Week 4_2 Social Construction of Health Flashcards

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1
Q

Health as a Social Construct?

A
  • Health exists both at a biological (disease) level and a
    social (illness) level
  • Meaning we attach to illness is social (not natural)
  • Medical knowledge and social responses are shaped by social forces
    “In contrast to the biomedical model, which assumes that
    diseases are universal and invariant to time or place, social constructionists emphasize how the meaning and experience
    of illness is shaped by cultural and social systems”
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2
Q

Conceptual Distinction between Disease and Illness

A

Disease = biological
condition, medical knowledge, structural

Illness = social meaning of condition, social construction of Illness, behaviors and conditions, symbolic

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3
Q

Social Construction of
Medical Knowledge (structural)

A
  • Origins of professional beliefs
  • Practices of diagnosis and treatment
  • Socialization of medical providers
  • Professional and institutional practices of the health care system
  • Larger social structures of society
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4
Q

Social Construction of Illness
Behaviours and Conditions
(symbolic)

A
  • Lay experiences of health
    behaviour or condition
  • Interaction and experiences at
    personal and group levels
  • Illness experience
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5
Q

Cultural Meanings of Illness
* Stigmatized illnesses

A

Stigma is a cultural mark that signals, reduces,
and devalues a person with a condition from
“whole and usual” to “tainted and discounted.”
Stigmatized illnesses mean people are seen as
“less than full” emanating from potential
sources like individual failure.

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6
Q

Cultural Meanings of Illness
* Contested illnesses

A

Contested illnesses are those that are
questioned or questionable by some medical
professionals. Professionals may tell patients
it is either a diagnosable disease or “just in
your head,” which has consequences for the
kind of treatment they receive.

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7
Q

Cultural Meanings of Illness
* Disability

A
  • Distinguish impairment
    (attribute) from disability
    (social experience and
    meaning of impairment)
  • Physical or mental
    impairments that are socially
    defined as abnormal and
    restricting functioning
    (therefore in need of
    accommodations)
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8
Q

Illness Experiences as Socially
Constructed

A
  • Patienthood vs.
    Illness experience
    -Interaction with health-care providers vs. interactions with others and understanding of
    sickness day-to-day

Biographical
disruption
-Identify as “cancer
survivor” and join
social groups

  • More attention to bodily experiences, rupture to concept of self,
    disrupt our social relationships and normal resource use
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9
Q

Medical Knowledge as Socially
Constructed

A
  • Race, Class, Gender
    Inequality
  • Case of childbirth, PMS,
    menopause
  • Social context of
    research
  • Incentives in research
  • Medicalization
  • Incentives in pharma
    companies and social
    movements
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10
Q
A
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