This course presents a conceptual and topical overview of the Sociology of Health,
Illness, and Health Care (sometimes referred to as Medical Sociology). The field is so
large that no single course could cover it in its entirety. By necessity, this course leaves
many topics virtually untouched. For example, we will not directly address mental
health/mental illness, stress, or bioethics. We will instead focus on those topics that have
defined the field in the past, and those that have emerged more recently as central
concerns.
Specific topics to be addressed in this course include: 1) Providers and patients—the
impact of culture, roles, and relationships; 2) social factors in health, illness, and health
care (including correlates of health, health disparities, and factors impacting access to
care); 3) the organization of health care delivery systems and associated patient
outcomes; 4) social meanings and experiences of illness; and 5) social epidemiology.
By the end of the course, it is expected that students will: 1) have an understanding of
different definitions of health and illness; 2) be conversant with how a person’s socio-
demographic characteristics influence his or her health, including his or her ability to
access resources to maintain health or receive treatment; 3) be able to identify key
dimensions for evaluating a nation’s health care system, and be able to compare and
contrast the United States with at least one other nation based upon these dimensions; 4)
have insight into how patients and practitioners (including some non-traditional)
understand health and illness and their roles in the health care process; and 5) have a
basic knowledge of social epidemiology.
This is an exciting time to be studying health, illness and health care, since
medicine and the United States health care system are experiencing significant challenges
and prospective transformation. Throughout the course we will examine both continuity
and change in health, illness, and health care. We will review a number of theories that
are considered fundamental in the field of “Medical Sociology” and we will assess how
well these theories hold up in a changing social world.