(Giddens 1989) This model of health looks at individual physical functioning and describes disease and illness as a result of physical causes such as injury or infections. The model focuses on the treatment rather than the prevention. It does not take into account the role of a person's mind or society in the treatment. (Senior and Viveash 1998) It is for reducing the treating of morbidity of unhealthy, disease conditions and premature death and focuses on the removal of illness through diagnosis and effective treatment which makes it useful for helping ill patients. (Webb and Tossell 1999) In the biomedical model of health a critical
This model identifies health as the ‘absence of disease’ with specific focus on diagnosing and curing individuals with illnesses such as cancer. The different views which are associated with health results in many policies and practices of the National Health Service (NHS) being put in place. The biomedical model suggests that during times of illness, intervention from health care professionals is necessary. Not only this, but the biomedical model also suggests health is the reason for the absence of many life threatening diseases. It is argued by many sociologists the main purpose of health care is to cure disease through the use of scientifically tested methods purposely created to address diagnosed illnesses.
Sociological perspective of health posits that society depends on healthy people to function properly and also help to control illness (Parsons, 1975). Parsons identified the sick role of a person which demonstrates a condition of an ill person and its impact on society. He used four components to identify the state of an ill person role. Parson suggests that, for a person to assume a sick role the individual should not be held responsible for being sick, be exempted from normal duties, the person should be seeking help to get out of the role because the individual should not like being in the position of a sick role. However the theory of social stratification does not favour the sick role theory because it is not realistic for some class of people who may need a
Under the medical model, these impairments or differences should be 'fixed' or changed by medical and other treatments, even when the impairment or difference does not cause pain or illness. The medical model looks at what is 'wrong' with the person, not what the person needs. It creates low expectations and leads to people losing independence, choice and control in their own lives. 1.2 Describe the social model of disability The social model of disability says that disability is caused by the way society is organised, rather than by a person’s impairment or difference. It looks at ways of removing barriers that restrict life choices for disabled people.
The World Health Organisation 1955 (WHO) describes heath as “Not the mere absence of disease but total physical, mental and social wellbeing”. interactionists would argue that if health consists in the absence of disease, people could be seen as being healthy if they do not have a disease. This would be irrespective of how they feel and whether they considered themselves to be healthy. The problem with this view of health is that it assumes that there is a norm for all bodies. It also tends to rely upon a diagnosis being made, most probably by a member of the medical profession.
Models of Health According to the World Health Organisation, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” (World Health Organisation, 2011) There are two main models of health which reflect different perspectives. These models are known as the social model of health and the medical model of health. The medical model of health focuses more on the cure for an illness, whereas the social model of health concentrates on the origins of the illness rather than the cure such as class, gender and ethnicity. (HSC, 2009) In the medical model of health, the main focus is on a person functioning correctly physically and defines bad health and illness as the presence of disease. The medical model looks at the body as a machine, where if it were to break down, a doctor would take on the role of an engineer and attempt to fix it.
P2- Explain different sociological approaches to health an ill health The definition of health is mainly divided into three separate and exceptionally different sections; the first of these sections is the ‘positive’ definition of health, the second being ‘negative’ and the last being the ‘holistic’ explanation of health. The World Health Organisation (W.H.O 1946) defined health as being ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease of infirmity’. This quote actually provides two definitions, although making it clear that it supports the positive definition of health as ‘a state of total physical, mental and social well-being. As the key term here is ‘well-being’ this proposes that as long as the person feels satisfactory, mentally and physically not taking into account the presence of any ‘objective’ infirmities then they are indeed healthy. The W.H.O’s definition of health and well-being would suggest that someone who holds a negative definition of health would not be healthy if all their requirements are not being addressed.
Zeynep 12/2 Unit 7 Sociological Perspectives for Health & Social Care Functionalism Functionalism New right New right P1 Marxism Marxism Interactionism Interactionism Postmodernism Postmodernism Principal Sociological Perspectives Feminism Feminism Collectivism Collectivism Society Society Family Family Media Media Education Education Functionalism What is Functionalism? Functionalism is a sociological approach that sees the institutions of society as working in harmony with each other, making specific and clear contributions to the smooth running of society. Functionalism interprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole society. Society is more than the
A.M.Clow Defining health, illness and disability. This assignment will be based on key sociological concepts of Health and illness. Explain what is meant by the terms health, illness and disability: People usually perceive their day to day 'normality' as healthy and when their body differs form this they may consider themselves 'ill' The definition of healthy, in regard to what it says in the dictionary is 'in a good physical or mental condition; in good health' Oxford dictionary (2011) Illness is often seen as when you have something wrong with you, either physically or mentally. Examples of illnesses can include 'the flu', 'Meningitis' or 'Anorexia' . A disability is often regarded as a state of which, something is wrong with either your physical or mental well being, and this disables you from doing normal everyday activities.
The Holistic Medicine intends to restore health and wellness to the person as a whole, rather than rectifying the diseased part alone. On the other hand, traditional allopathic medicine focuses on the diseased part of the human beings. So, a physician committed to Holistic Medicine is expected to understand physical, mental, social and spiritual aspects of the individual’s life. Holistic medical practitioner sees his patients multi-dimensionally and tries to fix the whole body. On the contrary, the doctor carrying out traditional allopathic medicine will consider the affected body parts.