In this section, we have explored the different explanations for health, wellness, and illness. We have looked at what sociologists care about when they study health and medicine. We have seen that people of color, and people who are poor, are more likely to have health challenges, as well as disparate access to quality healthcare—and we have seen that this is probably both an effect of being poor, as well as a cause. When we started our chapter, these were the questions that focused our curiosity. Now that we have examined health and illness throughout the world, how would you answer them?

7.7.1 Key Terms

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years)

contested illness: an illness that is questioned or considered questionable by some medical professionals

COVID-19: an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

disability: a reduction in one’s ability to perform everyday tasks; the World Health Organization notes that this is a social limitation

epidemiology: the study of disease and health, and their causes and distribution

health: a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

epigenetics: the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work.

historical trauma: multigenerational trauma experienced by a specific cultural, racial or ethnic group. It is related to major events that oppressed a particular group of people because of their status as oppressed, such as slavery, the Holocaust, forced migration, and the violent colonization of Native Americans.

impairment: the physical limitations a less-able person faces

medical sociology: the systematic study of how humans manage issues of health and illness, disease and disorders, and healthcare for both the sick and the healthy.

medicalization: the process by which aspects of life that were considered bad or deviant are redefined as sickness and needing medical attention to remedy

medicalization of deviance: the process that changes “bad” behavior into “sick” behavior

morbidity: the incidence of disease

mortality: the number of deaths in a given time or place

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010): a law that provides numerous rights and protections that make health coverage more fair and easy to understand, along with subsidies (through “premium tax credits” and “cost-sharing reductions”) to make it more affordable.

private healthcare: health insurance that a person buys from a private company; private healthcare can either be employer-sponsored or direct-purchase

public healthcare: health insurance that is funded or provided by the government

sick role: patterns of expectations that define appropriate behavior for the sick and for those who take care of them.

social determinants of health: social features of a person or group, such as race, class, gender, ability, rural/urban status, etc that partially determine the health and wellness of the person or group; Also defined by WHO as The social determinants of health are the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness. These circumstances are in turn shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies, and politics

socialized medicine: when the government owns and runs the entire healthcare system

underinsured: people who pay at least 10 percent of their income on healthcare costs not covered by insurance

universal healthcare: a system that guarantees healthcare coverage for everyone

7.7.2 Discussion Questions

1. What was you and your families experience during COVID-19? Now that you have learned more, has your understanding changed?
2. How could you apply the social problems process to a health related topic: smoking, alcohol use, eating disorders, etc?
3. What does it mean to you to “be healthy”? Have your health habits changed during the COVID-19 pandemic?
4. How do sociologists make sense out of health and illness? How have our definitions changed over time?
5. Why might we have multiple models of the Social Determinants of Health?
6. How do protective factors make a difference in responding to Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs)?
7. How could we improve the healthcare system in the United States?