The social origin of the illness experience – an outline of problems
Journal Title: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine - Year 2014, Vol 21, Issue 3
Abstract
[b]Introduction and objective[/b]. The main research objective is a study of social influences on the processes of experiencing illness in the sociological meaning of the term ‘illness experience’ focusing attention on the subjective activity inspired by being ill, taking into account interpretive (meaning-making) activity. The goal of the analysis is to specify ‘social actors’ jointly creating the phenomena of ‘illness’ and ‘being ill’, taking into consideration the evolution of the position of medical sociology on this issue. [b]Brief description of the state of knowledge[/b]. The ways of experiencing illness in contemporary society, including processes of creating the meanings of the phenomena of ‘illness’ and ‘being ill’, are the outcome of not only the application of biomedical knowledge, but are also parallelly a sociocultural ‘construct’ in the sense that they are under the impact of social and cultural influences. In the sociology of illness experience it is pointed out that illness experience develops in connection with experiencing somatic discomfort, this process occurring in the context of influences of culture, society and socially accepted norms and values. These relationships are interpreted by the sociological, interactionist model which presents illness as a ‘social construct’. [b]Conclusions[/b]. Sociological studies on the social construction of ‘illness’ and ‘being ill’ construct a model of these phenomena, complementary to the biomedical model, conducive to the validation of the patient’s perspective in the processes of medical treatment, and to the humanization of the naturalistically oriented, biomedical approach to illness, i.e. to adjust it more accurately to typically human needs manifesting themselves in the situation of being ill.
Authors and Affiliations
Michał Skrzypek
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP80854
- DOI -
- Views 134
- Downloads 0
Detection of TBEV RNA in Ixodes ricinus ticks in north-eastern Poland
TBEV (Flaviviridae, [i]Flavivirus[/i]) is an etiologic agent of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), the most important arboviral human infection involving the central nervous system. The disease is endemic in a zone extending...
Occurrence of enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus in food.
Gastroenteritis is one of the most frequent microbial diseases, which is caused by the ingestion of food contaminated with staphylococcal enterotoxins. In our study, the production of staphylococcal enterotoxins A, B (SE...
Peanut allergy as a trigger for the deterioration of atopic dermatitis and precursor of staphylococcal and herpetic associated infections – case report
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a multifactorial and chronic disease, with genetic, environmental, immunological and nutritional origins. AD may be aggravated by allergies associated with infections. This study aims to describ...
Risk factors for the spread of parasitic zoonoses among dog owners and their families in rural areas
Introduction. Close animal-human contacts are risky for people, especially in cases of any negligence towards proper veterinary care, deworming procedures, as well as human and dog hygiene. Among possible risks there are...
Realities of ambulatory multi-drug treatment of chronic diseases in rural areas of Lublin Province, eastern Poland – comparison of situations in 2010 and 2013
Introduction. The economic stratification observed for many years among the population in Poland, increasing poverty rates, especially those being effects of the current economic crisis in the country, and the rising pri...