SOCY398A

This course explores the social model to studying health and illness. Meaning(s) and experience(s) of health and illness are socially produced ; are shaped by the interaction of external social environments in which people live (culture and community), and the internal environment (human body). Experiences of health and illness are also influenced by socio-demographic variables (race, class, gender, etc.), highlighting disparities in health and healthcare delivery. The course examines a number of topics of interest to medical sociologists and health care professionals in the field, such as the medicalization of society, determinants of health, social construction of illness, and the social organization of health care.