SOCIOL 1A06 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Chronic Condition, Talcott Parsons, Medical Tourism
1 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Health, illness, aging, and dying are socially constructed and structured by social categories (i. e. class, gender, race, immigrant status etc) When we compare our situation to other people, and we perceive other people are doing better than we are (have more, have more money, etc), we experience stress and this negatively impacts our health. Women have longer life expectancy but greater morbidity (disease and disability) Aboriginals more likely to experience death from infectious and parasitic disease (linked to living conditions) Over time immigrants experience poorer health outcomes. Immigration process impacts health --> downward social mobility. If you belong to more than one low status group, the impact is cumulative. Physical health declines with age but older individuals experience better psychological well- being. Age of onset of disability --> delayed; people come to a certain age where their health starts to decline. Compression of morbidity thesis: more of us are experiencing more years of disability-free good health.
