Sociology Of Medicine Research Articles

The main approaches to the study of communication between the doctor and the patient: the appropriateness of philosophical analysis

The article deals with the studies devoted to the analysis of communication between a doctor and a patient in various fields of sociohumanitarian knowledge (bioethics, psychology, sociology of medicine). The author believe that these approaches are organizing the communication based on the utilitarian ideas excluding it from ontological problematics. The author proposes to turn to existentially oriented philosophical thought to find the most effective communication tools between a doctor and a patient. In particular, the concept of existential communication of K. Jaspers can be such an instrument, revealing this process as a dialogue of existence with existence and pointing to the ontological basis of communication between the doctor and the patient. Thus, the article presents an attempt to justify the feasibility of a philosophical analysis of the relationship between the doctor and the patient.

Attitudes of Medical Students Towards the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Sociology of Medicine

Attitudes of Medical Students Towards the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Sociology of Medicine

HEALTH OF THE POPULATION AND HEALTH PROMOTION AS THE OBJECTS OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Problem setting. Studying the factors that determine health shows that medicine is important along with biogenetic and environmental factors. However, the leading factors of health in modern conditions are the level and quality of life of people, the level of their health culture and lifestyle. This increases the role of researches on social and cultural conditions and determinants of health in the framework of not only medical sciences, but also the sociology of medicine, health and disease, wellness studies.Recent research and publications analysis. Development of the sociology of medicine and health has received significant support after the report of the Minister of Health of Canada M. Lalonde, “A new perspective on the health of Canadians”, in which new strategies of forming a culture of public health and improving the quality of life and people’s well-being were proposed. Sociological analysis of the problems of health and the development of healthcare has been significantly developed in the works of such researchers in Western Europe and North America, as R. Dubo, Т. MacKeown, V. Navarro, I. Illich, E. Friedson, I. Zola, S. Szreter, A. Williams, R. Stevens, K. Winter, A. Titmonas, N. Gail, C. Lafontaine, E. Annandale, D. Mechanic, G. Weiss, K. White, S. Blum, D. Black, H. Freeman, S. Levine, F. Wolinsky, J. Gable, M. Elston, N. Hart, J. Travis and others. Such Russian and Ukrainian scientists have contributed to the development of the sociology of medicine and health, as V. Lupandin, A. Izutkin, A. Sahno, J. Lisicin, N. Vinogradov, V. Dil’man, I. Brehman, G. Caregorodcev, V. Dimov, V. Kochenov, I. Zhuravleva, N. Grigor’eva, K. Habibulin, A. Reshetnikov, E. Dmitrieva, N. Antonova, G. Apanasenko, V. Petlenko, L. Sushhenko, I. Gorbas’, G. Slabkij, V. Moskalenko, T. Gruzeva, O. Cimbrovskij, N. Panina, Y. Golovaha, O. Balakireva, N. Ringach, R. Levin, I. Venirchuk, N. Soboleva, G. Chepurko and others.Paper objective. Consideration of the main problems of modern sociology of health and healthcare as the objects of sociological research.Paper main body. Problem field of the sociology of health and medicine has a wide range of different aspects of the study of values, knowledge, ideas, norms, as well as indicators, conditions and factors of health, its pathologies at the individual, group, national and global levels. Sociology studies the development of healthcare system and medical services from an institutional point of view, considering it as a modern complex institutional phenomenon. An important aspect of sociological analysis of this institution are the manifestations of socio-economic, territorial, gender, ethnic inequality in access to medical care, health improvement and health culture. The manifestations of subnational and global gaps in access to medical care and health improvement are considered by experts as the most acute problems of modern health care.Sociological approach involves understanding the inter-institutional relations of the development of medical and healthcare through the study of their economic, political, legal, cultural, vocational, scientific, technical, information and communicative manifestations.In Ukraine, the sociology of medicine and health shows achievements in the empirical field of research and is progressively developing within the framework of academic science and universities in the medical and sports fields. Actual problems of sociological analysis of the state of health and its preservation are studies of causes of high morbidity and mortality, low birth rates, gender analysis of health and causes of morbidity, issues of the quality and accessibility of medical services, the effectiveness of health care reform, prospects for the development of insurance medicine in Ukraine, ways to increase public health culture.Conclusions of the research. Modern sociology makes an important contribution to health management as a comprehensive area of modern science about problems of public and individual health, institutional foundations of healthcare, trends and prospects for the transformation of medicine and health culture in the context of globalization and internetization of society and implementation of sustainable development strategies. The development of sociology of medicine and health is an important element in the scientific, informational and analytical support of effective policies in the field of maintaining health, improving the welfare of society and people’s happiness.

Open Access as a Revolution: Knowledge Alters Power.

