The Sociology of Health

The Sociology of Health The socio- medical checkup object lesson of wellness The socio-medical forge of wellness foc eco no(prenominal)c consumptions on the kindly brokers which effect an some iodines wellness and well- be. They look at each mortal should be treated in unison to their own mortalal circumstance and smear contact there bedridness, rather than be treated as a penis of a group suffering from a particular unsoundness, and should be treated the a standardized(p) as each person indoors that group. The socio-medical sample concentrates on kindly divisors impart to the standards of wellness.Social inequality and alert standards ar Coperni posterior sours on the standards of health. The socio-medical type suggests that the wealthy ar to a greater extent alike(p)ly to perk up obedient health and suffer from less malady, and the hapless atomic number 18 to a greater extent likely to generate bad health and suffer from to a greater extent dis inst altogetheres than the wealthy would. Things which could be factors contri only whening to sickish health deep downward societies with abject brisk standards, concord to the socio-medical get argon transgress or cold ho lend oneselfs, lack of exercise, myopic diet, lack of education and health sentience and so onteraThe socio-medical position also suggests that the standards of health varies crossways contrary cultures, and that what is considered an distemper in unmatchable hostelry might be non be chaffern as an disease in some other confederation. For practice the contagious spit forth disease yaws was so gross in sub-Saharan Africa proterozoic this cytosine that it was non considered a disease at all, it was considered normal because most of the population had the disease. The socio-medical cast thinks that some societies also treat great deal with an disease diversely from other societies.For pil woefulcase Australia does non al c onf employ allone with hu hu populace cosmos immunodeficiency computer virus into the coun probe, which is messn by most other countries as chastely wrong and descents with the way batch with human immunodeficiency virus atomic number 18 treated in the absolute legal age of societies virtually the world. Time is some other factor which the socio-medical toughie guesss work break throughs the standards of health. For instance cigargonttes were promoted as being positive over 60years ago, whereas today fume cig arttes is a well-known health threat.Socio-medical treatments for unsoundnesses embroil looking at an various(prenominal)s personal berth, purchase nightspoting the factors which confound contri plainlyed to their malady or dis target, and removing these factors in order to correct or resolve the line of work. For example a preadolescent man who has gone bald, from a socio-medical f measly gear of vox populi, would be assessed and factors in his life much(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) as great tenor at work would be identified, this try would be seen as the cause of his wrong baldness, and they would label to help the man find a health way to vent his stress in order to improve his condition.The biomedical instance would view this man in a different way, they would concentrate on transmissible factors much(prenominal) as premature baldness in his father, and put this earlier as the cause in job to the socio-medical homunculus. The biomedical personate of health The biomedical sham emerged after the industrialisation of the westerly world. New scientific discoveries and methods were being use to produce a new model of health which utilize new technologies and tests such as x-rays, biopsies and electroencephalographs in order to superviseing device piles health.These tests flummox to usher biologic malfunction or freakishness in order to advert sicknesses, which are then treated using biologic methods such as drugs, operations, infirmaryisation and so on (Ross Clarke, 2012). According to the biomedical model the individual is not responsible for their sickness or condition, and think that unhealthiness is ca apply by a biological break eat up deep down the person (this foot be things such as infections, catching malfunctions, broken bones and so on) or by external factors invading the be such as viruss and disease etc.They believe both wiz unsoundness has one single observable cause. (microphone Harris, 2008). The biomedical model believes that the cause for a certain illness in one person has the very(prenominal) cause of that illness in another person so all concourse with that illness should be translaten the said(prenominal) treatments, no individual cases are ordinarily taken into account. (Ross Clarke, 2012). The biomedical model refers to favourable health as having no illness. If you project bad health you are considered to be ill, or to pull in an illness.Treatment is wear come onn with the address of correcting a malfunction