Observations of health and illness from the perspective of the lay experiences

Abstract

This article reviews and evaluates the literature on health and illness produced over the last 20 years that has added to our knowledge of lay experiences of health & illness. From an “outsider” viewpoint, as expressed in the Parsonian idea of the “sick role,” comes a crucial and welcome transition to one that examines the experiences of individuals in their everyday lives. Early work by “Bury (1982), Charmaz (1983), and Williams (1984)” has been highlighted for their role in laying the groundwork for a more nuanced understanding of lay experiences that takes into account both micro-and macro-contextual effects. As well as pointing out ‘uncharted territory’ and “the ‘missing voices’ in the medical sociology literature, the paper looks to the future and the past. According to some recently published work in the Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar journals that have opened the way to what may be 21st-century health and illness. The paper concludes with a plea for medical sociologists to be more open to new and unconventional theoretical & methodological perspectives.”