Students adopt a salutogenic (health promotion and illness prevention, rather than a focus on pathology/disease) approach to examine the relationship between social factors (lifestyle, environment, disparities, and organization of the health care system) and health. Health is posited as a multi-dimensional construct. The implications of adopting a mainstream theoretical view of the relationship between social factors and health are investigated, such as how adopting a certain theoretical perspective can help explain further or hinder our understanding of the effect of social factors on health.
More specifically, we will explore how we make sense of illness by looking at its sociality, stigmatization, and the experience of being sick. We will consider the politics of diagnosis and treatment, as well as the relationship between biomedicine and selected social inequalities. Finally, we will critically examine biomedical health care, including the health care system, the pharmaceutical industry, and complementary and alternative medicine. The objective of the course is to critically and sociologically examine our taken-for-granted assumptions about health and biomedicine. You should come away with a deeper understanding of your own health-related experience(s).
More specifically, we will explore how we make sense of illness by looking at its sociality, stigmatization, and the experience of being sick. We will consider the politics of diagnosis and treatment, as well as the relationship between biomedicine and selected social inequalities. Finally, we will critically examine biomedical health care, including the health care system, the pharmaceutical industry, and complementary and alternative medicine. The objective of the course is to critically and sociologically examine our taken-for-granted assumptions about health and biomedicine. You should come away with a deeper understanding of your own health-related experience(s).
- Teacher: Matthew Johnston