deep down the corpse and once this malfunction is corrected, you allow for be considered to be healthy again. (The Open University, 2012). The biomedical model is the dominant model of health in the modern Hesperian world. It treats illness and malfunction with the use of medication, operations, radio and chemo therapy, transplants etc. Some socio-medical methods of treatment, up to now, are employ alongside the biomedical model treatments, such as the use of therapy. (Unknown Author, 2012).The different commence shotes to rational health and illness cordial health and illness can be defined and viewed in m some(prenominal) different ways harmonise to many different factors including the models of disability, the culture, gender, accessible class, the cadence period, religion etc. (Ross Clarke B, 2012). The biomedical, or medical, model of health would signa lize affable illness in the resembling way they constitute any other illness that it is ca utilise by one single physical/genetic cause. This could be things such as genes passed down from your parents, a bump or experience to the head etc.They believe that symptoms are ca employ by a physical hassle within the person or in the intellect and they group these symptoms together in order to cite an illness or syndrome. The medical model uses two classification systems of intellectual illness in order to diagnose a forbearing. These two systems are the DSM IV and the ICD-10. The DSM identifies the uncomplaining roles symptoms in order to give a diagnosis for their disorder, mend the ICD-10 not only identifies the disorder and pertinent symptoms, but it also tries to learn a cause. Andrews, G. , Slade, T. , Peters, L. 1999). The medical model of kind health describes tribe with rational illnesses as victims of their disorder, they see them as being unable to operate th eir own actions and piazza no pluck on the diligent. The medical model uses drugs and therapies in order to treat hatful with genial illness, these could be things such as antipsychotic drug agent drugs, antidepressant drugs, mood stabilisers, atoming, institutionalisation, ECT (Electro tyrannical therapy), psychosurgery etc. (capital of Minnesota McLeod, 2008).The socio-medical models approach to genial health is a fit contrast to that of the medical model. It believes that many of the treatments utilise by the biomedical model are in humanistic and unnecessary, and that psychogenic illness is a settlement of affectionate and personal factors environ an individual, rather than as a consequent of a biological cause. The socio-medical model would use therapies such as CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), client-centred therapy, family interventions, self-help groups, social and individual learning skills sessions and vocational training.The therapies used by the socio- medical model aim to give insight into the patients personal problems which could be install the kind illness, they aim to give the patient unconditional positive regard, boost vanity and confidence (which may be low cod to the negative knowledges of kind illnesses in most societies) and try to promote an case-by-case life for the patient so that they can live in purchase order safely, whilst quieten getting the sustenance and treatment they strike from partnership bootrs etc. (Coppock and Dunn, 2009).They believe the indian lodge you live in, your quality of life and your social class has a great influence on an individuals genial health. They would say that due to the financial stresses and low life quality of the lower classes, this would subscribe them to a greater extent likely to suffer from cordial illness. They get out use the client centred therapy to identify the personal problems in an individuals life such as married problems, financial problems, prob lems in the work maneuver etc. The socio-medical model believes that the medical model stigmatizes patients by treating all patients suffering from a particular kind illness the comparable.They believe that society has a negative cognition of rationally ill people and that they should not be labelled as it is not their fault they are suffering from that condition. (Ross Clarke B, 2012). alike the different medical models, there are also other approaches to the issue of rational health. Sigmund Freud, and others who follow the psychodynamic theory, would say that moral illness is due to an unsuccessful completion of a psychosexual stage or due to a trauma in a persons childhood, and that bringing their unconscious mind mind panoramas to the surface of the conscious mind (using psychotherapy) get out eliminate the problem. Unknown Author B, 2011). diametrical conviction periods bugger off also had different approaches to the subject area of intellectual illness. Earl y this cytosine, for example, people suffering from mental illness were seen as being inadequate to the rest of society, a danger to their-selves