Unit 10: Sociological Perspectives

Introduction

I will be explaining how sociological perspectives are applied to the understanding of health and social care.

P1: Explain how sociological perspectives are applied to the understanding of health and social care

Conflict:

Conflict theories occurs when there are theories that state that society is made up of two or more groups with both
balanced and opposing views. This creates a conflict and imbalance between the two groups. An example of this could
be, the Marxism and the feminism approach both view society in two divisions such as; social class and gender.

Marxist:

The Marxist theory was developed by a man named Karl Marx, who was a German philosopher. This theory explains the
conflict between the social classes of the lower-class (proletariat) and the higher-class (bourgeoisie). The higher class are
those who are wealthy and the lower-class are those who are working low- income jobs, some are not even employed,
etc. They study medical care. Their study on medical care suggests that political power and economic dominance in
capitalist society. Political power is those who have control and influence over others, this could be the authority,
government, etc. Economic dominance is those who have dominance over others and are quite significant. Marx
believes that there are no issues with accessing care, but the main goal of medicine is to make profit. Here, he is
suggesting that health care services are available to all, but the professionals only help for their own benefit to make
profit.

There are two feminisms called:

There are two sorts of feminisms that are called Liberal feminism and Radical feminism. Liberal feminism is where
feminists try to achieve their goals of gender equality, through politics. They believe that socialisation and ignorance are
the main causes of gender inequality because they don’t believe that social standards are controlled by the patriarchy.
The patriarchy means to be controlled by, dominance over, a system governed by men, etc. This implies that the people
within society are slowly transitioning into being more equal, which also means that more females are exceeding in
education than males. Now there would be equality within the amount of people in high paid jobs as those females
would likely be accepted into those high paying jobs because of their excellent grades. Men would then result in doing
more nurturing labour, such as working in childcare, nursing, and house cleaning as some of them are already. These
jobs are usually ‘women’ jobs, within society as traditionally women are more nurturing. Radical feminists believe that
everything is dominated and controlled by men, which is why the view the society as patriarchal. They would argue that
men are benefitting from the women's income that she receives. Radical feminists argue that women struggle through
long shifts of paid work, housework, etc.

Functionalism:

The Functionalism theory was developed by the known main founder named Emile Durkheim, William James, and many
others. The functionalist approach suggests that without the shared norms and values of society, it cannot function
properly (tutor2u). This approach is more comprehendible when linking society to the human body, such as how the
body requires all the organs to effectively work together to maintain a healthy immune system and body, which means
healthy life. For example, the brain sends ‘communications’ through the nerves (the autonomic nervous system), which
then signals to the organs to ‘play’ their part in the immune system. Functionalism is a theory that views society as a
complicated construct system that is in order and is stable with functions that work together to meet the needs of
individuals in society. Aging is one example of functionalism as age is seen to be where one’s body and immune system
starts to deteriorate as years go by. This approach has many advantages and one of them would be that it suggests how
social institutions can work at two distinct levels of imbalance, both fulling the needs of all individuals and meeting their
holistic needs of them in the society. Another advantage can be that the social institution called ‘family’ can be used to
teach the usual norms, values, behaviours, and views of society, so that when one grows up, it comes natural to them to
act the way that has been normalised among society.

Postmodernism:

This theory is Postmodernism, which is an approach developed by Jacques Derrida. This approach focuses on the truth
of a person and refuses statements that are completely true to other people. In a post-modern society, there is too
much unreliability and lack of identity of people. Postmodernism negatively influences society because of its views on
lifestyles which could affect a person's performance of their roles and their social interactions with others. The theorists,
Jacques Derrida stated that many people believe to hold a holistic approach based on their needs and preferences
towards health. Also, that they believed that everyone must take their own responsibility, which is to achieve better
health and to take natural products (herbs over medication) to get better. The advantage of this approach is that it
challenges everyone's assumptions, within society together, which makes every sociologist’s research in a different way.
One weakness can be that it is hard to argue about postmodernisms as of its fragmented movement, which shows that
is not presented as part of a method.

Sociology is the scientific study of the behaviour of humans. Socialisation is included in this study, which is the learning
process of the usual standard ways of behaving in society that has been normalised as the standard. This can be learnt
through ones family or through their education and the world, social media, etc. These societal standards are having an
understanding that there are many different cultures that co-exist in society, accepting the values, norms and beliefs
that form the way we are expected to behave in society and acknowledging the different social roles that each individual
takes on every day to helps society continue to function/ stand high. Social groups have many different types that
sociologists study to understand the impact and influence they have on our values, attitudes and ways of life.
Sociologists also study the impacts of ethnic, racial and religious groupings and of sexual orientation and gender.

There are many social institutions such as; education, religion, family, government, health and social care services, etc.
Sociologists are focused on society that has their stereotypes, views (that are prejudice), stigmas, etc, which have
formed inequalities that are different within each these groups. Social class is where a person stands in society based on
their economic and social status, which can be broken down into man different sectors such as; income, wealth, social
interaction, education, lifestyle, health, etc. Social stratification is the different levels or ranks within society, based on
social class, money, education, race, power, financial power, etc. One's social class can have a great impact on their
employment status, which can affect thew income thew family receives. Leaving to many other issues that can occur,
such as lack of money to travel or have access to health and social care facilities, when in need of treatment, care,
emergencies, etc.

