The Sociology of Health, Healing, and Illness

by Weiss, Gregory L.; Lonnquist, Lynne E.

• ISBN13: 9780130999283
• ISBN10: 0130999288
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-07-01
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

Designed to reflect important changes in health care and significant advancements in medical sociology, this student-friendly text provides a readable, interesting, and in-depth overview of the field. It offers solid coverage of traditional topics with a keen focus on the current issues and public policy debates affecting this dynamic area of study. Coverage examines issues such as giving clean needles to drug users; gender-based and sexual harassment of female physicians; legalizing medical marijuana; the dumping of patients by hospitals; medicine and the Internet; the profession of medicine; socialization of physicians; illness behavior; AIDS and Alzheimer's disease; social stress; health behaviors; alternative healers and alternative healing practices; the physician-patient relationship; the history of medicine; the role of technology in health care; changes in the health care system; health care financing; for-profit medicine; managed care programs; doctor-assisted suicide; organ donation policy; surrogate motherhood; physician truth-telling and confidentiality; the obligation to treat AIDS patients; recruiting physicians to underserved areas; the responsibility of parents for health care for their children; and the responsibility of employers for employee-related stress. For those interested in or practicing medicine, nursing, pharmacology, public health, and ancillary health.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
PART I PERSPECTIVES ON THE SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH, HEALING, AND ILLNESS	1	(34)
CHAPTER ONE A Brief Introduction to the Sociology of Health, Healing, and Illness	1	(12)
Definition of Medical Sociology	1	(1)
Historical Development of Medical Sociology	2	(2)
Major Topics of Analysis in Medical Sociology	4	(2)
Sociology's Contribution to Health, Healing, and Illness	6	(3)
The Role of the Medical Sociologist in the Twenty-First Century	9	(1)
Summary	10	(1)
Health on the Internet	10	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	11	(1)
Discussion Question	11	(1)
References	11	(2)
CHAPTER TWO The Development of Scientific Medicine	13	(22)
A Brief History of Medicine	14	(1)
Early Humans	14	(1)
The Egyptian Civilization	15	(1)
Greek and Roman Societies	15	(3)
Roman Medicine	18	(1)
The Medieval Era	19	(1)
Medicine in the Renaissance	20	(1)
Medicine from 1600 to 1900	21	(3)
The Ascendancy of Medical Authority in America	24	(6)
Perspectives on the Ascendancy of Medical Authority	30	(2)
Summary	32	(1)
Health on the Internet	32	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	33	(1)
Discussion Question	33	(1)
References	33	(2)
PART II THE INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT ON HEALTH AND ILLNESS	35	(71)
CHAPTER THREE Social Epidemiology	35	(23)
The Work of the Epidemiologist	35	(2)
The Epidemiological Transition	37	(2)
Life Expectancy and Mortality	39	(6)
Infant Mortality	45	(2)
Maternal Mortality	47	(1)
Morbidity	48	(5)
Disability	53	(1)
Summary	54	(1)
Health on the Internet	55	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	55	(1)
Discussion Cases	55	(1)
References	56	(2)
CHAPTER FOUR Disease and Illness in American Society	58	(25)
Cardiovascular Diseases	61	(4)
Cancer	65	(7)
HIV/AIDS	72	(3)
Alzheimer's Disease	75	(1)
Mental Illness	76	(3)
Summary	79	(1)
Health on the Internet	79	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	80	(1)
Discussion Case	80	(1)
References	81	(2)
CHAPTER FIVE Social Stress	83	(23)
Definition of Stress	83	(1)
Historical Development of the Stress Concept	83	(1)
A Model of Social Stress	84	(1)
Stressors	85	(6)
Appraisal of Stressors	91	(1)
Mediators of Stress: Coping and Social Support	92	(3)
Stress Outcomes	95	(2)
The Role of Social Class, Race, and Gender in Social Stress	97	(4)
Summary	101	(1)
Health on the Internet	102	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	102	(1)
Discussion Cases	102	(1)
References	103	(3)
PART III HEALTH AND ILLNESS BEHAVIOR	106	(44)
CHAPTER SIX Health Behavior	106	(20)
The Concept of Health	106	(2)
Health Behavior	108	(1)
Describing Individual Health Behaviors	109	(4)
Explaining Health Behavior	113	(8)
Summary	121	(1)
Health on the Internet	122	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	122	(1)
Discussion Cases	122	(1)
References	123	(3)
CHAPTER SEVEN Illness and Sick Role Behavior	126	(24)
Stages of Illness Experience	126	(1)
Stage 1: Symptom Experience	126	(3)
Stage 2: Assumption of the Sick Role; Illness as Deviance	129	(5)
Stage 3: Medical Care Contact/Self-Care	134	(8)
Stage 4: Dependent-Patient Role and Stage 5: Recovery and Rehabilitation	142	(3)
Summary	145	(1)
Health on the Internet	146	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	146	(1)
Discussion Question	146	(1)
References	147	(3)
PART IV HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH PATIENTS	150	(139)
CHAPTER EIGHT Physicians and the Profession of Medicine	150	(25)