The slogan “Gimme My Damn Data” has become a hallmark of a patient movement whose goal is to gain access to data in their medical records. Its first conference appearance was ten years ago, in September 2009. In the decade since there have been enormous changes in both the technology and sociology of medicine as well as in their synthesis. As the patient movement has made strides, it has been met with opposition and obstacles. It has also become clear that the availability of Open Access information is just as empowering (or disabling) as access to electronic medical records and device data. Knowledge truly is power, and to withhold knowledge is to disempower patients. This essay lays out many examples of how this shows up as we strive for the best future of care.

Race as a component of set and setting: How experiences of race can influence psychedelic experiences

Background and aims Set and setting function both as a concept that guides research and practice with psychedelic drugs and as a meme aimed at reducing harm among psychedelic users. Referring to non-pharmacological factors that shape drug experiences, the concept of set and setting was popularized in the West during the mid-20th century. However, little theoretical development has occurred regarding what falls under the umbrella of set and setting since its conception. Methods By bridging set and setting theory with research from the fields of social psychology and sociology of medicine, this review calls attention to how race can contribute the set and setting for a psychedelic experience. Results I argue that psychosocial factors influencing racial differences in mental health also constitute meaningful differences in set. Furthermore, I suggest that the character of race relations in the United States provides a distinct cultural setting for racialized psychedelic users, both in therapeutic and naturalistic contexts. In turn, racial identification may contribute to the variation in framing and interpretation of psychedelic experiences. Conclusion These considerations have important implications beyond understanding non-pharmacological influences on psychedelic experiences, including developing protocols for clinical applications of psychedelics, educating future practitioners, and meeting the needs of diverse patient populations.

THE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF APPLYING MEDICAL SOCIAL ON-LINE SERVICES IN MANAGEMENT OF REHABILITATION OF PATIENTS OF TRAUMATOLOGICAL ORTHOPEDICS PROFILE

The issue of digital technologies implementation in practice of health care becomes one of the priorities in the conditions of resources deficiency. The digitalization of health care system is economically expedient as it allows achieving particular medical and social results without significant infrastructural investments. The on-line communication possesses significant potential in this regard. The digital health care using on-line communication democratizes access to medical services and allows to qualitatively remodel the existing model of interaction between patient and health care system. In the sociology of medicine, the sociology of rehabilitation is selected to investigate such issues as social and organizational context of rehabilitation, social orientation of medical care, role of health care personnel and other interested specialists. The article substantiates the efficiency of on-line communication in management of rehabilitation of patients as exemplified by the Monitoring and Feedback System designed and introduced in the Research Institute of Traumatology, Orthopedics and Neurosurgery of V.I. Razumovsky Saratov State Medical University.

The peculiarities of the development of sociology of medicine as the interdisciplinary scientific direction

The article examines the main trends in the development of sociology of medicine as a branch of sociology. As it is pointed out by the author, nowadays sociology of medicine is an actual scientific course about social aspects of health and illness, medicine as a social structure. All these items are important under the modern social development. Based on the analysis of the main stages in the history of sociology of medicine, the author notes the contribution of physicians to this process and practical meaning of early studies. The accumulation of empirical knowledge on health led to the theoretical comprehension, that was done by American sociologists, such as T. Parsons, E. Freidson, E. Goffman, H. Becker, R. Merton, and others. The author pays special attention to the study of T. Parsons “The Social System”, in which a structural and functional analysis of medicine as a social institution was presented. After it became obvious that the sociology of medicine can develop not only as an applied field of scientific research, but also a theoretical one. As A.V. Reshetnikov, W. Cockerheim, S. Bloom note, the process of institutionalization of the sociology of medicine ends in the second half of the 20th century in Europe and America, at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries in Russia. The main trends in studies around sociology of medicine are based on such theoretical approaches of sociology as symbolic interactionism, structural functionalism, social constructionism. In conclusion, the author underlines that, the sociology of medicine, like any field of scientific knowledge, reacts dynamically to the ongoing changes in social reality, its structure, social institutions. As a result of this influence, the research field of the sociology of medicine is expanding. Among the topical issues are social inequality in health, the features of the development of digital health, new practices in health, transformation of the value of health in the post-industrial society, pharmaceticisation, biomedicalization, etc.

Socjologia farmaceutyków jako „subpole” socjologii medycyny

Celem artykułu jest nakreślenie obszaru badawczego w ramach socjologii medycyny, który socjologowie brytyjscy nazwali socjologią farmaceutyków. Zawierają się w niej: 1) procesy medykalizacji i farmaceutykalizacji, 2) społeczny kontekst tworzenia regulacji dotyczących leków, 3) praktyki marketingowe przemysłu farmaceutycznego, 4) oczekiwania społeczne dotyczące innowacji farmaceutycznych, 5) konsumpcja leków. W artykule omówiono powstanie i rozwój socjologii farmaceutyków oraz dokonano przeglądu badań mieszczących się w tym obszarze. Przedstawiono także argumenty dowodzące użyteczności terminu „socjologia farmaceutyków” w badaniach nad społecznymi konsekwencjami korzystania z leków oraz procesem farmaceutykalizacji.