It is believed by Marxists, that one’s social class can impact the way they live and sometimes they struggle to meet their
holistic needs due to their social class. Marxists argued that behaviour is constructed by society, but the economic
system defines society and a persons place within it. The Social class a person comes from can affect their behaviour as
they may receive low income, which means lack of access to healthier foods. Healthier foods tend to be more expensive
as they’re organic, so those who lack in high income would more likely go for cheaper, processed foods, which are high
in fat, sugar and salt, as they are cheaper and easier to prepare.

Poor diet can increase one's chances of developing health and wellbeing issues. Although, regular exercise has an
influence on one and can either improve or worsen one's health and wellbeing. A person's race, ethnic, nationality, etc,
can have an impact on health and social care and their behaviour depending on their upbringings, social interactions,
views, beliefs, etc. Although most of the Birmingham's population rate of ethnic groups are 57.9% of white British or
other white groups, such as white; Irish or Gypsie (as of the 2011 census), there are more BAME groups starting to
increase the rate of the population of ethnic groups in Birmingham, mainly due to migrations of many other ethnic
groups. The BAME groups has a population rate of 30.3% in total of Birmingham, which is increasing as time goes by
(BirminghamCityCouncil, EthnicCommunities).

Discrimination tends to be experienced by those who are people apart of BAME/ POC groups, more than those of white
ethnic groups. This is because of prejudiced and judgemental thinking of a person, because of the way they look. The
result of this is that they are only seen as acceptable for lower income jobs as they are seen as uncapable of following
the duties, rules and expectations of higher income jobs. If the one suffering from this discrimination against notice it
being done by the society that they live in, then they will feel uncomfortable going out into the community, socialising
and taking part in activities because of feeing unwelcome and the “odd ones out”/ ‘’misfit’’. Their social development
would be really negatively impacted due to this discrimination and this would make them become socially isolated,
lonely, and excluded in the community. This can then have a major negative impact on their health and wellbeing.

One's development can be seriously impacted due to the discrimination against them, which then may make them feel
that they’d not want to receive support from a health and social care provider as they may fear of being discriminated
against again or may feel that they would be excluded from getting treated equally. Gender has a big influence on a
person and it shapes their behaviour and impacts their health and wellbeing based on the roles and expectations that
society sets them based on their gender. Society has dictated what both men and women ‘’can and cannot do’’. For
example, stereotypically, men should not be nurses, as it is more of a ‘women’s’ job, as it involves nurturing, which
women are a lot better at, then men. Also, another example could be that women cannot do heavy-lifting jobs, as
they’re not ‘built’ or ‘strong’ enough for that. These are just the few massive stereotypes in which society influences.
This has influenced change in people's behaviours as society allows for this backwards thinking to be dictated to the
world.

Another example of this is when a person starts to struggle with their mental health and wants to reach out for help
before ending up in a crisis. Women are more encouraged to talk about their mental health issues, so when they reach
out to health and social care services about their mental health and want help, they are welcomed in. They are given the
support they need, to talk about what is going on in order to help their emotional development, which can improve their
holistic needs and the rest of their PIES development as they start to withdraw within themselves, before any crisis
starts to occur. On thew other hand, men are discouraged to even speak of their emotions as in society it is portrayed as
weak to express your emotions and that men should just ’man up.’ This is where the crisis and struggle occur as men
really struggle to even acknowledge that they need help due to the beliefs and ideologies that are in society. Men are
seen as the breadwinners of the family, should be dominate and in control.

Men's emotional development and health would break as it starts to eat away at their self-belief, their self-confidence,
and their identity. This then slowly puts them in a crisis and need to have the support from health and social care
services to prevent suicide, as they struggle with their mental health in silence, which then can become overwhelming
for some. This is because they can’t speak to anyone about their emotions and are told to ‘man up,’ by society.

Men's mental health has never really been taken seriously enough because of the belief's society has put out there, for
the world to be influenced by. This belief is that men cannot struggle with their mental health and are portrayed as the
stronger sex/ gender. Therefore, whenever they even try to reach out for help/ support (before reaching the stage of
crisis/ questioning their own existence), they stop reaching out for the help and support they needed because they feel
they’re not being taken seriously. In the UK, 2017, there were around 6000 suicides that were recorded down. 75% of
these suicides were committed by men. Men under 50, usually resort to suicide quite often as suicide it the largest cause
of men's death rates increasing. Increasingly higher rates of suicide committed by men are usually from minorities
communities, which include, men with low- incomes, men who are gay, men who come from BAME backgrounds, etc
(MentalHealthFoundation, MenAndMentalHealth, 1st October 2021). Feminists argue that women and men should have
equal rights in health and social care. They believe this would make men feel comfortable discussing and acknowledging
the struggles they’re facing. This is so they can start seeking support, without fearing of what others may think or say or
being discriminated against.
Indvidual get treated differently due to society's behaviour towards them because of their age/ race. This can be a
negatively impactful and influence on them and can affect their health and wellbeing. There are many societies where an
individual's status in society can change, most likely increase as they age. In the UK, this is not likely to occur even
though the populations age rate is increase, so there is more people of old age in society. Elderly people are more likely
to be discriminated against, scammed, etc as they’re more vulnerable.

