Collectivism: View health and social care provision is also called “welfares” this views the state and or the government as having the main responsibility for giving care and welfare services in society and develops services and support to meet individuals needs unemployed individual’s and disabled people who have low incomes also children, elder individuals and individuals with mental problems would receive welfare support from government
The New Right: View the political more side of the philosophy than a sociological perspective it is associated with conservative political thinking mostly Thatcherism also the Republican Party in the USA the new right view has been influential when it is used by members of parliament to help suggest how society must be run instead explaining social processes or of understanding the structure of society. Individuals who use the New Right perspective argue that the government should avoid regulating individuals lives and start to promote and maybe allow individual freedom and liberty New Right viewers like argue that what they call “free market” will develop better solutions to social issues than government intervention.
P2: Explain different sociological approaches to health and ill health
The sociology of health and illness studies the interaction between society and health in particular; sociologists examine how social life impacts mobility and morbidity rates and how it has its impact of society. This discipline also looks at health and illness in relation to social intuitions such as the family, work, school and religion as well as the causes of disease and illness reasons for seeking particular types of care and patient compliance and noncompliance. The sociology of health and illness requires a global approach of analysis because the influence of global approach of analysis because the influence of societal factors varies throughout the world. Disease are examined and compared based on the traditional medicine, economic, religion and culture that are specific to each region e.g.: HIV/Aids serves as a common basis of comparison among regions while it is extremely problematic in certain areas in others it has affected a relatively small percentage of the population sociological factors can help to explain why these issues exist. There are clear differences in patterns of health and illness across societies over time and or within some society types. There has always been a long term decline mortality within societies life expectations are considerably higher in development societies. Patterns of global change in health and care systems make it more important to research and understand the sociology of health and illness continuous changes in the economy, technology, therapy and insurance can affect the way individual view and respond to the medical care available. Advancing information is important because as patterns evolve the study of the sociology of health and ill health constantly needs to be updated there are many different approaches to health and ill health in sociology that include functionalism, Marxism, feminism and interactionism.
Marxism and positive concept of health: A positive concept towards health and illness could be defined as believing that being healthy is state which is achieved through continual effort people with this approach believe that by taking regular exercise through their choice of food and by looking after their bodies will keep them well. Generally people with a positive approach to health believe that they are responsible for their own health if a person with positive attitude becomes ill they are likely to blame themselves if they develop symptoms of an illness. The positive concept of health related more easily with Marxism because they may explain shorter life expectancy and the comparatively higher rate of ill health among the poor as a consequence of the inequalities in society. The poor they would say it would be more likely to have unhealthy diets live in damp house and live in area where the impacts of unemployment and environment pollution are highest. The reason positive concept of health related to Marxism is that the positive view of health also incorporates the idea that health maybe commodity that can be supplied by e.g.: buying healthy food products. Marxist emphasize that this is only likely to be the case amongst people who are able to afford these things. Marxist consider things like living in a good area being educated about health affording good product when they are talking about health and this thing is more likely to be related to positive concept of health.
Functionalist concept of health: Approach to considering health and illness comes from the work of Talcott Parsons he described how for society to function efficiently functionalists argue that a free healthcare system would remove the pressure of providing or funding healthcare from the family therefore leaving it to focus on its key functions of primary socialisation of the adult personality. They may also argue that as each institution has a positive impact for society and its individual members then healthcare systems must be positive. In the 1950’s Parsons was one of the 1st sociologists to focus on illness in attempt that functionalism could completely describe society as functionalism says that all social actions have function and whether that effective or not to maintain their normal social role. Therefore Parson Illness is to view it as a form of deviance therefore those who are ill should be treated as those with any other deviance and need to be helped or forced into returning to their social role. As a result of this Parsons suggested the idea of the sick role the idea behind this being that illness is a social concept rather than a biological one which means that people act in different and deviant ways and is therefore a social role.
Feminist concepts of health: Focus on the inequalities between and women in healthcare professions they also point to the lack of power that women have in their relationships with healthcare professional’s Marxist feminist like Marxist would say that healthcare ensures that capitalism has a healthy work force and therefore works to help understand capitalism. They would also say that healthcare helps with the production of the next generation of workers through maternal care. Radical feminist argue that medicine has historically been used to control women medicine has also created the view that women are “naturally” frailer than men and therefore should not exhaust themselves with activities such as higher education and sports.
Holistic concept of health: Looks at the individual as a whole to be healthy means considering the whole person their physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual well being understand how these aspects function within their environment and social relationships. Practitioner’s need to understand the whole person their values, priorities, environment as well as their physical and mental wellbeing they need to consider all aspects of an individual’s life in order for them to cope with illness and disease. Functionalist believes we need many different parts of society to maintain a stable society the holistic approach is about the same thing too all parts of the body are needed to maintain a health. Postmodernism view society is always changing and it is hard to pin down what makes a stable society the holistic view is similar as it sees health as something that can change holistic view of weather we are healthy changes all the time with new treatments and disorders that are arising through research.