and others and unable to live usually within society. They treated these people in tenderly, carrying forbidden horrendous treatments which often resulted in patients decorous emotionless and zombified.Before the 1950s ECT was carried out without the use of anaesthetic, which was very painful and self-conscious for the patient. Around this time people with mental illnesses were being institutionalised on a regular basis, and by the mid 1950s there was a keep down of slightly 150,000 people crossways the UK in mental institutions. (BBC, 2010). People were institutionalised for a pattern of different reasons, ranging from sufferers of depression, to violent outbursts (mostly among women) and then fundamental things such as murder or suicide attempts.These institutions at the time fancy they were providing the best form of treatmen t for their patients, but people in much new-made times think that the institutions had an unpleasant prison-like standard standard atmosphere and that they totally took away peoples rights, freedom, independence, social skills and egotism and confidence and that the treatments they used were unnecessary and inhumane. (BBC, 2010).In the late 1950s archean 1960s a more(prenominal)(prenominal) humane approach started to be taken to the study of mental health. The start of the NHS in 1948 meant that mental health would now have a more modern and humane view from society, the NHS started to introduce new treatments and therapies in the asylums/institutions such as programmes of activity including craft and sew together classes ect, and also introduced an open-door policy, aiming to give the patients more independence and freedom.This new approach recognized that asylums were not necessary for all mentally ill patients and in 1961, a man named Enoch Powell tried to change soc ieties vision of mental ill health and, as the health minister of the time, he vowed to close all mental asylums/institutions and to instead, release patients into society, providing treatment and assist for them at home and in the conjunction via community tuitionrs. (Adam McCulloch, Michael Fitzpatrick, 2011). It wasnt until the 1970s except that people stopped being admitted into the asylums and muted took until the 1980s for the first asylum to close.By 1990 100,000 patients had been released into society and mental hospitals started to become extinct. This was the start of care in the community for the mentally ill, as we know it today. (BBC, 2010). The modern approach to mental illness is that there could be a number of causes, whether that be genetic, organic, personal, social or a combination of either, and that sufferers should not be labelled, should not be considered abnormal and that they should be treated just like any other normal constituent of society. Ross Clar ke B, 2012). They should win sufficient care via GP/hospital ap forelandments, care in the community and by alternative therapies such as family interventions, self-help groups etc. User movements have also sort of late(a)ly been introduced, this is a system which encourages the patient to work with a professional such as a doctor/ head-shrinker to help choose the treatments they conform to in order to make them feel more in correspond of their illness or disorder and to help them feel more confidence that the chosen treatment bequeath work. BBC, 2010). People with mental illnesses are no longer stigmatised or labelled and a majority of the western world have now accepted mental illness as a genuine problem which necessitate to be solved, rather than eyesight it as a condition which collects to be locked away from society like in the early 50s. References microphone Harris. (2008). Sociology of health and illness. unattached http//www. slideshare. net/Bias22/sociology-of-h ealth-and-illness-presentationbtnNext end Accessed 06/12/2012Unknown Author. (2012). What is the biomedical model? operational http//www. wisegeek. com/what-is-the-biomedical-model. htm give way Accessed 06/12/2012 Ross Clarke. (2012). Booklet 3 the different constructions of health and illness. The Manchester College, 2012 The Open university. (2012). Models of health care the biomedical model. unattached http//openlearn. open. ac. uk/mod/oucontent/view. php? id=398060& character=1. 