Health Care-sociology

Health Care

Written By: Amanda Dunstan

According to Macionis, “health is not just a matter of personal choice, nor it is only a biological issue; patterns of well-being and illness are rooted in the organization of society” (2010, p. 542). Our nation right now is facing many issues regarding our health and medical care. There are new theories to explain different impacts on our social classes regarding health and medical care, along with the dilemmas that we are facing due to the unsatisfying results of our nations medical system.

Structural-Functional Analysis: Role Theory

The sick role is when “patterns of behavior [are] defined as appropriate for people who are ill” (Macionis, 2010, p.557). This follows along with the Structural-Functional Analysis: Role Theory that was created by theorist Talcott Parsons. He believed that our medicine was used as society’s strategy to ensure its members remained healthy. Turning an illness into a role helps our society operate by ensuring that the individual is actually sick. This person must look the part, act the part, and/or get a medical note to prove that they are actually ill. Proof of an illness must be established to prevent the sick role from being abused. It is believed that when you are ill, you are dysfunctional with your normal daily duties and are no use to society; it can dismiss you from work and/or school. When someone has established a sick role, they must receive the appropriate treatment, like medicine, to re-sustain their health and functionally operate in our society.

Social Class Impacts on Health and Medical Care

“Social epidemiology is the study of how health and disease are distributed thought a society’s population” (Macionis, 2010, p.544). There are many social inequality issues regarding health and medical care for different classes. The rich typically get better health and medical care compared to the poor. It isn’t only the fact that they can’t afford their medical care, but there are other factors involved. Ensuring that an individual is eating healthy and can afford the right foods plays a significant part in maintain their health. Also the location to where an individual can afford to live affects their health in that it could potentially cause stress, be near contagious diseases, and so forth.

An individual’s social class impact’s their health care substantially. The really poor can get government assistance and have the majority, if not all of it, paid for. This class usually gets the treatment that they need it is paid for by their government medical assistance. Although, they still face other medical issues due to their poverty. The lower middle class, some with and without health insurance, can’t get any financial assistance and can’t afford their medical bills. This class is the one that is less likely to seek out medical care because they can’t afford it and don’t qualify for medical assistance. The upper middle class and upper class can afford their financial medical bills. These two classes usually get regular check-ups and visit the doctor if they suspect something is wrong with their health. If something is wrong, they don’t wait until the last minute before it gets worst like the lower middle class would.

Obesity is a Social Crisis

According to Macionis, “most of the adults and about one-fifth of [the] children are overweight” in the United States (2010, p. 542). Obesity is becoming a trend that is increasing quicker among the poor society members. It no longer is an issue regarding an individual’s biological fate, but their placement within their social class in society. This is a social class issue because there are more fatty foods that are less expensive than there are healthier foods. The poor are more likely to purchase those fatty foods, while the rich is more likely to pay a little more for the foods with the right nutrients.

Another reason to why obesity is more of a problem among the poor is that it creates a significant amount of health problems. These health problems can sometimes be taken care of and reversed with the appropriate medical care. Many poor individuals can’t afford this medical care; therefore, they can’t get better and their health just gets worse. This is different for the rich individuals because they can afford the needed medical care to reverse their health problems and will be expected to live a longer life expectancy. Although, there are permanent health problems that medical care can’t take care of, but having the extra money to get medical care does make it easier.

Resolving our Nation’s Health Care Dilemmas

The best answer to resolving our health care woes is to limit the cost of care and rid away with health insurances. The United States has a direct-fee system “in which patients pay directly for the services of physicians and hospitals” (Macionis, 2010, p. 555). Due to directly paying for their health expenses, most individuals get expensive health insurance. The United States is way behind in it’s thinking in regards to our nation’s health care. If I ever move out of the United States, our medical system will be one of the factors to why I would be leaving.

Instead of operating our health system as we do now, we need to develop a medical system that will take in all social classes and will not require them to pay for it. This system is one that most European countries, including Canada, follow for their health and medical care. Instead of paying directly to the physicians and hospitals, they don’t pay anything when they get medical treatment. The government pays for all health and medical care so their people don’t have to worry about it. Although, these citizens do pay higher taxes which helps the government afford the medical expenses. Also, the health care costs are cheaper in these countries than they are in the United States, which is another reason why the government can afford to pay for it. There are many doctors in the United States that become a doctor because it is a very well paid field of work. These doctors I believe are overpaid; patients are overpaying for the use of their time and equipment.

Current President Obama claimed that he would change our medical system so that all social classes can afford health insurance. As of right now, I feel very few changes have been made. I strongly believe that no matter how many well developed or affordable health insurances there may be, it will never be what our nation needs for a new and improved medical care system. All private insurance, public insurance, health maintenance, and religious health collective programs will never work the way we need it to. Right now I have health insurance. Due to my expensive health insurance payments, I avoid going to the doctor as I did before I had insurance. I don’t want to pay the medical payments after my insurance has paid their portion because it is still too expensive. It is a lose-lose situation with health insurance involved. The only way to change this is if we, as previously mentioned, develop a system in which the government paid for all of our medical expenses and the citizens paid for none of it besides their increased taxes.

Unfortunately, our health care is based on which social class an individual is placed within society. Our nation has failed to improve our health and medical care system. There are different unfortunate impacts that are being made to our lower social classes because they can’t afford our medical care in the United States; something has got to change.

References

Macionis, J. J. (2010). Sociology. In J. J. Macionis, Sociology (p. 379). Boston: Prentice Hall.