WEEK 19 LECTURE 1: SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH & ILLNESS Flashcards
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HEALTHY?
Sociological lens
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS?
- slim
- defined muscles
- clear skin
- able bodied
LIFESTYLE CHARACTERISTICS?
- healthy eating
- athletic ability
- good sleep schedule
- limiting substance use
- clean living space
- limiting time on phone
- being social
Question sociologists ask - How are these socially created and reproduced?
assumptions and consequeces
Health via World Health Organization (WHO
“a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being.”
Physical health
functioning of the body (short-term vs. chronic physical illnesses)
Mental health
a state of well-being in which individuals realize their own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and are able to make contributions to their communities
Social health
the role of social connections in our health (the more integrated a person is with others and institutions in their society, the healthier they tend to be)
*more integrated with others, the healthier they tend to be healthier
*lack of social integration linked to suicide
MEASURING HEALTH IN CANADA (3)
- Life expectancy – the average number of years a population at some age can expect to live.
*based on data from death, creates estimates for the total population calculating the average age of death. - Healthy life expectancy – a measure of the average number of healthy years one can expect to live if current patterns of death and illness remain the same.
*More focus on physical illness
*life expectancy data + data on the prevalence of disease within the population - Chronic disease prevalence – a measure of how common chronic diseases such as asthma, cancer, or diabetes, are across groups of people
SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
Sociologists focused on the larger social causes of illness over individual systems. As such seek larger social solutions for these problems.
Education
Income and social status
Employment
Childhood experiences
Connection to the land
Social support and connections
Diversity and inclusion
Housing
Food security
Accessibility
Transportation
SOCIAL CLASS AND HEALTH
Social class shapes educational opportunities and outcomes, our jobs and work experiences, and even the traits our parents encourage in us (socialization processes)
- Smoking rates, mental health, hospitalization for chronic respiratory illnesses are much higher among the bottom 20% of earners than among the top 20% of earners in Canada
- The number of people who report their mental health to be fair or poor is increasing for all wage groups except the top 20% of earners, who have had relatively steady rates of poor mental health over time
Why does our universal health care system not address social class as a SDH?
Why is social class still such a variable in health outcomes?
- even though social class doesnt directly impact access to health care, it impacts quality of food sources, ability to prepare home-cooked meals, access to parks, green spaces and good housing conditions, free from mould, good ac.
- prescription drugs and preventative care that are paid out of pocket without insurance coverage.
EDUCATION & HEALTH
What is the impact of education on health?
- Tends to improve the ability to understand health information
- healthy food, diet, treatment plans, improved health literacy
- Related to social class and income (both SDH)
- education and social class are deeply intertwined
- Education can also increase feelings of efficacy, the belief that you can change the things around you
- confidence to advocate for ourselves and our health needs
- more likely to feel they can change their health, if and when required
INDIGENOUS HEALTH
The life expectancy for Canadians in 2017 was 79 for men and 83 for women.
*Métis & First Nations – 73-74 for men and 78-80 for women
*Inuit – 64 for men and 73 for women
Factors that impact this?
- Racism and discrimination tied to colonialism (e.g., the thrifty gene)
- Relationship between Indigeneity and health outcomes partly shaped by social class
*conditions in and out of reserves, education, clean drinking water, etc
DEBUNKING THE ‘THRIFTY GENE’
The “thrifty gene” hypothesis was developed in 1962 by American geneticist and travelling scientist James V. Neel.
- Proposed that Indigenous peoples were genetically predisposed to Type 2 Diabetes due to the foodways (eating habits) of their ancestors
*myth of foriger food insecurity - Neel reconsidered his hypothesis in 1982 and ultimately rejected it in 1999
- Despite this, a Canadian endocrinologist at Western (Robert Hegele) conducted a genetic study on Indigenous peoples of Sandy Lake First Nation and argued he found the thrifty gene in this community – claimed to have found “a genetic mutation that seems to have allowed Indigenous peoples to survive famines in the past but triggers diabetes when food becomes plentiful and their lives sedentary.”
- Like Neel, he came to reject his own study in 2011
CHALLENGES OF STUDYING SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH (SDH)
Braeman & Gottlieb 2014
- Relationship between SD and health are oversimplified; in reality, these pathways are not linear and multiple factors interact with each other.
- Long time lags for health effects to manifest
- Difficulty obtaining information across multiple sectors to assess SDH (e.g., education, housing, labour, health)