It is now illegal for someone to forcefully be retire for their age, as there are laws such as The Age Discrimination Act
2006 and The Equality Act 2010 (SafeWorkers, T. Abigail, 4th November 2021). These were introduced in 2011. For
example, an elderly employee is 65 years of age now (retirement age) and is losing their reaction time. If the job requires
for one to have a fast reaction time, then that may be the only reason it can only be allowed. Clear evidence must be
provided that it is necessary for the health and safety of both the person and that of others in the setting, that they be
retired. There is research and studies have shown that there are increasingly higher levels of poverty among older
people, compared to the rest of the population, with approximately 1 in 6. There are around 2 million pensioners in the
UK, that are living in poverty, mainly Asians and Black people (BirminghamAgeUK, 17 th June 2021). Retirement can
heavily impact one's physical, intellectual, emotional, and social development as the change from once working to no
longer doing so, can be hard to adapt too and can be unenjoyable for them. This may be because they start to have less
money because of their not receiving any income as they’re no longer in work. This may make it difficult for them to get
out often, leading to lack of socialization with friends and or family. The result of this would be, that they would struggle
to maintain a social life and would then resort to social isolation, instead of spending time with their loved ones and
friends due to the lack of income they are receiving. The lack of money suggests that they cannot spend money on going
out, social or leisure activities. Lack of socialising can mean they would just be sitting at home most of the time, which
means less exercise being done.
One's emotional health can be impacted as they gradually become used to social isolation and this becomes a regularity
among them, which then can lead to other possible health issues and can make existing health problems increasingly
worse as they won't want to go out to be seen by a professional for health care services/ treatment. Many elderly
individuals believe that any medical concerns aren’t much to bother with, and they consider it as not much of an issue as
it’d just go away. This affects their health and wellbeing as they won't seek the medical attention they need, due to their
upbringing, thought, beliefs, views, etc. It also affects the condition or illness they have as the longer its left and ignored,
the worse it gets.

One's behaviour can be influenced and shaped by the region they live in, which can have an impact on their health and
wellbeing. In poorer regions in the UK, there are higher risk of poor health. Whereas in the wealthier areas, it is unlikely
for poor health. This can be a direct correlation of the regional variations of poverty in the UK and the regional
differences in patterns of health and illness. One who lives in a wealthy dominated area, has more greenery that is
accessible to them, is close to resources and is within the vicinity of health and social care services, there is very likely
possibility that the health and wellbeing of that person would be much healthier and on a higher level. Whereas, one
who live in poorer dominated areas where housing is of low standards (and potentially overcrowded, mouldy, cold, etc),
there is no or lack of access to suitable green spaces and is heavily polluted with smoke, from cars, factories, etc, can be
of lower health and wellbeing due to their surroundings. A person living in a poorer region have a higher risk of
developing conditions/ illnesses such as lung cancer and other respiratory problems, cardiovascular problems,
hypothermia and could lead to anxiety and/or depression. One of the reasons behind this is because of the poor
housing/ pollution, lack of greenery, lack of access to health care services, cold/ crowded homes, etc.

Severe health and behavioural consequences can possibly occur, as of the increased number of illnesses rise. Therefore,
this will decrease thew amount of participation taken in activities, as they no longer take interest or enjoyment in doing
so. Lack of participation in activities removes any chances of them being an active/ sociable member in their community.

Sociologists also focus on how institutions of religion can affect and influence the behaviour of society. They can also
impact our health and wellbeing. For example, blood transfusion is not acceptable to have as a Jehovah's Witness, so
they end up refusing treatment that would possibly save their life. In Birmingham, (as of the 2011 census) 46.1% of the
population were Christian, 21.8% were Muslim and 19.3% of the population reported having no religion at all
(BirminghamCityCouncil, FaithAndReligiousCommunties). There are many religions and beliefs within a region, which
can impact their health, wellbeing, behaviour, social interaction, etc. It is vital to understand and respect the other
religions, beliefs, values, race, culture, etc, of individuals and celebrate the variety that they bring and just accept that
they have differences. Multiculturism is many different cultures or ethnic groups within society. Having multiculturalism
encourages the view everyone should be able to celebrate and practise their own festivities, cultural celebrations and
traditions and faiths without being judged, discriminated against, disrespected.