The Profession of Medicine	150	(4)
Professional Medical Associations	154	(1)
The Social Control of Medicine	155	(6)
The Number, Composition, and Distribution of Physicians in the United States	161	(3)
Female Physicians	164	(4)
Physician Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction	168	(1)
Physician Impairment: Stresses and Strains of the Physician Role	169	(1)
Summary	170	(1)
Health on the Internet	171	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	171	(1)
Discussion Case	171	(1)
References	172	(3)
CHAPTER NINE Medical Education and the Socialization of Physicians	175	(21)
The History of Medical Education	175	(2)
Modern Medical Education	177	(6)
The Premed Experience	183	(1)
The Medical School Experience: Attitude and Value Acquisition	183	(3)
The Medical School Experience: Stress	186	(2)
The Medical School Experience: Career Choices	188	(2)
Future Directions in U.S. Medical Education	190	(1)
Summary	191	(1)
Health on the Internet	192	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	192	(1)
Discussion Case	192	(1)
References	193	(3)
CHAPTER TEN Nurses, Mid-Level Health Care Practitioners, and Allied Health Workers	196	(23)
Evolution of Nonphysician Health Care Practitioners	196	(3)
Nurses and the Field of Nursing	199	(6)
Mid-Level Health Care Practitioners	205	(3)
Allied Health Workers	208	(2)
The Health Care Team	210	(1)
Relationships among Health Care Workers	211	(3)
The Changing Environment among Health Care Workers	214	(1)
Summary	215	(1)
Health on the Internet	216	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	216	(1)
Discussion Question	216	(1)
References	217	(2)
CHAPTER ELEVEN Alternative Healers and Alternative Healing Practices	219	(27)
Scientific Medicine and Alternative Healing	219	(1)
Alternative Healers	220	(4)
Chiropractic	224	(5)
Acupuncture	229	(3)
Spiritual Healing and Christian Science	232	(4)
Ethnic Folk Healing	236	(5)
Summary	241	(1)
Health on the Internet	242	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	242	(1)
Discussion Case	242	(1)
References	243	(3)
CHAPTER TWELVE The Physician-Patient Relationship: Background and Models	246	(25)
Models of the Physician-Patient Relationship	246	(2)
Key Dimensions of the Physician-Patient Relationship	248	(8)
The Influence of the Clinical Setting on the Physician-Patient Relationship	256	(1)
Labeling Patients: The Influence of Social Class, Race, and Symptomology on the Physician-Patient Relationship	257	(1)
The Influence of Gender on the Physician-Patient Relationship	258	(4)
Patient Satisfaction with Physicians	262	(2)
Patient Compliance with Medical Regimens	264	(1)
Summary	265	(1)
Health on the Internet	266	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	266	(1)
Discussion Cases	266	(1)
References	267	(4)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Professional and Ethical Obligations of Physicians in the Physician-Patient Relationship	271	(18)
Truth-Telling as an Issue	271	(4)
Confidentiality as an Issue	275	(4)
Obligation to Treat AIDS Patients	279	(6)
Summary	285	(1)
Health on the Internet	285	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	285	(1)
Discussion Cases	286	(1)
References	287	(2)
PART V THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM	289	(95)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Health Care System of the United States	289	(25)
Health Care Expenditures	289	(3)
Financing Health Care	292	(4)
America's Uninsured Population	296	(1)
Explaining the High Cost of Health Care	297	(5)
Cost Containment: DRGs, Rationing, and Managed Care	302	(5)
The Politics of Health Care Reform	307	(3)
Summary	310	(1)
Health on the Internet	311	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	311	(1)
Discussion Cases	311	(1)
References	312	(2)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Health Care Delivery	314	(23)
The Emergence of Freestanding Ambulatory Care Sites	314	(4)
The Flourishing of Managed Care Systems: HMOs and PPOs	318	(3)
Emergence of the Modern Hospital	321	(12)
The Reemergence of Home Health Care	333	(1)
Summary	334	(1)
Health on the Internet	334	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	335	(1)
Discussion Case	335	(1)
References	336	(1)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN The Social Implications of Advanced Health Care Technology	337	(26)
Health Care Technology	338	(4)
The Right to Refuse or Demand Advanced Health Care Technology	342	(8)
Organ Donation and Transplantation	350	(5)
New Reproductive Technologies	355	(4)
Summary	359	(1)
Health on the Internet	359	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	360	(1)
Discussion Cases	360	(1)
References	361	(2)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Comparative Health Care Systems	363	(21)
Major Influences on Health Care Systems	363	(2)
Types of Health Care Systems	365	(1)
China	366	(3)
Russia	369	(3)
Canada	372	(5)
Great Britain	377	(3)
Common Challenges to Health Care Systems Around the World	380	(1)
Summary	381	(1)
Health on the Internet	381	(1)
Key Concepts and Terms	382	(1)
Discussion Questions	382	(1)
References	382	(2)
Photo Credits	384	(1)
Name Index	385	(12)
Subject Index	397