Sociology: Medicine and Ill Health Essay

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Unit 7: Sociological Perspectives for Health and Social Care
Sociological Approaches to Health and Social Care
P2
Feminist
Feminists believe there are gender inequalities in medicine, they think it’s dominated by men, e.g. medical professions. They think in regards to the contraceptive pill, there should also be one available for men as well but there is little interest in the drug industry to produce it.
Marxist
Marxists analyse the inequalities in health care. They think the proletariats have a higher mortality and morbidity rate than the Bourgeoisie. They think health professionals only ensure the people recover as soon as possible to help the economy. They also think health care services are only serving the needs of the employers not the service users. However they do feel the health care system provides a healthy workforce.
Interactionalist
Interactionalists look in to the interactions and behaviour of the individual to decide whether they are ill or not. They do this by thinking about how the illness affects the individual and the meaning. They also think about the relationship the doctor has with the service users of different groups and ages.
Concepts of health/ ill health
Health can mean the absence of disease or illness but according to the world health organisation (WHO), it can also mean the state of physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being. In holistic care they will address the needs of the service user not just the illness, these needs are; physical, emotional, intellectual, mental, spiritual and social. This is known as a holistic assessment.
“A person with complex needs, for example a young mother with multiple sclerosis, may be supported by a range of professionals. These would include a GP, a community nurse, an occupational therapist, a social worker and a health visitor.” (Stretch and Whitehouse, 2007. P352)
These health professionals will all carry out a holistic assessment to identify all the needs. Health could also be defined using these types; physical, functional and negative. Physical focuses on feeling fit and well. Functional looks into doing day to day tasks and negative defines health as being free from pain.
Ill health
Disability
According to sociologists, disability is a problem that only arises when society doesn’t take into account the needs of those who are impaired. For example, there may not be any ramps and the doorways are too narrow for wheelchairs. Disabling environment is often referred to as it means adaptions and facilities are not in place to ensure that people with impairments are included in society.

Impairment
Impairment looks into the individual and refers to the restrictions regarding day to day tasks. This may be because of physical condition such as the loss of a limb and a mental condition such depression.