M1: Analyse the contribution of sociological perspectives to the understanding of health and social care and society:

The Functionalist approach:

The functionalist approach suggests that without the shared norms and values of society, it cannot function properly
(tutor2u). This approach is more comprehendible when linking society to the human body, such as how the body
requires all the organs to effectively work together to maintain a healthy immune system and body, which means
healthy life. For example, the brain sends ‘communications’ through the nerves (the autonomic nervous system), which
then signals to the organs to ‘play’ their part in the immune system. So, if a family’s institution is broken, which can
occur through the child not being brought up with affection, attention, etc, this can possibly negatively impact the child's
future. The negative impact perhaps could be them struggling at school or education in general, making and sustaining
relationships, have behavioural issues, etc. They can have a difficult time at school/ education in general as it might be
hard for them to remain focused in lessons. This can affect the lack of knowledge they’re taking in when at school as of
the lack of focus. This can make it difficult for them to pass any examinations during their education with the lack of
knowledge, which can lead to low self-esteem as they don’t have hope of belief in themselves that they can achieve a
good grade. They also may be having tough conversations with their parents about constantly failing their exams, which
may make them see themselves as a failure. This then would eventually make it difficult to find a career with low grades,
if they didn’t change or no self- improvement was made during that time. They may limit their career choice and further
opportunities for them. They may have behavioural issues, which may result in them wanting to start or get into fights/
bad situations (criminal behaviour), all for the attention of perhaps their parents or just anyone as they didn’t receive
that when they were younger. This negatively impacts society's function, since their role would likely be ‘empty’ or ‘not
filled in’. This would be because they’ve possibly resulted in criminal behaviour or just don’t have a job due to no
qualifications (as mentioned above). So, their role would have to be filled in, but due to many children going through
similar up bringing (give stats and references), this would mean some roles would remain ‘empty’ as some children
would possibly grow up to participating in criminal behaviour or may have no qualifications to get jobs. This approach
suggests that good health and is receiving effective medical treatment/ care is the key to society functioning the way it
should. This basically is suggesting that, without effective medical treatment/ care, one cannot get better as soon as
possible from being ill/ sick. This means they’d have to remain in their ‘sick’ role, whilst society struggles to function,
without them being in their usual role in society. Being sick means, one cannot be in their ‘usual’ role (an employee) as
they cannot perform it being of ill health. The would be expected to take upon the ‘sick’ role, which means new
responsibilities for them. They would be given a limited amount of sick days to get better as soon as possible. So, overall
having ineffective medical treatment/ care will not be able to help the person get back into their usual role, as they
remain sick and could get worse without the correct treatment. Thus, society cannot function without having effective
medical care or good health because when there are far too many people ill, society falls apart as less people are in their
usual roles. For example, when covid happened, there were far too many people getting sick, which affect society’s
function as there was a lock down and people couldn’t perform their usual roles properly from home. Also, the hospitals
were running low on staff, which then lead to people passing away from not having treatment as soon as possible/
within time.

The Marxist approach:

The Marxist approach has named two forms of classes in society, which are basically the lower class and the higher
(upper) class; the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The lower class are those who are poor, have low income and the
higher (upper) class are those who are wealthy, rich and obtain high incomes. This approach suggests that in education,
those of a lower class don’t receive the best form of education as the higher (upper) class. Suggesting that, those in
education of a higher class, would be able to have recourses, equipment, private schools, etc, which would help them
obtain the highest grades. On the other hand, those of a lower class, wouldn’t be able to pay for the recourses,
equipment and most certainly would not have the income to get into private school. This implies that those of a lower
class wouldn’t be able to receive the most effective education, which means they may not be able to achieve the
qualifications or careers like those of a higher class. Those of a higher class can pay for extra tutoring (if needed), private
schools, etc, which further on shows that they have more opportunities to succeed in their education as they have
financial power. Also, Marxist stated that those of middle-class are given materials and knowledge, so that they can get
into the best further educational systems/ facilities. This implies that those of higher class get even better than that and
are given the best education available because of their wealth. On the other hand, those of working class are provided
with poor education that may lead to them to getting working-class jobs, due to the poor education they received.
Marxists argues that the amount of money one has can change what sort of education they receive. As shown above,
those of higher-class can access the best education and those of lower-class receive poor education. We must learn that
we have equal chances of succession, during education. Depending on the effort we put into our educations, depends on
the outcome of the grade we get. Marx has done some studies on medical care, which suggests that political authorities
and economical influences in capital society (tutor2u, Sociology, 30nd November 2022).

The Feminist approach:

The feminist approach sees that women aren’t equal to men in society, as it mostly male-dominated and it wants to
make changes to the position of women in society. Their view of society is from a women's perspective. An example of
this could be that how women are devalued towards men, which they struggle against the devaluing of women towards
men. They expected changed within health care such as better care and decrease in sexism within health care system.
They believe that the inequalities presented in health care is a big issue in the health care system, which leads us to
excpect the relationship between gender and health. Liberal feminists believe that everyone deserves to have equal
rights. Libral feminists views of society are changing itself to adapt so that women do not occur. They expect the laws
that we have now should be changesd to make things gender equal. They also wish for equal oppernutities within the
system and they want all equality between men and women. The radical feminists still believe that the patriahrchy are
still here, within society. They stated that it lies within women being able to reproduce and care for children. This implies
that women depend on men, as their children would need to be looked after, so they can’t work enough to earn a stable
income on their own. This is why they’re dependant on men, so the man can provide a stable income for them, whilst
the child is being looked after. To radical feminists the patriarchy is seen as a form of social inequality and conflict,
within society, which implies that the division in society is between men and women and that men are the foes of
women. They view men as people who oppress and degrade women, which they believe is allowing them to be
benefited by the patriarchy. These radical feminists refuse to accept the structure because of the men oppressing the
women. They rather much would find out other ways to fill in their needs. They have stated to have formed women only
clinics that are led and managed by women, which would help expand healthcare for women (tutor2u, Sociology, 30 th
November 2022).

