1. Chapter 19 Henslin’s Sociology: A Down To Earth Approach
Medicine
Chapter 19
Henslin’s Sociology: A Down To Earth Approach

2. Sociology and the Study of Medicine
What is the role of sociology in the
study of medicine?
Sociologists study medicine as a social institution.
As practiced in the United States, three of its primary characteristics are;
Professionalization
Bureaucracy
The profit motive

3. The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
What is the Symbolic Interactionist perspective on health and illness?
Health is not only a biological matter; but also it is intimately related to society.
Illness is also far from an objective matter, for illness is always viewed from the framework of culture.
The definitions applied to physical and mental conditions vary from one group to another

4. The Functionalist Perspective
What is the functionalist perspective on health and illness?
Functionalists stress that in return for being excused from their usual, responsible activities, people have to accept the sick role.
They must assume responsibility for seeking competent medical help and cooperate in getting well, so they can quickly resume normal activities

5. The Conflict Perspective
What is the conflict perspective
on health and illness?
Health care is one of the scarce resources over which groups compete.
On a global level, health care follows the stratification that we studied in Chapter 9.
The best health care is available in the dominant nations, the worst in the dependent nations

6. Medicine in the U.S.
In the American colonies, no training or licensing was necessary if one wanted to call oneself a doctor.
Even until the early 1900s, medical training was a hit-or-miss affair.
In 1910, the education of physicians came under the control of a group of men who eliminated most of their competition and turned medicine into a monopoly and the largest business in the United States.

7. Historical Patterns of Health
How have health patterns changed over time?
Patterns of disease in the United States have changed so extensively that of today's top ten killers, five did not even show up on the 1900 top ten list.
Because most Americans live longer than their ancestors did, we can conclude that contemporary Americans are healthier.
For mental illness, we have no idea how today compares with the past, for we have no baselines from which to make comparisons

8. Issues in Health Care
How does treating health care as a commodity lead to social inequalities?
Because health care is a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder, the United States has a two-tier system of medical care in which the poor receive inferior health care for both their mental and physical illnesses

9. What are some other problems in U.S. health care?
One problem is defensive medicine, which refers to medical procedures that are done for the physician's benefit, not for the benefit of the patient.
Intended to protect physicians from lawsuits, these tests and consultations add huge amounts to the nation's medical bill.
Other problems are incompetence, depersonalization, conflict of interest, medical fraud, and sexism

10. Why is medically assisted suicide an issue now?
Due to advanced technology, people can be kept technically alive even when they have no brain waves.
Physicians who openly assist in suicides have come under severe criticism.
Research findings on euthanasia in Holland have fueled this controversy.

11. What attempts have been made to cut medical costs?
Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) are among the measures that have been taken to reduce medical costs.
National health insurance, which has run into immense opposition, has been proposed.
The most controversial proposal is to ration medical care.

12. What are some threats to the health of Americans?
Threats to Health
What are some threats to the health of Americans?
1. AIDS - is declining in the United States but is devastating countries in Africa
2. The globalization of disease
3. Alcohol and nicotine
4. Disabling environments
5. Unethical experiments
Tuskegee syphilis experiments
Cold War radiation experiments

13. HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa
Global View of AIDS:
HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa
Background
28.5 million living with HIV/AIDS at end-2001
2.2 million deaths in 2001
3.5 million new infections in 2001
12 countries have infection rates of 10 percent or more among year olds
11 million AIDS orphans in 2001; UNAIDS predicts 20 million by 2010

14. In Uganda: To date, 2 million have died of HIV AIDS
1 in 6 children have been orphaned
40 Million orphaned children by 2010
Whole villages wiped out…
Cultural traditions lost as whole generations are dying
Who is left to raise the children?

15. US Woman and AIDS:

16. In the US:
As of June 2001, African Americans and Hispanics represented 51 percent of AIDS cases reported among males and 77 percent of those in females.
As of June 2001, 58 percent of all women reported with AIDS are African American and 20 percent are Hispanic.
African American children represent 58 percent of all pediatric AIDS cases.
Of the 194 pediatric AIDS cases reported between July 2000 and June 2001, 163 (84 percent) were in African Americans and Hispanics.
In 1999, AIDS accounted for an estimated 50 percent of deaths among African Americans and 18 percent among Hispanics.
It is the leading cause of death among African-American men ages

17. The Search for Alternatives
Are there alternatives to our current health care system?
The primary alternative discussed here is a change in focus from treatment to prevention.
Other alternatives may be found by examining health care systems in other countries.
Health care in Sweden, Russia, and China…

18. How will the practice of medicine change?
The Future of Medicine
How will the practice of medicine change?
Genomics is going to change the face of medical practice.
Knowledge of our genetic structure will allow designer medicines, the treatment of diseases before they appear, and the growth of replacement organs, including hearts
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