P3: Explain patterns and trends in health and illness among different social groupings
Epidemiology is the study of how illness and diseases are spread through the society this is vital as it provides the scientific base for examine health statistical data is used to explain the patterns and trends in health and illness among different social categories such as gender, social class, ethnicity, age and geographical location the information collected helps researches in finding the root cause of illness and diseases. However measuring health can be different as there can be various definitions of health and the concepts of the clinical ice berg which can paint a focus picture of health in the chosen community.
Gender: It is commonly known and proven that the life expectancy of women is higher than men studies continuously show that the levels of illness for women than for men the social factors that may contribute to the differences can be unidentified as risk factors or economic factors or economic inequalities. Risk factors can relate to the high death rates of men which may be linked with the high levels of binge drinking or smoking including men participating in risky and dangerous activities also males between the ages of 17 and 24 also have a high death rate this might be due to deaths associated with road accidents or similar activities. Economic inequalities relates to females being treated unequal to most males the most in equal treatment of females in the working society is that a higher proportion of women than men are in low paid part time and full time work also women are most likely to be main carer of in a lone parent family this results that the women may not be entitled an employer’s pension because of the family responsibilities.
Ethnicity: Studying the relationships between ethnicity and illness is difficult this is because it is difficult in defining one own radical type as there is an increase of those who may be mixed race a majority of ethnic groups that may reside in inner city cares which is located with poor housing, pollution and high rates of unemployment meaning that it is a difficult to understand whether the poor health and the arise on illness is due to poverty or ethnicity there are also varies reasons to poor health and they are factors that may contribute to this due to ethnicity problems e.g.: language can be a barrier limiting the full use of the health services also in the Asian community women are hesitant in being examined by a man doctor this can be a barrier improving the patients health carers may take own responsibility in understanding and acknowledging the religious, cultural beliefs and patients care needs may not be fully met meaning that the individual is at risk of ill health
Social Class: Is essential when reading the pattern of health and illness as it can identify those with longer life expectancy as it can identify those with longer life expectancy as it can vary according to social groups The Black Report by Townsend at (1980) is very powerful study in the modern health the study clearly provides explanations based on the relationship between the social and environment factors in regards to health and illness while focusing on the life expectancy. The study has also showed significant evidence of those individuals in the upper social class as having a longer life expectancy and having better health than those in the lower social group. The Black Report showed 4 main types of explanations that may explain the differences in the levels of illness and life expectancy which may be experienced by different social groups many tourist were caused by the individual financial state and one living conditions The Black Report explained the 4 possible sociological differences which were the statistical artefact, natural or the social selection, cultural or behavioural including material and structural explanations.
Age: The patterns of health and illness and tend to be true among the older generations as they illustrate that individuals over the age of 75 have a high rate of illness in 2003 during a 3 month period it showed that 24% of patients aged 75 would have attended causality and the outpatient department in comparison with 14% of all other individuals in a different age group. Stating from 1 in 20 people over the age of 65 and 1 in 5 people over the age of 80 suffered from dementia.
Geographical Location: Health and illness can be on the regional variations the morbidity rates certainly change in different parts of the state and also the surrounding cities and town within that particular country. Morbidity rate is the proportion of individuals who suffer from a particular disease and morbidity rate is the proportion of individuals who suffer from a particular disease and morbiaty rate is the is the proportion of people who may die from disease. The recordings show and prove the cities are meaning that they will be high levels of ill health and varies disease that might be due to the lack of health education or the failure of government policies and procedures.
M1: Assess the biomedical and socio-medical models of health
Martin is 43 years old had has been working as a builder for the past 18 years. He recently had an accident in which he fell from a ladder and suffered a broken leg as well as multiple internal injuries. As a result, his doctor has stated that he cannot return to work. This has caused Martin to lose his job as his confidence and self-esteem. Martin has turned to drinking large amount of alcohol and smoking cigarettes as a way of coping with his job loss.
His wife Angela works as a domestic cleaner and suffers from anxiety and depression. The family live in a two bedroom flat on a local estate which is known for having a high crime rate; the flat is damp and very cold in the winter.
Angela is finding it difficult to cope with her long hours at work and is now suffering from asthma and bronchitis, which she developed from living in the damp flat. She is also suffering from anxiety and depression. She recently went to see her doctor and he has prescribed her stronger medications that he said would “help her to cope with all the demands that she is facing.