The Interactionalist approach:

The Interactionalist approach is a social action-based theory, which suggests that our actions can impact society and
suggest how. This approach shows how one interact with one another, within society. For example, at school, they
would be more worried about how students and teachers interact with each other than the role of education in society.
This approach states that people learn about society through interactions with others as they learn the social norms,
behaviours and what is accepted and not accepted. This approach allows for us to understand the human behaviour
through interaction. within society. Interactionists stated that gender stratification, which is like a degrading of gender,
exists in society because certain people behave a certain way towards others. It is believed that people behave the
certain way they do because of their belifes, views, culture, etc. Interactionists believe that everyones personality is
constructed based off their interactions with others within society. The approach suggests that there is some social
construction in health and illness. Menatl and pyschical conditions are seen are observed as healthy or ill conditions, but
have a small chance of being real (tutor2u, Sociology, 30th November 2022).

The Postmodernist approach:

This approach focuses on the truth of a person and refuses statements that are completely true to other people. In a
post-modern society, there is too much unreliability and lack of identity of people. Postmodernism negatively influences
society because of its views on lifestyles which could affect an persons performance of their roles and their social
interactions with others. For example, one's lifestyle choices can differ and depend on the way they were brought up,
such as if one was brought up with strong attachment to their family and have security bond with them their life choices
are influenced by this. They believe that people need to explore the different ways they can access to health care in a
non-medical way, such as using herbs or lemon (instead of prescribed drugs) to get rid of bacteria as it has anti-bacterial
acids in it. They also believe that people should be able to challenge the health care views and have their own views of
health and ill health (tutor2u, Sociology, 9th September 2022).

P2: Explain how sociological perspectives contribute to the understanding of society

As mentioned before, various groups within society suffer from different inequalities. These inequalities can be because
of the institutions (government, education, family, etc) or personal inequalities. The class system is a way of differiciating
different groups so that one can tell a part each social class. There has been an increased in number of sub-groups
within society, which has resulted in being many economic differences and inequalities between individuals, even within
the same region. Those from the higher-class backgrounds are more likely to exploit those from the lower classes, as
have much more money than them. An example of this could be, around 2019 to 2020, where in London there was
many individuals (around 10.72 thousand) still lacking income, food, shelter, etc. Even though London is the 4 th
wealthiest city in the world and in the UK.

These statics back up the Marxists view that the bourgeoisie (higher-class) are exploiting and oppressing the proletariat
(lower-class). However, the Functionalists would argue there must be a power imbalance within society to ensure
everyone meets their needs with their roles in society, which can be done by the high class exploiting the lower class.
They do agree with the Marxists that there are differences and inequalities in the social class system and in wider
society, they believe that this is because everyone has a role set out for them in order for society to work and function.
Whereas postmodern negatively impacts society as its views on lifestyles choices of an individual, which could affect
their ability to perform their roles and to maintain interactions with others.

P3: Compare the biomedical model of health with an alternative model of health

In the biomedical model, health in a biological way is the focus to developing different forms of treatments for different
conditions that induvial suffer with. They believe that the reasons and causes for illnesses are biological, which then
helps them make and figure out treatment for the individual. Comparatively, the environmental, social, and economical
factors that influence and impact our health and wellbeing are focused on by the social model. This includes the impact
of poverty, poor housing, diet and pollution and therefore fully supports the nurture argument. The biomedical model
only focuses on the issues that link to the biological factors such as, psychical health. Due to this the needs and
preferences are not included, which means healthcare professionals cannot fulfil their duties to meeting all the
individuals' holistic needs. The standard of care wouldn’t be the most effective, which means a few issues will still
remain and others may come. The result of this would be that healthcare providers/ professionals are failing to meet the
expectations of their duty to following up on the procedure set out by the Care Act 2014, known as the duty of care. This
is misconduct (unethical) and can lead to serious consequences in one's profession. If a professional were to use this
method of treating service users alone, they wouldn't be taking the users other needs into consideration (other factors
that influence health and wellbeing). The many other factors they must consider are the service users lifestyles choices,
housing, educational and economic status, etc. If all their needs aren’t taken into consideration, then the care/
treatment won't be effective for them, which could make their health worsen as they aren’t receiving the right
treatment they need to get better. Many more health conditions may be developed, which then can make their immune
system even more weak. This can make it challenging for the individual to progress out of the conditions as its difficult to
treat and improve health and wellbeing.

