the society have an impact on an individual such as social-economic status, family, income, etc, a holistic picture has been presented which is integral to enhance the health and well-being of an individual (Cockerham, 2014).
The key sociological school of thoughts has been highlighted in the essay along with the biomedical model since it is a key perspective that concerns the overall biological process that takes place in human beings (Cockerham, 2007). Some of the vital social determinants have been presented that have effect on the health conditions of individuals. The key implications on healthcare professionals have been covered so that most effective techniques relating to health can be used that will help the overall community and society to benefit.
When the sociology approach is adopted in the health domain, the health professionals evaluate the health condition of individuals from a social context and take into account the various social aspects of the patient such as his experiences, beliefs, culture, interactive ability, etc while assessing his situation. This model helps to establish the link between the social life of an individual and his health scenario (Fox, 2016).
It is vital to understand the scope of sociology so that its various perspectives can be understood in a simpler manner. The sociology scope includes the study of the interaction, development, model and total behavior of human beings that function at an organized group level.
Sociology is not different from other disciplines since there is no single sociological perspective relating to the social reality. It encompasses a number of paradigms that help the knowledge to expand with the passage of time (Germov, 2014).
The approaches have been categorised into two types namely social structural approaches and interpretative or subjective approaches. The former model states that the society can be assessed in an objective manner by recognizing and scrutinizing the structure that exists in the society. The latter approach suggests that focus must be given to individual social actors and not the entire behaviour of the society (Germov, 2014).
The application of the sociological perspectives is important to study the health and illness aspects of individuals since it combines the acquired knowledge to assess the particular experience relating to the illness and it makes an attempt to have a better grip of the social structuring of the human health and disease state.
In the earlier section the two categories of sociological theories have been introduced namely social structural theory and interpretative theory. But it is essential to understand the sub-classification of these schools of thoughts so that it can be applied in the health and illness scenario.
The social structural approach includes perspectives namely the functional perspective of health and illness that emphasises on coordination and stability within society. E.g. Health becomes a necessity for smooth functioning of the society, and matrix perspective of health and illness that states that material production is the foundation of all human activities. E.g. The health outcome are influenced by production and economic scenario in communities (Giddens & Sutton, 2014).
The interpretative approach includes perspectives such as the symbolic interactionist perspective of health and illness that focuses on language and communication of individuals. E.g. A disease diagnosis can act as a label that influences the behaviour of others towards him, the social constructionist perspective of health and illness which states that facts are established through social interaction. E.g. Humans are able to sense their body and other bodily disturbances (Jones, Bradbury & Boutillier, 2013).
Thus the two key sociological schools of thoughts that have come into existence with the passage of time help to apply the concept to the health system so that a better analysis of the health conditions of individuals can be conducted so that the best possible methods can be used to treat the disease or ailment. Both the objective and subjective realities can be fused together and used so that the ultimate benefit is enjoyed.
The biomedical model offers a completely different view relating to the health and disease aspects as compared to the sociological models that have been highlighted in the previous section. The biomedical model of health focuses on an individual’s physical aspects, biological agents such as genes, risk factors, etc to determine the cause of an ailment in a human being (Heil, 2014).
The disease pattern that is exhibited at the absolute population level is justified and explained entirely on the basis of the reasons that appear on the individual level. It6 is vital to understand that the biomedical model is not incorrect but its focus limits its outlook since it only takes into account the individual agents such as disease vectors, genes, individual persons and their specific behaviour (Kellahear, 1990).
The model does not emphasise on the environmental and contextual aspect while analysing health and illness of an individual which plays a significant role in the health situation. Thus it can be stated that this perspective adds value in the clinical practice and research layout but it has major limitations in terms of targeting the social determinants of health.
The social determinants of health approach takes into account the important social elements that come into play and have an impact on the health conditions of individuals. It includes the key elements that are active in the economical, social, political and psychological environment of an individual such as the economic opportunities and resources, living conditions, home and working environment, accessibility to medical care, personal behaviour, etc. (Schofield, 2015).
The social determinants of health can be understood from three different perspectives namely domain, level and pathway. Domain refers to the particular area that has an impact on the health and well being of a human being such as education, housing facility, socio-economic condition, food model, etc.