Biomedical model of health is approach which eliminates psychological and social factors such as the environment but only comprises biological issues in trying to recognize or understand an individual’s medical illness/disorder the biomedical model of health looks upon treatment in expression of changing the body by medical intervention forms. Also this model seeks to look at what is wrong and fix that part of the individual as it focuses on illness strengths of Bio-medical model of health one of the strengths is that it gives attention at an individual health and illness but with more concentration on individual’s illness or ill health. This model looks at treating disease and illness can be treated by medical involvement e.g.: using the biomedical model of health for Angela suffering from depression anxiety, asthma and bronchitis and Martin suffering from injuries would be given or prescribed medicine/tablets to create better feeling for them or that will make them feel better. The Biomedical model health is used in all countries and with it intervention the service users benefit from it another strength of this model is that it pulls all the focus on the treating and managing the illness which then benefits. Additionally this model of health is effective/successful in treating and diagnosing illnesses or diseases weaknesses of biomedical of health in weaknesses of the biomedical model of health is that it can be very expensive for some individuals and this model does not focus on illness or disease prevention so people might get ill again or even different illnesses. The other disadvantages of the bio-medical model health care
Very costly
Does not focus on prevention of diseases
The sick may not benefit from it
Focuses on treatment and management of the healthy
There will be no immediate benefits
The socio-medical model of health focuses on the social factors that contribute to health and wellbeing in society when this model considerers social factors it particularly looks at the impact of poverty, poor housing, diet and pollution e.g.: poor housing more or likely are causes to respiratory problems like Angela’s asthma and bronchitis and in response to these causes and origins of ill health the socio-medical model aims to encourage society to include better housing and introduce programmes too intake poverty as solution. The Who Health Organisation argues that health refers to the complete well-being of an individual physical, emotional and mental state with absence of any disease medicine refers to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease although medicine has become popular and extremely effective it consist of emphasising health habits that allow prevent disease such as eating a healthy hygienic diet, getting adequate exercise also ensuring a safe environment. This could service of progress with Martin and Angela case study as she has depression and anxiety and Martin would therefore probably won’t be getting adequate exercise and he smokes which in itself is negative to health. The GP that she spoke to may identify the prevention such as relaxing, eating better and undertaking exercise and living in a safer accommodation would be more effective than the treatment Angela may have been expecting.
M2: Use different sociological perspectives to discuss patterns and trends of health and illness in 2 different social groups
Black Report (1980): It had included different facts about how health can be improved from all different backgrounds in different social groupings there is still a co relation between social class and infant mortality rates life expectancy and inequalities in the use of medical services. This was an important piece of research this report looked at the difference between health and illness sociologists from this very day still use The Black Report to look at inequalities of health because it was that significant and influential. It also focused on people; lifestyle, environment and where they lived there are 4 different explanations which are
Statistical artefact
Cultural and behaviour
Material or structural
Natural or social
Different researches do believe that there is a link between social classes and also it has been argued that there isn’t really a pattern in social class, age and people’s health inequalities.
Statistical Artefact: This shows how different systems have been used and measured lower class have a much higher morbidity rate which are compared the higher class that only work in offices and call centres. Researchers have found that age and employment have to be taken in to account because there is still a link that has been found that shows social class that have higher levels or mortality and morbidity rates.
Natural Social Selection: The explanation claims that class does not cause illness but ill health can have an impact because of social class people who are fit and healthy are likely to become more successful in their life and can also go in to the higher class category. There is some good evidence for this and it does appear to make sense e.g.: an individual who is chronically sick or disabled may move down the social scale they are unable to either find employment or are under-employed. However studies have found that if the health of those people who have not moved their social class position is examined the health difference remains.
Material/Structural: The social conditions and context that affect the health and life changes of individuals such as poverty bad housing, environment conditions many people in ethnic communities experience these in addition to the other cultural implications of health and illness. Unemployment is linked to health status and risk, ethnic minorities more likely to be unemployed or in low status job where there may be more chance of accident or accounting hazardous substances or conditions. Housing is crucial ethnicity is linked with poor housing and therefore increased health risked there are fewer home owners in the same social class than white home owners and more in social housing.
Artefact: This suggests that social class is more important than ethnicity is explain inequalities since the ethnic minority is likely to be poorer however this has problem because it tends to aggregate a number of other varieties such as gender patterns are produced because of the way the researcher gathered the data. Artefact explanations seek to account for inequalities in health as a construct of measurement process The Black Report believed that the artefact explanation was unimportant for the persistence of class inequalities in health.
Cultural/Behavioural Explanations: This explanation says that a person individual lifestyle is the major factor when it comes down to their health being ill maybe linked to lack of exercise, poor diet, smoking or drinking. Evidence states that the working class is more likely to be involved in risky behaviours like smoking and drinking especially males. They also have a poor diet by not eating healthy enough and consuming more food which is high in fat, sugar, salt and junk food. A lack of exercise is also included these lifestyles are linked to illness such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and chest conditions.