The Social Model of Disability:

The model suggests that conditions and impairments that people have, have resulted them being disabled. This model
suggests that having a disability is a process constructed and created by society as disabled individuals face many
barriers that exclude them from engaging and forming social relationships with those who don’t have a disability. This
implies that those disabled individuals don’t have disabilities but have impairment. There are many examples of barriers
that obstructs disabled individuals, such as; no ramps, lifts or chair lifts in facilities for wheelchair users to move around
the building. There may not be any braille signs for those with sight impairment or signs that are put up for directions
around the building cannot be used by one who is sight impaired as they’re unable to read it. This model helps others
understand these many barriers that are obstructing individuals with disabilities from daily life tasks. These obstructions
can be barriers in the environment, other individuals' views, attitude towards them and the interactions with them,
which shows how society excludes those who are disabled by treating them differently. If these barriers are adapted and
changed, then those individuals would be more independent, equal and free to have and make their own choices.

Model of health: Biomedical model of health: Socio-medical model of health:

Similarities: They both focus on the causes of illnesses
through the roots of an individuals. For
example, the biomedical focuses on the
biological aspect and the socio-medical
focuses on the social, environmental factors.
etc.
Differences: The biomedical is mainly practised by
practitioners and the sociomedical model by
the individuals themselves and others.
The biomedical focuses on treating and curing
the individual's condition or illness, but the
sociomedical focuses on preventing it from
occurring.
Criticisms: Sociologists believe that this approach focuses
little on environmental and social factors that
can be major factors to most conditions and
illnesses. For example, when a doctor is
making a diagnosis of a condition or illness, an
individual is asked about their history, family
The social model of disability is a similar
model to the medical model of disability,
which can be used as an alternate version/
model. Both models want to achieve to
enable the individual to be free of their
condition. Biomedical does this by trying
to cure the condition or illness and the
sociological does this by trying to prevent
one from death, from the condition
worsening, from the condition occurring.
Either way they still focus on the same
outcome, which is freeing the individual of
their condition or illness.
The biomedical model focus is just on the
biological factors of an individual such as,
psychical causes. But the sociomedical
focuses on a wide range of factors such as,
social and environmental, etc. Changes
that would be made to the individual's
lifestyle would depend on the and
environment and habits that were
previously made by them. It takes quite a
long time to adjust to the many changes,
which can affect one’s response to the
adaptions and can either slow or fasten
the response/ recovery process of one’s
health and wellbeing.
One criticism of this approach is that it
doesn’t have a clear method to help
identify health problems as it’s unable to
explain illnesses when there are signs and
symptoms to make a diagnosis of the
condition.
 history, other possible conditions,
medications, etc. They ask these questions
because there can be changes and variations
within the illness they have, such as
environmental and social factors/ changes,
but the model only focuses on the biological.
This can make it difficult for the provider to
solve all the factors that caused the condition
or illness. Although some symptoms are likely
to be treated, others would be left to get
worse. A theorist named Coward, argued that
individuals are the cause of their health
issues, ignoring other main important factors;
such as social and environmental, etc, which
can be the cause of illnesses.
M2: Effect on individuals This approach is useful as it can show that This model has an effect on an individual
included: health can be treated with many methods as it helps prevent illnesses, which then
such as; drugs, surgery, etc. Another reason to other symptoms can be avoided. Keeping
its usefulness may be the forms of treatment one’s health and wellbeing healthy if the
that can be produced by healthcare providers condition or illness can be prevented. It
from the research of the model. One final helps them improve their health by
reason of usefulness of this model is that the changing and sorting out the housing
number of lives lost can be reduced by the issues the individual has. Avoiding illnesses
research given of causes of death in the past, would allow for the individual to maintain
from the model. This can help providers focus their good health and wellbeing. It also
on those issues that caused death in the past, means less worry about getting illnesses as
so that it’ll less likely occur again as they’d this model helps decrease the chances of
treat it as soon as possible, with the most death rates in that specific condition. They
effective care. wouldn’t be stressed over developing
The healthcare professionals can use this illnesses as it’s less likely they’d get to.
model to referrer to as a negative model of Keeps individual aware of how to keep
health, which will enable them to seek a view away or prevent poor health, for example,
of a person that can be seen as healthy even if one’s lifestyles choices have a major
they do not have the causes of factors of an impact on one’s health and wellbeing.
condition or illness. Focuses on just one
factor/ cause of the illness wouldn’t satisfy
the needs of the individual and wouldn’t treat
them entirely.
This model influences an individual to recover
through the treatment that is identified
through the usage of this model. This implies
that if an individual has any sort of condition
or illness this model will ensure a fast
recovery as it help identify the best method of
treatment for them. This would enable them
to have a better health and wellbeing in no
time, which means they’ll get into their usual
role as soon as possible and will resume with
their daily life tasks and activities.

P4: Explain the contribution of concepts of health, ill health and disability to service provision in a local health and social
care setting
The definition of health is the condition of one’s body and mind (yourdictionary).

The World Health Organisation (WHO) helps guide people by giving people the chance of living a decent health life. They
define the term 'health' as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of
disease or infirmity’ (World Health Organisation, T. David). It is vital that health care professionals meet the all the
holistic needs of service users, so, health care organisations use the biomedical model of health and the social model of
health, to successfully meet the service user's needs.

