Biomedical Model
Thirty years ago, people may have defined health primarily in doctors, hospitals and drugs. Today people have a much broader image of what it means to be healthy. People’s views of healthiness include; healthy eating, taking vitamins and regular exercise, to therapy, sensible drinking and healthy social relationships.
Sociology of health is not confined to the narrow, area of medicine. According the World Health Organisation(WHO), health is ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. This is all-inclusive definition focuses on a positive view of health, rather than regarding health merely as not being ill. This definition could be argued as being overly idealistic and too broad as, in reality, most of us are not completely physically, mentally well at any one time. Using this definition we are unhealthy if we have a headache or are a bit fed up. Another problem is that it sees health as an absolute term in that it fails to take into account the notion that, within any given society, people understand different things by the concept of health – that it can change over time and between cultures. According to Dubos(1987) good health involves being able to function effectively. This implies that being healthy or ill are relative experiences/ concepts. From this standpoint, health means very different things to different people and the health of an individual can be judge against, for example, their gender, age and occupation. For example, a young, male professional athlete may well have a very different conception of health and wellbeing compared with an elderly, wheelchair-bound female. This view that health is a relative concept will be explored in the subsection on the social construction of health and illness.
Illch(2002) proposes a much more critical definition of health. He suggests that we can only function effectively and experience health and wellbeing if we can come to terms with and
Sociology of health is not confined to the narrow, area of medicine. According the World Health Organisation(WHO), health is ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. This is all-inclusive definition focuses on a positive view of health, rather than regarding health merely as not being ill. This definition could be argued as being overly idealistic and too broad as, in reality, most of us are not completely physically, mentally well at any one time. Using this definition we are unhealthy if we have a headache or are a bit fed up. Another problem is that it sees health as an absolute term in that it fails to take into account the notion that, within any given society, people understand different things by the concept of health – that it can change over time and between cultures. According to Dubos(1987) good health involves being able to function effectively. This implies that being healthy or ill are relative experiences/ concepts. From this standpoint, health means very different things to different people and the health of an individual can be judge against, for example, their gender, age and occupation. For example, a young, male professional athlete may well have a very different conception of health and wellbeing compared with an elderly, wheelchair-bound female. This view that health is a relative concept will be explored in the subsection on the social construction of health and illness.
Illch(2002) proposes a much more critical definition of health. He suggests that we can only function effectively and experience health and wellbeing if we can come to terms with and