D1: Evaluate different sociological explanations for patterns and trends of health and illness in 2 different social groups
Chances of becoming ill and dying are linked to several factors which include social class, gender, age and ethnicity the social groups I have chosen to compare are social class and gender I will talk about how social groups affect health issues and explain the sociological perspectives and the patterns and trends.
Social Class and patterns of health and illness: Is the ranking of people based on their occupation, education. Income and manners it is said that the higher your social class the healthier you are poverty and inequality in society have effects on the social, physical and mental wellbeing of an individual these 2 factors are closely linked the infant mortality rate (IMR) for children born to poor parents are higher than that of a child born to rich parents people from a higher social class are much less likely to die of conditions such as cancer, heart disease and stroke and also tend to live longer compared to others. The Black Report which was introduced in 1980 examined the health differences of people by dividing the population into 5 social classes and provides information on how social and environmental factors of health and illness and life expectancy are linked to one another. This graph shows that manual workers die earlier compared to others that manual workers die earlier compared to others the males have a shorter lifespan compared to the females in all categories. Over the last century the health has improved steadily however the link between the nature of people jobs and their life expectancy is still there. From 1997 till 1999 life expectancy in England and Wales for males born in the professional category was 7.4 years more than for those born in the unskilled manual categories this gap was smaller for women 5.7 years “There is overwhelming evidence that standards of health the incidence of ill health or morbidity and life expectancy vary according to social groups in our society especially to social class” (Stretch B 2007 Pg361). The reason for this is that the high social classes can afford private healthcare their level of income is also much higher which then also results in a better lifestyle and housing people who were in poorly paid jobs meant they had poor housing and less money to provide nutritious food, heating, medicine and general healthcare.
Gender and patterns of health and illness: In almost all countries men have a shorter lifespan compared to women it has been shown by research that females averagely live up to the age of 81 while males up to 76 in general the overall life expectancy for both genders continues to increase like it has been doing for the past 30 years. In England and Wales in 2002 the gap between men’s and women life expectancy had reduced to 4.5 years from 6.4 years on 1974 this was due the decline in smoking and excess drinking of alcohol women are however more likely to visit the doctor go to a hospital have operations had have days off sick from work. They also tend to take more medication and are more likely to admit that they suffer from an illness or condition. Feminist argue that women suffer from the overload of being responsible for their paid work, their housework, taking care of the children and having to deal with emotional issues within the family. This is called the triple shift this can result in women suffering from mental conditions such as depression, anxiety and stress not receiving enough support from their partner or the extended family can lead to physical and mental health problems another thing is that women are much more likely to suffer from poverty compared to men due to single parenthood and not earning enough money. Poverty is a factor which can affect health as well due to it resulting in a lack of healthy food living in a cold and damp house or lack of money for exercise all these factors women still manage to live longer than men many reasons including the fact that women are more likely to seek medical help can be the reason for this. Men also tend to drink and smoke more and exercise less women tends to be much more aware of health issues. Men also tend to work in more hazardous environments as their occupation like construction and factory work which can be dangerous for their health men tend to be more hazardous environment as their health. Men tend to be more risky by driving fast and taking part in dangerous sports. Over 35,000 men in the UK have been diagnosed with HIV/Aids men are also increasly becoming obese and overweight. In 2002 47% of all men were overweight and 21% were obese compared to 15% in 1994 this trend is more common among the manual, semi-skilled, unskilled and unemployed men who are also linked to poorer diets and a lack of exercise. Men are also much prone to suffering and dying from heart diseases, bronchitis, lung cancer and accidents or other violent deaths. Between Women however breast cancer is very common cause of death between aged under 65 in the UK they are also much more likely to use health care facilities and tend to look after themselves more than men by e.g.: regularly visiting the dentist for a simple check-up.
Genetic Explanation Nature: One of the keys is the genetic explanations that women suffer from ill health due to biological differences women often need to consult doctors about pregnancy, menstruation, menopause and contraception where as men tend to suffer and die from heart disease till at least the age of 50
The Artefact Explanation: This explanation looks at the statistics which are constructed so due to the role women have in a family they are more likely to be contact with health services compared to men however this does not mean they are less healthy than men
The Behavioural or Cultural Explanation: This explanation shows that men are likely to die earlier in general due to them being more involved in risk taking behaviour which includes violence and are careless about their habits and diet men also tend to smoke and drink more alcohol then women
Materialistic or Structural Explanation: This view is more focused on structural factors which affect the health of both genders it states that the differences in rates of mortality and in both genders are results of their different roles in society their positions and experiences e.g.: most women just accept the responsibility of having to look after the children the health of the others in the family. A lot of feminist writers argue on the gender inequalities like poor pay and more exposure of poverty and poor housing mostly between single mothers these are the materialistic issues which are the focus of the feminist ideas. Men however work more in hazardous environments such as mining, construction industry, fishing, militaries, factories which use heavy machinery.