There are many forms of ill health and not just psychical, as people assume that someone of ill health is physically ill.
This is why all professionals must acknowledge that all service users are unique in their own way, so even if they have
the same condition and are in the same situation, they still have differences in needs. This implies that treatment for
each of them would be different from each other. This means they cannot be treated in a generalised manner as in they
can't be treated the same, despite if the condition being the same. Health care professionals must consider all the other
factors of the service user, such as their preferences and personal needs, which individualises them from others.

Service provision improves from this as it ensures high quality treatment to service users, whilst supporting them that
aligns with their needs. When a person is sick/ in poor health, they aren't going to be able to work or perform their daily
duties as usual. They wouldn't be able to help the wheels of society going as they're unwell, and must conform to the
'sick role'. When taking upon the 'sick role', they are expected to try to get better as soon as possible, that is why we
have a limit to sick days, in education systems and in the economic. They are also expected to seek out help and
treatment to get better, whilst also taking medication, getting rest, etc. Functionalists argue that when an individual is in
“ill health”, they take on the ‘sick role’.

This means both the health care professional and the service user must take upon the new set of responsibilities they
have, such as; as already mentioned, the service user must try to get better by resting, etc, and the professional must try
to do all they can to provide effective treatment for the user to get better, the sooner, the better for society (and for the
service user). This is because the service user must 'restore' as soon as possible, so that they can quickly get back into
their usual role to get within the function of society.

Service provision can also be improved by those with disabilities as it brings focus on much diverse needs of service
users, to the main institutions within society. There are many legislations that promote equality for all service users,
despite their needs, such as, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Equality Act 2010, which have been set by
the government to help those with any sort of disabilities feel included in getting treated, safer and more welcome in
the community and within society. Both of these acts that have been set by the government, must be followed by all
professionals with health and social care organisation and if they don't and the service user files a complaint, then they'd
likely be told off and could possibly get a disciplinary for their actions of misconduct.

These acts are set to help out those who have disabilities and need support to access certain things. They ensure that
they are provided services that allow for them to have access to things that they need, such as ramps and lifts for
wheelchair users, large doorway space or providing them with an advocate if they are unable to communicate
effectively, etc. Not all service provision is equitable though due to a system of care and treatment provision referred to
as “postcode treatment”. Those who live in a wealthy area or higher class are more likely have the expenses to pay off
for private treatment/ services, than those who live in a poorer area or of lower class. So, they wouldn't be receiving the
same level of treatment. Those aged between 21-30, can be impacted as the years are known to be the peak of their
physical condition. If the health and care services, they receive are not effective or they’re just unable to receive care at
all then this can hugely impact their health and wellbeing. Having treatment that isn’t effective wouldn’t solve the issue
as a whole and would only help with some causes of one’s condition or illness, which can affect the behaviour and
emotions of an individual. Also, a service provision can be sometimes unfair as there are many differences and
stereotypes within society.
This can be seen in mental health support clinics and services as men are unlikely to seek support for their mental health
issues. As already mentioned in this assignment, men find it much harder to talk about their emotions as they’re told at
a young age that ‘men don’t cry’ or ‘man up’, etc. On the other hand it much easier for women to seek support and
speak of their emotions as they’re known to be ‘emotional’ or ‘drama queens’, etc. It’s easy for women to acknowledge
their emotions, much easier than men as men tend to bury their emotions, which cause further mental and emotional
health issues. Men are brought up this way through social interaction, beliefs, views all within society and these
ideologies are projected onto them from a young age, which then becomes a part of them.

This can impact the health and wellbeing of elderly men as they start to feel lonely from not wanting to bother, burden
or hassle anyone with their issues they’ve been dealing with. This can result in elderly men feeling severely depressed
and lonely, especially if their spouse or loved one’s aren’t around often. They'd have to suffer in silence and can’t discuss
with anyone what they’re going through, which then would possibly build up into server mental and emotional health
issues. When one keeps their emotions wound up, it can be too much for them to handle, which can cause them to
become more aggravated, aggressive, etc.

Also, it is possible that men can get breast cancer, but it's usually the women who get it. This makes it uncomfortable for
men to use available services that can help with breast cancer. This means that they’d less likely to seek for help and
treatment, which then can lead to terminal cancer, spread of tumour, etc. Feminists would argue that men and women
deserve equal rights whilst receiving care in health and social care services (service provision), especially when it comes
to mental health and breast cancer. They’d not want to receive support or treatment as they feel that they’re going to
be made fun of or not taken seriously as society has set men standards that makes them ‘more of a man’. This is to
prevent the many mental health crisis men go through that lead to suicides.

M2: Analyse how the biomedical and an alternative model of health, and concepts of health, ill-health and disability
affect service provision in a local health and social care setting?