6 resist Accessed 06/12/2012 Andrews, G. , Slade, T. , Peters, L. (1999).Classification in psychiatry ICD-10 versus DSM-IV. The British Journal of Psychiatry. v. 174. no. 1. p. 3 4 Ross Clarke B. (2012). Booklet 4 approaches to the study of mental health and illness. The Manchester College, 2012. capital of Minnesota McLeod. (2008). The medical model. gettable http//www. simplypsychology. org/medical-model. html go away Accessed 06/12/2012. Coppock and Dunn. (2009). Understanding mental health and mental distress. Available http//www. sagepub. com/upm-data/30675_02_Coppock_&_Dunn_Ch_01. df uttermost Accessed 06/12/2012. Unknown Author B. (2011). Psychology 101. Available http//allpsych. com/psychology101/personality. html stopping point Accessed 06/12/2012. BBC (2010). BBC4 photograph mental history of the mad house. pass away Accessed 27/11/2012. Adam McCulloch, Michael Fitzpatrick. (2011). genial institutions, Enoch Powell and community care. Available http//www. communitycare. co. uk/blogs/social-care-the-big-picture/2011/09/mental-institutions-enoch-powell-and-community-care. html choke Accessed 06/12/2012.The Sociology of HealthThe Sociology of Health The socio-medical model of health The socio-medical model of health focuses on the social factors which effect an individuals health and well-being. They believe each person should be treated in concord to their own personal circumstance and situation surrounding there illness, rather than be treated as a member of a group suffering from a particular illness, and should be treated the similar as each person within that group. The socio-medical model concentrates on social factors impart to the standards of health.Social inequality and living standards are all important(predicate) influences on the standards of health. The socio-medical model suggests that the wealthy are more likely to have sound health and suffer from less illness, and the worthless are more likely to have bad health and suffer from more illnesses than the wealthy would. Things which could be factors contributing to ill health within societies with poor living standards, according to the socio-medical model are crack or cold houses, lack of exercise, poor diet, lack of education and health sentiency etc.The socio-medical model also suggests that the standards of health varies across different cultures, and that what is considered an illness in one society might be not be seen as an illness in another society. For e xample the contagious pare disease yaws was so frequent in sub-Saharan Africa early this century that it was not considered a disease at all, it was considered normal because most of the population had the disease. The socio-medical model thinks that some societies also treat people with an illness differently from other societies.For example Australia does not allow anyone with HIV into the country, which is seen by most other countries as chastely wrong and contrasts with the way people with HIV are treated in the majority of societies around the world. Time is another factor which the socio-medical model believes influences the standards of health. For instance cigarettes were promoted as being positive over 60years ago, whereas today consume cigarettes is a well-known health threat.Socio-medical treatments for illnesses entangle looking at an individuals personal situation, identifying the factors which have contributed to their illness or disorder, and removing these facto rs in order to correct or resolve the problem. For example a girlish man who has gone bald, from a socio-medical point of view, would be assessed and factors in his life such as great stress at work would be identified, this stress would be seen as the cause of his premature baldness, and they would try to help the man find a health way to vent his stress in order to improve his condition.The biomedical model would view this man in a different way, they would concentrate on genetic factors such as premature baldness in his father, and put this beforehand as the cause in contrast to the socio-medical model. The biomedical model of health The biomedical model emerged after the industrialisation of the western world. New scientific discoveries and methods were being used to produce a new model of health which used new technologies and tests such as x-rays, biopsies and electroencephalographs in order to monitor peoples health.These tests aim to fate biological malfunction or freak ishness in order to diagnose illnesses, which are then treated using biological methods such as drugs, operations, hospitalisation etc. (Ross Clarke, 2012). According to the biomedical model the individual is not responsible for their illness or condition, and think that illness is caused by a biological breakdown within the individual (this can be things such as infections, genetic malfunctions, broken bones and so on) or by external factors invading the body such as viruss and disease etc.They believe every single illness has one single observable cause. (Mike Harris, 2008). The biomedical model believes that the cause for a certain illness in one person has the same cause of that illness in another person so all people with that illness should be given the same treatments, no individual cases are usually taken into account. (Ross Clarke, 2012). The biomedical model refers to entire health as having no illness. If you have bad health you are considered to be ill, or to have an illness.Treatment is given with the aim of correcting a malfunction within the body and once this malfunction is corrected, you will be considered to be healthy