From loss to repair. A study of body narratives in patient claims for medical injury.

In this article we examine the body's status in the complaints that patients filed with a compensation agency. Taking a corpus of letters, we analyse the way in which the patients mobilise their bodily experience from the angle of the damage for which they demand compensation. To this end, we articulate an approach in terms of the sociology of complaint with an approach rooted in the sociology of medicine, health and illness. To analyse the body narratives, we use the notion of loss. We highlight the manner in which patients approach their losses as 'losses in practice'. These losses are defined by the patients putting forward the concrete experience of a body harmed by the treatment received, and by their formulation of expectations in terms of compensation. We therefore identify four ways in which the reality of the damaged body is given a form in terms of expectations of repair: the 'body-producer', the 'body-ecological', the 'body-help' and the 'body-self-image'. Our analysis adds to studies on the status of the body in care and in complaint by showing: the specific influence of the enunciative situation, the plurality of patient evaluations and their temporal dynamic.

РИСК-КОММУНИКАЦИЯ КАК ФАКТОР ИНСТИТУЦИОНАЛИЗАЦИИ МЕДИЦИНЫ

Целью статьи является анализ риск-коммуникации как фактора институционализации медицины с позиций социологии медицины. В качестве методологической базы использовалась парадигма научной рациональности, группа формально-логических методов, системный подход и структурно-функциональный анализ. В результате проведенного анализа определено, что к специфике рисковой деятельности в рамках современной практической медицины относится многосубъектная структура. Взаимодействие двух основных субъектов – врача и пациента, дифференцирующихся по статусу и по комплексу функций, имеет форму особой коммуникации – коммуникации риска. Показано, что риск-коммуникация в медицине, основы которой закладываются в процессе образования, возможна при объединении ценностного и практического подходов к ситуации морального выбора и с условием организации деятельности в рамках субъект-субъектного отношения. Применение этих походов позволит оптимизировать образовательные траектории как на додипломном, так и на постдипломном уровнях подготовки специалистов медицинского профиля.

Changing Sociology of Medicine in India

Like economy, religion and politics the health and illness is a part and parcel of the any society. In sociology, the relationship among magic, religion and medicines have been discussed deeply. The Indian sociologists have done in-depth study of the social character of health and sickness. Truly speaking the field of medicine comprise a number of individuals interacting with each other influenced by the local health culture and the society. In this way the concept of health, illness and medicine will be largely influenced by the particular type of culture mainly. Hence health and illness should be studied in a holistic way from the lens of the socio-cultural factors. Each and every individual will develop the health seeking behavior or health care seeking behavior over the period of time. Sometime the health seeking behavior may be similar or different. In this background the Indian sociologists have tried to study the social dimension of health and illness and response of the society.

The sociology of medicine: vectors of scientific search (according to results of conference)

-

The goals of sociology of medicine in studying technologies of “human enhancement”

The technologies of “enhancement of human” are issue of discussion at large due to absence of clear-cut conception in society and professional community concerning related with risks for human individual and society. For the present, these technologies just began to be applied only in medicine. Therefore, namely medical professionals are this social group that is to be more informed in the area of “enhancement of human” and hence more adaptive to their application. The paradox of inconsistency of level of technologies and level of professionalism at their application includes high social risks to be foreseen and to be eliminated. To implement these task is possible with means of sociology of medicine.

The self-safety of patient in surgical practice: sociological aspects

The article considers from positions of sociology of medicine relatively new for Russian medical science notion “self-safety of patient”. Such concrete sociological techniques as voluntary anonymous questionnaire survey and siple questionnaire were applied. The determination of notion is proposed from sociological and legal points of view. The level of competences from the side of patients of surgical clinic hospitalized in routine procedure for surgery treatment is investigated. The certain organizational activities in context of considering problem promoting prevention of occurrence of conflict in the system “physician-patient” are presented. The results of implemented study make it obvious that patients, from one hand, are insufficiently aware about risks related to surgical intervention and from the other hand they have extremely low indicator of self-safety preferring for-no-reason to trust attending physician and at that to impose on him whole responsibility for the results of treatment.

The communicative approach in modern practices of health preservation as exemplified by schools of health

The analysis of possibility of applying communicative approach to investigation of institutionalized practices of health preservation within the framework of sociology of medicine considering new paradigm of 4P-medicine is presented. The health preservation is determined as a process of preservation and promotion of health requiring increasing of value attitude to one self's health and health of one's people on the basis of awareness of personal responsibility. The interpretation of health preservation is possible at the level of macro- and micro-processes. In the last case, the complex of subjective processes is involved permitting to implement analysis with application of phenomenological tradition and tradition of social engineering significantly enhancing research perspectives of development of modern practices of health preservation.