Functionalist approach to health, ill health, and disability:

This approach suggests that medicine has its role, which is to cure, so that people's immune systems can function
properly and so can society as they are not in the ‘sick’ role anymore, which means society can function again. In this
theory, the person in the ‘sick’ role must be able to want to get better and so they will take up on the new
responsibilities they have. This can make people with chronic conditions including people with disabilities seem to be
further away from the usual role in society (social deviance). The link between disability and social deviance is that
functionalists impact healthcare and research because it supports the maintenance of health and welfare services for
disabled people. Functionalism confuses having impairment and disability with the ‘sick’ role. They failed to realise that
there's not anything certainly wrong with them (disabled individuals) and they are normalising discrimination and
presenting it, instead of directing cultural and economic forces that disabled people do not certainly have anything
wrong with them. This means that it is presenting discriminatory norms and values instead of directing cultural and
economic forces that precipitate and include them.

Marist approach to Health, Ill health, and Disability:

This approach focuses on the definition of health and ill health, which they believe to be defined by the bourgeoisie,
which is also known as the ruling class. He believes that doctors only serve this one purpose of being the bourgeoise as
doctors are the gatekeepers and they work together with the bourgeoisie. Health care providers can help service users
get back into their ‘usual’ roles as quick as possible. The government do not fund enough money to handle ill health,
such as poverty, poor housing, and unemployment, which all can cause ill health. Marxist states that ill health and health
are viewed due to a social class issue which is then linked to inequality. This implies that if people have a good state of
living, they are likely to have good health, but if they had a poor state of living they’d be at risk of ill health. Marx seems
to have excluded those who have disabilities from the normal working classes.

Postmodernist approach to health, Ill health and Disability:

This approach focuses on the finding the non-medical side to gaining health care, without the use of drugs, etc. For
example, using honey as a form of anti- bacterial drug, instead of an actual prescribed drug. Having views of their own
on health and ill health and challenging views, is what they believed in. They see society as a complex social structure,
this implies that social class was less significant that other social diversities, such as gender, race, religion, etc.
Postmodernists stated that it is of popular culture to have health promotions and health promotion is trying to construct
a fixed view on health. This model believes that individuals who have impairments are not essential unhealthy this is
because people with disability are not sick.

The interactionalist approach to Health and Ill health and Disability:

This approach focuses on what happens in one’s life when they’re ill. This implies that the focus is on the effects of the
persons health and wellbeing when they have issues with their health and or are ill. Some people who are ill, may not
see themselves as ill and so may not confine in the ‘sick’ role. This can worry the health providers as some may not want
to be in the hospital receiving treatment and some others do. Interactionists believe that labelling someone as ill will
influence on them and are worried that it will affect the persons self-concept, self-esteem, including interactions with
others. Interactionists believe a medical diagnosis has the same impact on a person just as having social relationships
with others do because it will help them tell you that they’re sick. Interactionists would influence society to have
education for those with disabilities, so that they can have a (non-medical) better understanding of what disabilities are.

The Feminist approach to health and ill-health and Disability:

This approach's focus is on how the medical field (profession) is being male- dominated. This implies that women are
less likely to be recruited into a job because they can get pregnant, which then can lead to the maternity leave. This is
like the sick leave, as the pregnant women would get closer to her delivery, she’d go on maternity leave to prepare for it
to occur at any time. They still get paid and this is why women are less likely to be employed as they can basically get
pregnant and then get paid without working. The employer would have to find a replacement for a short time, until the
other one comes back to their ‘usual’ role. This means that the pregnant women and their child may be impacted
negatively. Assumptions are made by feminists, mentioning that unfair treatment that women have to face by
(patriarchal) society, has gathered evidence that women go through depression, stress, etc, much more than men do.
Pregnancy is not seen as a natural cause but is to be seen as a ‘medical problem’.

Conclusion:

I have explained how sociological perspectives are applied to the understanding of health and social care.

References:

https://www.who.int/about/governance/constitution#:~:text=Health%20is%20a%20state%20of,absence%20of
%20disease%20or%20infirmity (World Health Organisation, T. David)

https://www.yourdictionary.com/health (yourdictionary)

Population overview | Ethnic communities | Birmingham City Council (BirminghamCityCouncil, EthnicCommunities)

Men and mental health | Mental Health Foundation (MentalHealthFoundation, MenAndMentalHealth, 1st October 2021)

Age Discrimination in the Workplace | UK Employment Law (safeworkers.co.uk) (SafeWorkers, T. Abigail, 4th November
2021)

Population overview | Faith and religious communities | Birmingham City Council (BirminghamCityCouncil,
FaithAndReligiousCommunties)

Age UK Birmingham urges local people to get in touch as figures show over two million UK pensioners are living in
poverty, with black and asian older people most at risk (BirminghamAgeUK, 17th June 2021)
What is Marxism? Introduction to A-Level Sociology | Sociology | tutor2u (tutor2u, Sociology, 30th November 2022)

What is Feminism? Introduction to A-Level Sociology | Sociology | tutor2u (tutor2u, Sociology, 30th November 2022)

What is Interactionism? Introduction to A-Level Sociology | Sociology | tutor2u (tutor2u, Sociology, 30th November
2022)

Postmodernism and Stratification | Sociology | tutor2u (tutor2u, Sociology, 9th November 2022)