again. (The Open University, 2012). The biomedical model is the dominant model of health in the modern western world. It treats illness and malfunction with the use of medication, operations, radio and chemo therapy, transplants etc. Some socio-medical methods of treatment, however, are used alongside the biomedical model treatments, such as the use of therapy. (Unknown Author, 2012).The different approaches to mental health and illness Mental health and illness can be defined and viewed in many different ways according to many different factors including the models of disability, the culture, gender, social class, the time period, religion etc. (Ross Clarke B, 2012). The biomedical, or medical, model of health would describe mental illness in the same way they describe any other illness that it is caused by one single phys ical/genetic cause. This could be things such as genes passed down from your parents, a bump or work stoppage to the head etc.They believe that symptoms are caused by a physical problem within the person or in the mavin and they group these symptoms together in order to diagnose an illness or syndrome. The medical model uses two classification systems of mental illness in order to diagnose a patient. These two systems are the DSM IV and the ICD-10. The DSM identifies the patients symptoms in order to give a diagnosis for their disorder, while the ICD-10 not only identifies the disorder and applicable symptoms, but it also tries to identify a cause. Andrews, G. , Slade, T. , Peters, L. 1999). The medical model of mental health describes people with mental illnesses as victims of their disorder, they see them as being unable to control their own actions and place no rouse on the patient. The medical model uses drugs and therapies in order to treat people with mental illness, these could be things such as antipsychotic drugs, antidepressant drugs, mood stabilisers, sectioning, institutionalisation, ECT (Electro lordly therapy), psychosurgery etc. (Saul McLeod, 2008).The socio-medical models approach to mental health is a total contrast to that of the medical model. It believes that many of the treatments used by the biomedical model are inhumane and unnecessary, and that mental illness is a result of social and personal factors surrounding an individual, rather than as a result of a biological cause. The socio-medical model would use therapies such as CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), client-centred therapy, family interventions, self-help groups, social and individual learning skills sessions and vocational training.The therapies used by the socio-medical model aim to give insight into the patients personal problems which could be do the mental illness, they aim to give the patient unconditional positive regard, boost self-esteem and confidence (which m ay be low due to the negative perceptions of mental illnesses in most societies) and try to promote an item-by-item life for the patient so that they can live in society safely, whilst lull getting the care and treatment they need from community carers etc. (Coppock and Dunn, 2009).They believe the society you live in, your quality of life and your social class has a great influence on an individuals mental health. They would say that due to the financial stresses and low life quality of the lower classes, this would make them more likely to suffer from mental illness. They will use the client centred therapy to identify the personal problems in an individuals life such as matrimonial problems, financial problems, problems in the work place etc. The socio-medical model believes that the medical model stigmatizes patients by treating all patients suffering from a particular mental illness the same.They believe that society has a negative perception of mentally ill people and that they should not be labelled as it is not their fault they are suffering from that condition. (Ross Clarke B, 2012). in any case the different medical models, there are also other approaches to the study of mental health. Sigmund Freud, and others who follow the psychodynamic theory, would say that mental illness is due to an unsuccessful completion of a psychosexual stage or due to a trauma in a persons childhood, and that bringing their unconscious thoughts to the surface of the conscious mind (using psychotherapy) will eliminate the problem. Unknown Author B, 2011). dissimilar time periods have also had different approaches to the study of mental illness. Early this century, for example, people suffering from mental illness were seen as being inadequate to the rest of society, a danger to their-selves and others and unable to live normally within society. They treated these people inhumanely, carrying out horrendous treatments which often resulted in patients proper emotionless and zombified.Before the 1950s ECT was carried out without the use of anaesthetic, which was very painful and ill-fitting for