Sociology
...ccidents, and even cancers if working alot outdoors. A biomedical approach to health may overlook this link, even though it has important ramifications for the individual. From these social class scalings, it can be deduced that the class scaling system also involves financial standings, as, generally speaking, those in upper class jobs would get paid more than those in working class jobs. As money defines the quality of health care received, this is an important factor. A survey completed in 1992 showed that 67% of those who ceased private health care did so because of the costs. (Donovan, 1995, p 71). This is a prime example how social class determines the quality of health care received, and how an inequality exists. Social class is an important determinant of health, and plays a huge role in the sociological approach to medicine. Ethnicity, defined not only by a person’s race but also by the religions, languages and practices that come with it, is another social process that requires close scrutinising, as it is well publicised that some ethnic cultures have become more susceptible to diseases than others. Medically, this is an important issue to understand when treatment is being determined. An example of this is illustrated in Julian and Easthope (1996, p 104), which talks about Vietnamese and the effects of depression. It states that Vietnamese somatise their depression, and therefore massage rather than counselling would be the preferred method of treatment. Ethnic differences are not only used in the treatment of a patient, but also in predicting what types of illness people are likely to suffer from. It has been illustrated in Donovan (1995, p 15) that male migrants are more likely to smoke. With this knowledge it would seem irrelevant to bombard migrants with information about skin cancer, when health promotion should be looking at anti- smoking campaigns. Ethnicity, as a social process plays a significant role in the delivery of health care, and must be thoroughly analysed in order to provide adequate treatment for all members of a community. Age plays another important role when taking a sociological approach to medicine as it will determine risk factors and treatments to illness. At the earlier end of the life- cycle, mobidity and mortality are mainly due to accidents such as poisoning, burns and drowning (Davy, Parker, Patterson, 1994, p 8). It would appear as though this situation will only get worse with the increased availability of drugs; “Many drugs, previously obtainable only by prescription from a medical practitioner or dentist, have been made available without prescription” (Donovan, 1995, p 72). While accidents are prominent amongst the young, age takes it’s toll and makes the body more susceptible to chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke and arthritis. This is an important issue to consider with Australia’s ageing population. It is estimated that by 2021 there will be a 50% increase in people living beyond 70 years (Davy, Parker, Patterson, 1994, p222). This will result in more illness for the community as people over 70 years occupy over one third of all hospital beds (Davy, Parker, Patterson, 1994, p223). If this is not taken account for, then Australia’s health care system would become severl...