Social Injustice in the US Healthcare System - Research Paper Example

? Inequality in Sociology of Health and Illness in the United s Affiliated Health inequalities in the United States are behind the increasing rates of illness as documented in the recent reports. African Americans have been the victims subjected to racial disparities within the health care platforms. Historical injustice against Africa America, accounts for the present prevailing disparities that is sunk in controversy that is according to the myriad challenges posed on the set policies. During the early days of American history, that is the Reconstruction and Jim Crow era, rampant racism in the heath care sector was at the peak. The 1960s breakdown of the Civil Rights Movement led to a reduction in racism. However, that did not end it at all as in the current time; it has taken a new form that is even worse. Disparities on illness are now commonly experienced in chronic kidney problems, lung cancer, breast cancer, depression among many other serious diseases. This review is sought to investigate and analyze various inequalities in health and illness within the health sector and explore the sociological perspectives underlying the interaction in health and illness in relation to inequalities that encompass the health care fraternity. This review will also explore sociological explanations of the material artifacts behind inequalities in the health sector of the entire United States. Keywords: inequality, health and illness, sociology, United States Inequality in Sociology of Health and Illness in the United States The entire health sector of the United States is immune to the social injustice and various forms of inequality in health care sector. This is weighing a negative impact to a number of societies who are in need of special health care facilities and resources. For ages, the United States is stuck in racism. Despite the Civil Rights Movement that was meant to bridge this gap, more forms of health disparities have emerged, thist has seen a number of societies in desperate need of medical attention, that they are either directly or indirectly denied. The source of Heath Inequality in the United States Documented reports have a wide prevalence of a range of health problems within America. The cause of this gap has been traced back in the in 1960 from a number of phenomena, including cigarette smoking. In a research conducted within the last one decade, documented evidence was revealed of the vast majority of Americans living in soaring health costs with significant decrease of wages and living standards of the people. The underlying heath care inequalities have been experienced in maternal health care, early childhood care, poor nutrition, environmental conditions, inadequate access to medical facilities and health care resources. Sociological perspective on illness is subject to stigma. According to (Goffman’s, 1963), an illness that leads to stigma affects individual’s identity. Stigma can arise from social differences and Stereotyping. (p. 55) The theoretical perspective of social illness according to Bary (1982) suggested the following statement: “Individual illness disrupts the life experience of the sufferer, Illness affects daily structures and all assumptions about life are taken for granted. In this situation, sufferers have to develop a mechanism to manage the disruption that courses the difference or one that’s building a gap. In a chronic illness, disruption leads to destabilization of identity.” (p. 117) Theoretical Approaches of Sociology to Health and Illness A unified perspective of sociology in regard to social reality is not there. The major epistemological divide within the theory of sociology is based on sociologists who argue from an approach of interpretative to social occurrences focusing on the people within the societal boundaries. In these theories, structuralism approaches reflect on the macro level while subjective approaches focus on the micro level of interaction. (Link, 2005) The Functionalist Perspective of Health and Illness This perspective focuses on stability and necessary cooperation within the modern societies. Events in sociology are reflected by their functions which enables continuity within the society. Parsons (1951) a leading sociologist in the traditional society identified illness as a social occurrence rather than a physical phenomenon. According to Parsons, health is a “state of opium capacity of an individual for the effective performance of the roles and tasks for which he/she has been socialized”. Parsons’ view suggested that, the entire actions can be understood in terms of how they help the society to function with appropriateness or spoil it. (p. 12) Under this perspective of functionalism, it is believed that ill people cannot manage to perform social roles in a normal way; hence illness should be controlled from people. In their beliefs, people want to get better from illness as the phenomenon is tolerated only in a desire to get better (Haralambos, 2004, p. 290-296). The Marxist Perspective of Health and Illness According to this perspective, the production of materials is the most important thing for all persons from the humans’ most basic need such as food, shelter, and clothing. The approach of this phenomenon as attributed to the sociology of medicine is the origin of diseases in the entire society. To start with, production levels affect health either through industrial diseases and injuries, stress or through the wider effects of processing commodities within the society. Famous sociologist, (Phelan, 2005) said the following words: The processing poses significant threats to the environment through pollution, persistent consumptions causing direct harm to human health from the processed foods and chemical additives. (p. 32) Under this perspective, health is determined by the level of distribution. In this case, the income is the major determinant of the living standards of people. Income determines where people set a living, their standards of education, access to relevant health care resources, diet and recreation. (Field, 1993 p. 15) Inequality in Heath Distribution and of Health Inequalities in access to health care are engineered by gender, culture, race/ethnicity and class. They have been measured and calculated using a number of outcomes. These include mortality rates, infant death rates, life expectancy, and disability (Asada, 2007, p. 31). Social Class Social issue is a serious matter that defines health inequality. It involves status, employment, wealth and income. According to Barley (2008), the difference in social class in health care is determined by the diet, consumption of drugs, use of immunizations and internal services. (p. 11) Poverty poses health threats. Lower class people are more likely to live in harmful places especially where they are exposed to damp housing and pollution. From heath records, a number of respiratory problems are associated with dampness (Blane, 2004). Social inequalities may affect the emotional status of a person, hence interfering with the body chemistry. For instance, stress conditions give response to biological changes resulting in heart