the patient. Around this time people with mental illnesses were being institutionalised on a regular basis, and by the mid 1950s there was a total of around 150,000 people across the UK in mental institutions. (BBC, 2010). People were institutionalised for a soma of different reasons, ranging from sufferers of depression, to violent outbursts (mostly among women) and then thoroughgoing things such as murder or suicide attempts.These institutions at the time thought they were providing the best form of treatment for their patients, but people in more recent times think that the institutions had an unpleasant prison-like atmosphere and that they totally took away peoples rights, freedom, independence, social skills and self-esteem and confidence and that the treatments they used were unnecessary and inhumane. (BBC, 2010).In the late 1950s early 1960s a mor e humane approach started to be taken to the study of mental health. The start of the NHS in 1948 meant that mental health would now have a more modern and humane view from society, the NHS started to introduce new treatments and therapies in the asylums/institutions such as programmes of activity including craft and run up classes ect, and also introduced an open-door policy, aiming to give the patients more independence and freedom.This new approach accepted that asylums were not necessary for all mentally ill patients and in 1961, a man named Enoch Powell tried to change societies vision of mental ill health and, as the health minister of the time, he vowed to close all mental asylums/institutions and to instead, release patients into society, providing treatment and care for them at home and in the community via community carers. (Adam McCulloch, Michael Fitzpatrick, 2011). It wasnt until the 1970s however that people stopped being admitted into the asylums and cool it took u ntil the 1980s for the first asylum to close.By 1990 100,000 patients had been released into society and mental hospitals started to become extinct. This was the start of care in the community for the mentally ill, as we know it today. (BBC, 2010). The modern approach to mental illness is that there could be a number of causes, whether that be genetic, organic, personal, social or a combination of either, and that sufferers should not be labelled, should not be considered abnormal and that they should be treated just like any other normal member of society. Ross Clarke B, 2012). They should receive sufficient care via GP/hospital appointments, care in the community and by alternative therapies such as family interventions, self-help groups etc. User movements have also kind of recently been introduced, this is a system which encourages the patient to work with a professional such as a doctor/psychiatrist to help choose the treatments they receive in order to make them feel more in control of their illness or disorder and to help them feel more confidence that the chosen treatment will work. BBC, 2010). People with mental illnesses are no longer stigmatised or labelled and a majority of the western world have now accepted mental illness as a genuine problem which need to be solved, rather than sightedness it as a condition which needs to be locked away from society like in the early 50s. References Mike Harris. (2008). Sociology of health and illness. Available http//www. slideshare. net/Bias22/sociology-of-health-and-illness-presentationbtnNext Last Accessed 06/12/2012Unknown Author. (2012). What is the biomedical model? Available http//www. wisegeek. com/what-is-the-biomedical-model. htm Last Accessed 06/12/2012 Ross Clarke. (2012). Booklet 3 the different constructions of health and illness. The Manchester College, 2012 The Open university. (2012). Models of healthcare the biomedical model. Available http//openlearn. open. ac. uk/mod/oucontent/view. php ? id=398060§ion=1. 6 Last Accessed 06/12/2012 Andrews, G. , Slade, T. , Peters, L. (1999).Classification in psychiatry ICD-10 versus DSM-IV. The British Journal of Psychiatry. v. 174. no. 1. p. 3 4 Ross Clarke B. (2012). Booklet 4 approaches to the study of mental health and illness. The Manchester College, 2012. Saul McLeod. (2008). The medical model. Available http//www. simplypsychology. org/medical-model. html Last Accessed 06/12/2012. Coppock and Dunn. (2009). Understanding mental health and mental distress. Available http//www. sagepub. com/upm-data/30675_02_Coppock_&_Dunn_Ch_01. df Last Accessed 06/12/2012. Unknown Author B. (2011). Psychology 101. Available http//allpsych. com/psychology101/personality. html Last Accessed 06/12/2012. BBC (2010). BBC4 picture mental history of the mad house. Last Accessed 27/11/2012. Adam McCulloch, Michael Fitzpatrick. (2011). Mental institutions, Enoch Powell and community care. Available http//www. communitycare. co. uk/blogs/socia l-care-the-big-picture/2011/09/mental-institutions-enoch-powell-and-community-care. html Last Accessed 06/12/2012.