6. Socio-medical approach to health and disease; social history of health and disease

Socio-medical approach to health and disease. Social history of health.

Health can not be isolated from its social context
The last few decades have shown that social and economical factors have as much influence on health as medical interventions
Today more than ever before, there has been an increasing recognition that successful application of medicine to individuals and groups involves more than scientific or biological knowledge
It involves an understanding of the behavior of individuals and groups who live together and also share certain values of life
Medicine and the social sciences are concerned with human behavior
Specialists in health, clinical medicine, epidemiology are all seeking the cooperation and help of social scientists in understanding problems such as the social component of health and disease, “illness behavior“ of people, efficient use of medical care and the study of medical institutions
Medical sociology is a specialization within the field of sociology
Its main interest is in the study of health, health behavior and medical institutions

As a specialized field, it was first proposed by Charles McIntire in 1894
it is defined as “professional endeavor devoted to social epidemiology, the study of cultural factors and social relations in connection with illness, and the social principles in medical organization and treatment“
Broadly speaking medical sociology includes studies of the medical profession, the relationship of medicine to public health, and the social factors in the etiology, prevalence, incidence and interpretation of disease