Health Sciences 1002A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Rudolf Virchow, Social Medicine, Biomedical Model
Document Summary
Dominant discourse on health (i. e. way of thinking about health) in north american and western(ized) societies. Often a reason given for good or poor health. This definition assumes that people make conscious decisions about their own health. Relationships between macro-level social structures and micro-level experiences of health and illness. A way of thinking of how society is structure. Manifests in health by seeing repeatedly that income/education/job and health are correlated. Root causes of illness and suffering are in social arrangements in inequalities. Assumed that it is not in the individual but rather in social inequalities. In order to understand current trends in health, both in canada and internationally, we need to know about more than biology or genetics, and more than individual behaviors. Distribution of health and illness is not random. Societal production and distribution of health and illness a. 1. a. material things and living conditions that contribute to health a. 1. b. examples: education, working conditions, socioeconomic status, living conditions, environment a. 2.