Health Studies - Models of Health

Describe how “it means to be healthy” can be described in different ways and how the concepts relating to health can differ meaning that a universal definition of ill-health is impossible to achieve (1. 1)The WHO definition of health“is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO 1948)however a criticism of this, is the use of the word “complete” as few people would have “complete” physical, mental and social faculties in order, so it would leave a lot of people not being “healthy” when most people are considered healthy. This definition is also viewed inline with that of the drug companies as research is so in depth that drug companies can create drugs for “problems” not yet or if ever going to affect someone's health. (Huber 2011)The biomedical approach focuses only on the physical or biological symptoms, very separated from looking at the mind. It uses the two aspects, one of diagnose and the other of treatment but this requires a doctor, as they within this model, are the only ones allowed to diagnose. Pool and Geissler 2005 state “illness is a a state where a person is not feeling or thinking well”, its also described as a “dysfunctionality of the body”. The social model is one where someone's lifestyle, environment and economy is looked at, it preference to prevention rather than solely treatment, as it looks at a wide range of factors, which allows more flexibility as more people can practise this approach. (ACS 2018)

Describe the bio-medical of heath and explain how it can be related to functionalism and Parson's sick role. What are some of the criticisms of the biomedical model? (1. 2 & 1. 3)The bio-medical of health is where health is regarded in a very medical approach with little or no regard for alternatives approaches. Illness is made up of very physical aliments like viruses or pathogens. This view is of the stand point of medical intervention with a fix it approach as it rather cure illness than counter the effects that cause someone to be sick. The bio-medical approach has two aspects to it; diagnosis which is where the identification of the disease or illness through direct observations of the symptoms or through diagnostic tests e. g. x rays, scans, blood tests, ultrasound etc. The second aspect being intervention, action taken to improve health via medical treatment, hospitalisation, prescriptions and surgery. The advantages are that it pushes the need for upgrading technology and improvement in research because without this there would be little known about how to treat and diagnose illnesses which has helped to effectively treats common problems like infections or injuries and that has improved life expectancy and quality of life. The disadvantages are that requires money as becoming a doctor is very costly in both time and money as this model hinges on diagnose by a health care professional, it also doesn't aim for someone to lead a “healthy” lifestyle, just to cure an illness when it arises but not every illness has a cure i. e. cancer or other long term terminal illnesses.

Also this model doesn't help people that may live in countries that do not have universally accessible health care. ( Roth 2013)It relates to functionalism as it both puts agency on the person to get better and back to being a productive person within society like Parson's sick role theory (1951) which give a person certain rights and responsibility as someone with a medical condition cannot fulfil the same duties as a person in good health. It also implies a form of deviance as a ill person has different patterns of behaviour as non ill person. It will also be positively sanctioned and legitimisation when approved by someone in the community or authority figure I. e. going to the doctors to get a note which would make being ill and missing either school or work more acceptable and would allow you to have a more lenient set of expectations. Parsons allocated certain rights and responsibility to someone that is ill, there rights being that they are not blamed for the illness and to be given leeway by others, but they must also take on the responsibility of getting well a priority and to seek treatment, but both sets are only temporary. (Serva 2018) Parsons leads itself to functionalism's wider ideals that requires people to fix the problem so they can get back to there role within society (Naeem 2015) Within functionalism medicine is seen as central to managing society as it functions to get people back to work and play their role.

c) Describe the socio-medical model of health and describe hot it could be relevant to Marxism (1. 2 & 1. 3) The socio-medical focuses on the social, cultural, environmental and economic factors. Uses a more community approach to prevent illness, uses policies, education and health promotion as it looks further than lifestyle and behaviour as it see a need for a social attitude change towards health, was developed in the late 1970's/80's. It has five main key principles addresses the broader determinants of health, reduce social inequalities, empower individuals in communities, improve access to health care and encourages inter-sectorial collaboration. An example of this was The Ottawa charter for Health Promotion in 1986 where WHO held the first international Health Conference, where its main goal was to achieve ”health” by 2000, a document was composed of three principles of health promotion, 8 prerequisites (conditions or resources) for gains in health and 5 priority or action areas.

The advantages of this model are an increase in education on mass level, it is government supported like with immunisations, it is a less costly approach to prevent disease as a healthy lifestyle usually equates to a better quality of life, it also involves the community at all levels including government engagement, all of this increases economic development which encourages good health and this bolsters a more productive life. However the negatives are that not everyone in a population are to the same level motivated because there are still people that smoke or are overweight, some people foster the believe that illness or disease will not happen to them because in some cases certain diseases are not preventable like a particular types of cancer and the results of this model are hard to obtain quickly as education takes a long time to have an effect. ( Roth 2013)It relates to Marxism because of this idea of the bourgeoisie governing the proletariat with a ruling ideology which beliefs and values of the most powerful group that trickles down into a “false consciousness” because in this context “consciouness” is a class's ability to affirm its will and the part that is “false” is that its alleging towards aims that will not benefit in accomplish these goals. So in essence this “false consciousness” is the idealogy of the ruling class is demonstrated purposefully by the working class even though it serves them no purpose to do so. In educating the population this could help to encourage them to do things that will advantage their life's, like worker unions have increased worked rights like increased pay, better working conditions, better benefits etc. (Wikipedia 2018)(Little 2018)Task 2-Health and illness are very individual experiences but live in society. The socio-medical model takes into account individual choice but that has been influenced by their peers and environment. Describe some of the social influences on health. (2. 1)

Explain the relationship between the social factors you have described and how they affect health. (2. 2)Social factors that influence health range from wealth to education to to social class to the family we grew up in. People that are in a lower social classes like a working class are 2x more likely to contract a serious illness and premature death, because of the sustained levels of anxiety, insecurity, low self esteem, social isolation and lack of control in the work place or in the home with prolonged exposure increases chancer of poor mental health and premature death. Your socio-economic status allows for different entryways into healthcare, as someone with more capital will be able to go private with healthcare, but someone that is in a lower social class would be reliant on the NHS at least within the UK. A lower status also means that people have a more limited access to healthy food as fruit and vegetables are more expensive than that of unhealthy food and also more accessible in that unless living in a big city, takeaways are just for unhealthy food that is available all the time and priced very cheaply which leads to increased health risks in being overweight, or diabetes. Someone that has limited income is unlikely to spend money on physical activity opportunities, like going to the gym, and lack of exercise would again lead to increased health risks.

Some psychosocial mechanisms can develop into poor mental and physical health through social exclusion, prolonged stress, loss of sense of control, and low self esteem which then has the physical effect of raised cortisol, altered blood-pressure response, decreased immunity, this has the effect of adverse health risks and functioning outcomes, like long bouts of illness would more than likely result in sustained loss of income through the inability to work which would lead to a decreased quality of life through having to live in worse housing, more social exclusion that might lead to worsening mental health. (ACS 2018)Another factor that can lead to declining health is housing, as its been proven that better housing conditions leads to better mental health and more general health. As people that are continually under protected to things like pests, mould, structural problems and toxins that lead to higher risk of developing health problems. Also mental health problems may arise from living in a bad neighbour hood, through increased anxiety because of violence or crime or pollution, whereas living in a good neighbourhood where there might be more shops would encourage people to get healthier food, be better rates of employment in my desirable jobs, higher quality transport links and better education that would ultimately lead to a better quality of life. (Huber 2013)Education leads to better health as an educated person will more than likely make better decisions that will lead to living longer in regards to their health. They would make choices to exercise and to go to the doctors regularly, and they would be less likely to smoke. A more educated person would also have a better chance at getting a higher paid job which usually comes with healthcare, healthier working conditions and a chance to make connections.