"Sociology analyses the social determinants of health and utilises a number of concepts and theories in orderto understand health and illness.Draw on two sociological theories to explain the social...

Running Head: SOCIOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH    1
SOCIOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH        6
SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF HEALTH AND ILLNESS
CHARLES DARWIN UNIVERSITY
HSC210 HEALTH SOCIOLOGY
Table of Contents
Introduction    3
Sociology and the Significance of its Perceptions    3
Biomedical Model of Health and its linkage to the Sociological Determinants of Health    4
Two Sociological Perspectives or Theories    5
Examples and Implications    6
Conclusion    7
References    8
Introduction
The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes ‘Health’ not only in terms of mere absence of disease, but also as a condition of absolute well-being from the physical, mental and social aspects (WHO, 2018). ‘Sociology,’ as the name suggests, deals with the study of the various facets of society, the social structure, its constitution and development, the prevailing social relationships and functioning of the society (Mitchell, 2017). The key thesis, this essay focuses on, is the explanation and interpretation of the social determinants of health based on the pervasive sociological theories as well as ideologies. The essay also attempts to distinguish social analysis of health from the analysis of health based on the established Biomedical Model.
Sociology and the Significance of its Perceptions
Illness’, on the other hand, pertains to the state of poor health wherein the physical, mental and social health of an individual is negatively impacted. Various fields of studies have strived to better understand the concepts of Health and Disease, ‘Sociology’ being one of them. As mentioned by Stevenson (2018), a theory comprises of multiple assumptions and postulates, which are devised for the better comprehension of situations. Sociology, as previously mentioned is the science of society and Perspective or Perceptions, stand for a viewpoint. A Sociological theory consisting of different approaches of analysing society is referred to as Perspective. On the whole, Sociological perceptions help individuals to form an outlook towards the community, in which they reside, hence, helping them to perceive the society better and readily adapt to it.
A Determinant refers to a deciding factor. In society, there are certain determinants that are used in analysing and establishing the health conditions of individuals. According to the WHO, the social determinants of health are largely dependent upon the circumstances and situations, in which an individual is born, grows and develops, learns to thrive, lives, works and finally grow old (WHO, 2018). The factors influencing these conditions, in turn include the availability and accessibility to basic resources like food, shelter, hygiene, sanitation as well as money and other opportunities. These factors play a role not only globally across nations, but also at grass root levels.
As stated by Adler et al. (2016), the social determinants of health also shed light upon the unjust and avertable contrasts prevalent in the health conditions within different regions of the same country as well as the differences among developed, fast-developing and under-developed nations. The reason behind this is the huge disparity is the social and economic conditions of the people. According to WHO 2003, the attributes of social gradation, structure, early life, social exclusion, work, social support, addiction, alcohol and drug abuse, food transportation are the basic social health determinants among others to be used in critically analysing implications of social perceptions in health and illness.
Biomedical Model of Health and its linkage to the Sociological Determinants of Health
The Biomedical Model of Health revolves around the biological and physiological aspects of health as well as illness. It is generally associated with diagnosis and detection, treatment and cure of the disease to restore the state of normality in individuals. It is generally carried out by doctors and health professionals. In this model, as mentioned by Keshavarz Moahmmadi (2017), the causative factors of the illness is not the focal point of the model but the treatment is the cynosure of the model. The model has helped improve quality of life and life expectancy as it provides opportunities for development of new innovations and advancements in technology. This is an advantage, as the dependency on technology and requirement of skilled personnel improves the costs heavily.
However, as...