Level perspective comprises of the geographical scale of the particular domain that affect health like family, neighbourhood, community, city, etc. Pathway is the mechanism that is adopted by the individuals in the society to interact with the surrounding population at various levels (Van Krieken, 2000). The examples include exposure to hazards or toxins, discriminatory treatment, physical or mental trauma, poor access to proper healthcare services, etc.
The various schools of thoughts that exist relating to the health aspects highlight the fact that the social environment of an individual has a major role since it has on impact on the overall wellbeing of a person (Schofield, 2015). The environmental surrounding must be taken into consideration so that a holistic picture is presented which highlights the vital elements that have an impact on the health conditions of an individual.
Thus the healthcare practitioners must try to analyse the entire situation before examining the health of a patient and trying to determine the exact cause of an ailment. Sine no element functions on its own, it is essential for medical experts to take into account the various external factors that come into play and affect the health of a person (Van Krieken, 2000). This kind of an analysis will help them to identify the root cause of the disease so that the most suitable treatment can be provided to the patients. Thus the approach adopted by health practitioners must focus on the holistic picture so that the health issues can be identified in the best possible manner after considering the various sociological perspectives. This would help to create the most effective and healthy intervention techniques for people (Kellahear, 1990).
E.g. Suppose an individual is obese, a number of factors might be the reason for the overweight such as genes, inactive lifestyle, high junk food consumption, alcohol consumption, stress level, etc. Thus if the medical practitioners only focus on the biological factors, they will fail to understand the role of other elements that lead to the obesity of the person.
Conclusion
The highlighting point of the essay is the social elements that come into play and have an impact on the health conditions and overall well being of an individual. It is vital for healthcare professionals to adopt the social models of health along with the biomedical model so that they can get a clear idea on the health and disease condition of individuals. Since a number of perspectives exist, it is necessary to consider the individual state along with the external environment so that the right examination of a person’s can be conducted and accordingly the best treatment can be provided that suits the affected person. The professionals must try to identify the key social determinants of health since they play an active role to influence the overall health and well being of a person. Thus the various schools of thoughts that have come into existence actually have been created with the objective to improve the physical and psychological health of people by focusing on their individual and environmental factors.
References
Cockerham, W. C. (2014). The sociology of health in the United States: recent theoretical contributions. Ciencia & saude coletiva, 19(4), 1031-1039.
Cockerham, W.C (2007). Medical Sociology. In Medical Sociology (10th ed) (pp. 1-20). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:Pearson Prentice Hall.
Fox, N. J. (2016). Health sociology from post-structuralism to the new materialisms. Health:, 20(1), 62-74.
Germov, J (2014). Imagining Health Problems as Social Issues. In J. Germov (Ed.), Second Opinion; An Introduction to Health Sociology, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, pp.5-22
Germov, J (2014). Theorising Health: Major Theoretical Perspectives in Health Sociology. In J. Germov (Ed.), Second Opinion; An Introduction to Health Sociology, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, pp.23-39
Giddens, A., Sutton, P. (2014), Essential Concepts in Sociology, p 4-26, Polity,UK
Jones,P., Bradbury, L. Boutillier,S.(2013) Introducing Sociology Second Edition, Polity, pp1-103
Heil,D., (2014) Wellbeing and Wellness In J. Germov (Ed.), Second Opinion; An Introduction to Health Sociology,Melbourne: Oxford University Press, pp.23-39
Kellahear, A. (1990). What is Sociology and why study it? (Chapter One). In A Kellehear (Ed.), Every student’s guide to sociology: A quick and plain speaking introduction. South Melbourne: Thomas Nelson Australia.
Schofield, T (2015). A Sociological Approach to Health Determinants Cambridge University Press, Australia, pp16-32 and 53-55,
Van Krieken R. (2000). What is sociology? In Van Krieken,R., Smith,P ,Habibis,D., McDonald,K, Haralambos,M.,Holborn,M. (2000) Sociology: Themes and Perspectives (pp. 1-35). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W. Pearson Australia. link: https://ereadings.cdu.edu.au/view/cdu:20848
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