diseases, blood pressure and even diabetes. This is associated with psycho-social factors. Research exploring the association of psycho-social factors to health is established. Stress at work where demands are high and low control results in heart problems (Nazroo, 2008). Gender Gender inequality damages the mental health of women globally. To some extent, men are also affected despite many tangible fortunes they have over women in terms of, access to resources, power, and authority control. There is recognition of gender difference in the health care sector and exposure to illness within the United States. According to the leader of gender medicine Legato (2008), in industrialized countries women live longer than women, but are more exposed to illness than men. (p. 122) Ethnicity/Racism There is a growing volume of evidence documenting ethnic inequality in health and illness in America. Ethnic/ racial prejudice is common in the United States that result to unequal access to medical resources, unequal treatment procedures, and a difference in insurance protection policies. Historical systems and the current social context are the main influence of ethnicity (Bradby, 2003). Ethnicity involves a range of dimensions from race, religion, skin color, nationality, origin, and culture. Bhopal (1997) explains that ethnicity is a euphemism of race. It has been confirmed that, sociologists have failed to differentiate between ethnicity and race. The two seem to have the same meaning but applied in different concepts (Comstock, 2004). Sociology researchers Kjetil and Rodje unrevealed myriad complexities behind ethnicity and the reason it poses a challenge within American nationality in regard to access to and use of health resources that are available. From recent records, a number of immigrants are generally healthy when they land in America, but they lose this advantage over time. The Role of Physicians to Health Care Inequality A limitation of health resources can have far-reaching consequences, and the most fatal being a short living span. According to researchers, there is a close relation between national disparities and the amount of medical resources available in America (Grubaugh). In a situation where medical resources like physicians are scarce, access to health care is difficult for the people (Bruce, 1995, p. 87). Doctors need to join forces in advocating health equality. The entire profession that is recognized and to some extent most trusted in the health care sector can use their voices to raise this concern. Chronic Disease Epidemiology in Health and Illness Despite their medical illiteracy in the United States, patients are expected to comply with incomprehensible drug regimes to fight chronic diseases. They are also subjected to operating complex home medical devices like chemotherapy on their own, or in the absence of a nurse or a medical expert. The barriers to proper health care resources to the chronically ill patients are determined by the provider of the relevant resource (Druss, 2007). Statistics on mortality and life expectancy in the United States never provide a clear picture in the platform of social health inequalities. This is so because the life expectancy of women is around six years more than men yet women are more subordinate to men (Wilkinson, 2008). Summary The sociological theory of perspective in regard to health and illness can be explained from the functional perspective and Marxist perspectives. Both view health and illness from different perspectives. This is because Sociology has no common theory to explain this phenomenon. Inequality in health and illness can be defined by the social class of a person, ethic/racial background or gender. All these play a different role in succeeding inequality in the United States. However, they all meet the common goal of inequality in accessing health care and resources. Due to lack of understanding of the American language, most patients end up taking the wrong medicine for a given disease. Medical illiteracy also plays out in the context of chronic diseases to patients who either cannot access the relevant medical resources or do not understand how to deal with them, especially home medical devices. Conclusion Multiculturalism is the key to equality that can solve all the inequalities underlying in the United States. It will incorporate all people in the same existing society. The health care systems should be equally distributed to all people regardless of their color, language, class or gender. Doctors should learn to use a language well understood by the patients to avoid overdose or treating wrong diseases. These are practical solutions that are fair for everyone. References Asada, Y. (2007). Health inequality: morality and measurement. Toronto, Ontario (CA): University of Toronto Press. Chen, J. & Waterman, P. ( 2010). Decline in U.S. Breast Cancer Rates after the Women’s Health Initiative: Socioeconomic and Racial/Ethnic Differentials. American Journal of Public Health. Cockerham, K. & William, L. (2005). Health Lifestyle Theory and the Convergence of Agency and Structure. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 46, 51–67. Hopenhayn, S. & Martin, B. (1989). Human Scale Development: An Option for the Future. Development Dialogue: A Journal of International Development Cooperation, 1, 7–80. Link Bruce, G., Phelan, J. (1995). Social Conditions as Fundamental Causes of Disease. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 35, 80–94. Lutfey, K., Freese, J. (2005). Toward Some Fundamentals of Fundamental Causality: Socioeconomic Status and Health in the Routine Clinic Visit for Diabetes. American Journal of Sociology, 110, 1326–72. Lynch, J. (1998). Income Inequality and Mortality in Metropolitan Areas of the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 1074–1080. Marshall, S., Kawachi, I. (1993). Social Class Differences in Mortality from Diseases Amenable to Medical Intervention in New Zealand. International Journal of Epidemiology, 22, 255–61. Phelan, C., Link, B. (2005). Controlling Disease and Creating Disparities: A Fundamental Cause Perspective. The Journals of Gerontology, 60B, 27–33. Ronald, C., Herzog, A. (1994). The Social Stratification of Aging and Health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 35, 213–34. Riggs, B., Vittinghoff, E. (1998). Randomized Trial of Estrogen Plus Progestin for Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease in Postmenopausal Women: Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study (HERS) Research Group. Journal of the American Medical Association, 280, 605–13. Sen, A., Alfred, K. (1999). Development as Freedom. New York: Nerd Press. Sheldon, A., Parker, H. (1992). Race and ethnicity in health research. Journal of Public Health Medicine, 14 (2). Song, M., Byeon, J. (2000). Excess Mortality from Avoidable and Non-Avoidable Causes in Men of Low Socioeconomic Status: A Prospective Study in Korea. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 54, 166–72. Wilkinson, R. (1996). Unhealthy Societies: The Afflictions of Inequality. London: Rout-ledge. Wheaton. B, Lloyd, A. (1995). The Epidemiology of Social Stress. American Sociological Review, 60,104–25. Read More