Sociology- Inequalities

Why is health so difficult to define? - determining whether or not someone is healthy is not an easy matter. Health is personal, social and emotional. It touches everyone in an important way. For most people health becomes a topic of interest only in its absence. This is the negative definition of health. The positive definition is much different. It is viewed as a capacity, and optimistic view, where health is as state of well-being. The World Health Organization (W.H.O) shares this definition and characterizes health as ‘’a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’’. (1946). Although the definition sounds good and complete, many critics such as Professor Niyi Awofeso argue that the W.H.O definition of health is ‘’utopian, inflexible and unrealistic, and that including the word ‘complete’ in the definition makes it highly unlikely that anyone would be healthy for a reasonable period of time. Psychology Today (2010)
This Essay will apply sociological concepts and theory to the definitions of health and well-being and show an understanding of terms such as health, ill-health, illness, disease, mental health and disability defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
This essay will use data to describe inequalities in health and care. It will include the Black Report (1980) and the Acheson Report (1989) to highlight health and social inequalities in Britain.
The social model says there’s more to disease than physical symptoms. The social model looks outwards from the individual to the environmental and social factors which disable an individual, for example, lack of access, rights and opportunities. The social model of health challenges the idea that wellness is the normal state of affairs. Individuals with an illness are seen as ‘living with’ their condition instead of having something wrong with them. A/S Sociology (2004)
The biomedical model says health and disease are biological things.