The justice as key principle of humanitarian model of quality management of health care system from position of sociology of medicine

The problem of detection, measurement, evaluation and elimination of inequity and injustice related to health continues to be unresolved in all countries. The study was carried out to evaluate situation related to quality of medical care in primary health care at the regional level and to determine means of its amelioration on the basis of humanitarian model of system of quality management from positions of sociology of medicine. The materials of territorial foundation of mandatory medical insurance of the Chelyabinskaia oblast were taken as basis for analysis. The sampling consisted of 54 383 acts of expertise of quality of medical care, including 42 998 expertises of medical care provided by pediatricians and 61 860 by therapists. The design related to type of clinical audit of medical documentation of completed case in polyclinic practice. The significant differences were established concerning rate of defects of quality of medical care in oblast centers, large cities, towns ans rural regions. The phenomenon of sub-optimization of quality of medical care in towns, and rural districts during period of financing increase of health care is established. The results of study testify availability of injustice in issues of health care of population residing in unfavorable social economic conditions. To support justice related to health the concept of humanitarian model of system of management of quality from positions of sociology of medicine was developed.

De-Privatizing Self-Harm: Remembering the Social Self in How to Forget

This article reads Malu De Martino's 2010 film Como Esqueçer (How to Forget) as a case study in self-harm as a mode of expression and self-inquiry. Drawing on disability and queer theory, psychoanalysis, and sociology of medicine, the author argues that How to Forget charts a "crip" epistemology of self-harm and theorizes a "social self." That is to say, the film models an orientation towards self-harm that offers a coalitional and social therapeutic understanding. Based on this reading, the author suggests the application of practices of knowing-with, or knowing-in-relation as "cripistemology" to a broader therapeutic, research, and lay context.

Legitimating the illegitimate: How doctors manage their knowledge of the prestige of diseases.

Although the sociology of medicine has developed a rich body of research on patients' experiences and how they handle their illnesses, few analyses have examined doctors' concepts of disease. Building on previous research findings that doctors consider some diseases to be more worthy than others, this article focuses on how these differences in disease prestige are articulated and made logical. We presented a focus group panel of doctors a table of 38 diseases rank-ordered by prestige according to the results of a previous quantitative study of doctors. We prompted a lively discussion among the doctors by asking them whether they were familiar with this rank order. In analysing how they managed the prestige knowledge presented to them, we focused on how they handled the value conflict between this informal rank order and the formal value of equality of treatment. Using positioning theory as a theoretical premise and a methodological tool, we found that the focus group participants created positions in their conversations that allowed them to present and discuss views on disease prestige that would be considered illegitimate if they were declared directly. However, they were able to do so without being forced to take a personal stand. Thus, we demonstrate how informal disease rankings can be produced and reproduced.

From sociology in medicine to the sociology of collective health: contributions toward a necessary reflexivity

This text looks at the difference between sociology in medicine (collaborator of health institutions) and the sociology of medicine (independent of health institutions). If consistent, sociology in medicine should become a sociology of medicine. As an example, it is shown how the study of the social determinants of health and illness begins by assuming non-problematically the ontological reality of health and illness, but ends up problematizing the very concept of health-disease, demonstrating that the study of health determinants also requires the study of the determinants of the social construction of disease. The urgent necessity of objectifying collective health itself is argued. By applying sociological tools we can examine the so-called objective factors in the determination of health and disease, the socially constructed nature of these categories of knowledge, and the struggles and power relations that determine whether or not such categories are viable.

THE METHODOLOGICAL BASES TO ANALYSIS OF SELF-PRESERVATION BEHAVIOUR OF CHILDREN AND ADULT POPULATION

Aim was compared estimation of the study methodology of self-preservation behavior among children and adult population. Nowadays the increasing attention is paid to the study of self-preservation behavior (SPB). In this connection the social estimation of the population health gains the increasing scientific and practical value. The children and adult population SPB study is made conditional on that the problem of its formation is rather actual as culture of self-preservation – the important means in protection of future generation’s health. The SPB is interdisciplinary concept, is considered in various branches of scientific knowledge and is a study subject of many public disciplines: medicine, economy, sociology, psychology, etc. In terms of a medical direction the culture of self-preservation becomes the important means of the modern person in protection of health. Also along with many sciences economy gives big attention to a problem of the person SPB allocating economic motives which induce to a choice of SPB strategy. In terms of sociology the SPB strategy promotes achievement of the estimated purposes connected with increase or preservation of the reached social status. In a socially-psychological direction the SPB is described how propensity of the individual to negative or positive SPB forms defining its aspiration to live as it is possible longer or refusal of such aspiration. Field of application: medicine sociology, public health and health care.