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BTEC Level 3 Health and Social Care - Unit 10: Sociological Perspectives Assignment
Health And Wellness Promotion (SPST 211)
Guilford College
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Unit 10 Assignment Kinsey Crosby 20087314
Task One
Evaluate the role of sociological perspectives, models and concepts of health, in relation to
service provision in the Royal Surrey County Hospital
P1: Explain how sociological perspectives are applied to the understanding of health and
social care
Sociology is the scientific study of human behaviour. This includes socialisation, which is the process of learning the usual ways of behaving in society, whether that is through the family or through education and the wider world, understanding the different cultures that co-exist in society, accepting the norms and values that shape the way we are expected to behave in society and acknowledging the different roles that each individual takes on every day to help the wheels of society turn to keep it running.
There are different social groups that sociologists study and how they influence our values, attitudes and ways of life and they also study the impacts of racial, ethnic and religious groupings and of sexual orientation and gender. They are focused on how there are different inequalities within these groups as a result of prejudiced views, stigmas and stereotypes that society has.
Social stratification describes the different hierarchies in society and social class describes a person’s social and economic standing in society. Social class is linked to several aspects of our lives such as educational achievement, lifestyle choices and our health and wellbeing. Social class can have an impact on our employment status which affects how much income that a family would receive. This can potentially lead to not having enough money to afford transport or access to health and social care services when needed. Marxists strongly believe that social class affects a person’s ability to live in a manner that meets all of their holistic needs. Marxists argue that individual behaviour is shaped by society but it’s the economic system that defines society and an individual’s place within it. Social class affects an individuals’ behaviour as they may not have resources to access healthier foods, which tend to be more expensive, so they go for easy, convenience foods, which are high in fat, sugar and salt, as they are cheaper and easier to prepare. However this affects an individual’s chances of developing health and wellbeing issues as a result of their poor diet. Although, it is also influenced by whether an individual regularly exercises as this can improve or decline an individual’s health and wellbeing.
An individual’s race and ethnic or national origin can have a major impact on health and social care and an individual’s behaviour depending on different customs. Although the majority of Surrey’s population is made up of 90% of white British or other white groups (as of the 2011 census), there are more BAME groups starting to make up the population of Surrey. People of BAME groups tend to experience discrimination more than those of white ethnic groups simply because of prejudiced thinking of the individual as a result of the way that they look. This results in the individual being placed in lower income jobs as it is believed that they are not capable of filling the roles and expectations of that of higher paying jobs. If individuals feel that they are being discriminated or marginalised by the society that they live in, then they will feel uncomfortable going out into the community, socialising and taking part in activities as a result of feeing unwelcome and the “odd- ones out”. This can have a negative impact on their social development as they would become isolated and lonely in the community which can then have a negative effect on emotional, physical and their intellectual development. This then can have a serious impact on an individual’s health and
wellbeing but, due to feeling marginalised and discriminated against, they may not reach out for help and support from a health and social care provider.
An individual’s gender influences and shapes their behaviour and affects their health and wellbeing based on the roles and expectations that society sets an individual based on their gender. There are massive stereotypes in society which influences, and to a certain extent dictates, the behaviour of different genders based on backward thinking about what a gender “should and should not do”. An example of this is when an individual starts to struggle with their mental health and wants to reach out for help before ending up in a crisis. When women reach out to health and social care services about their mental health and want help, they are welcomed in and encouraged to talk about what is going on in order to help them receive the right support so as to help their emotional development, which can improve their holistic needs and the rest of their PIES development as they start to withdraw within themselves. Whereas men really struggle to even acknowledge that they need help due to the belief in society that they should be “strong and macho and can’t struggle with their mental health”. This really affects their emotional development as it starts to eat away at their self- belief, their self-confidence and their identity and before they realise it, they are in a crisis and need to have the support from health and social care services to prevent loss of life. If and when men do reach out for help and support, before they reach the crisis stage, they feel that they are not taken seriously enough because of the beliefs in society that men cannot struggle with their mental health and therefore stop reaching out for help. In 2019, with 4,303 victims, men made up ¾ of the number of suicide deaths registered in the UK. Feminists would argue that more equality is needed in the health and social care sector in order to make men feel more comfortable acknowledging that their struggling and reaching out for help and support, without fear of prejudiced or discriminated against.
Society’s behaviour towards an individual because of their age can be an influence on them and can affect their health and wellbeing. In many societies, an individual’s social status increases with their age, however this cannot be said for the UK as despite the fact that the UK’s society is ageing and there are more and more older people in society, there is widespread evidence that older people are the subject of discrimination. Both the Age Discrimination Act 2006 and the Equality Act 2010 helped introduce changes in 2011 that make it illegal for an individual to be forced into retirement because of their age unless there is clear proof that it is necessary for the health and safety of both the individual and that of others in the setting. Studies have shown that there are higher levels of poverty among older people, compared to the rest of the population, with 1 in 6 or approx. 16% of pensioners in the UK living in poverty. If an older person is in retirement but are not enjoying it due to struggling to adapt to not working, having less money due to loss of income or struggle to get out and socialise with friends, then their physical, intellectual, emotional and social development can be heavily impacted. This can be a result of individual’s withdrawing from their social lives and spending time with family members, friends or former colleagues, having a lack of access to social activities or a lack of money. All of which can have an impact on emotional development as the individual will gradually become more and more withdrawn and could potentially develop health problems or if they already experience health problems could make these worse by not accessing health and social care services. Older people’s health and wellbeing can also be affected by their own beliefs and thought processes. Many believe that when something that needs medical attention appears, they would only be a “nuisance” or “a bother” or that they were just being “dealt with quickly and weren’t really cared about” and so they do not seek the help that they need because of being so stuck in their ways and then they end up worsening what it is and then really needing help, potentially even needing to call the emergency services due to the severity of it.
P3: Compare the biomedical model of health with an alternative model of health
The biomedical model of health has dominated Western-industrialised societies since the mid-19th century and focuses on the physical or biological aspects of disease and illness so strongly supports the nature argument. It identifies health as the ‘absence of disease’ and focuses on diagnosing and curing individuals with specific illnesses and other medical conditions. Comparatively, the social model focuses on the social, economic and environmental factors that influence our health and wellbeing, including the impact of poverty, poor housing, diet and pollution and therefore fully supports the nurture argument.
Due to the biomedical model of health only focusing on whether there is an issue with physical health, the holistic needs are ignored and so therefore health and care providers are not providing a quality of care that meets the standards of the six c’s. This results in health and care providers not meeting the expectations of duty of care, as set out by the Care Act 2014. Using this method of treating service users alone, health and care providers are not taking into consideration other factors that influence health and wellbeing. This can include lifestyle, quality of housing that is lived in, employment status and education. These can all be a catalyst for various health issues to develop and therefore it is not just as a result of an individual being highly susceptible or predisposed to the condition.
P4: Explain the contribution of concepts of health, ill health and disability to service
provision in a local health and social care setting
The World Health Organisation defines health as “ a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. ” For health services, this means that they need to use both the biomedical model of health and the social model of health in order to meet the holistic needs of a service user. An individual does not need to have something physically wrong with them in order for them to be in ill health. Each individual is unique and so therefore when they have a condition or is in a situation that is preventing them from fulfilling their role in society, they cannot be treated in a generalised manner and health care providers have to consider other needs of the individual as well. This helps improve service provision as it ensures that all service users receive the right care and support that suits their needs.
When an individual is in poor health, they are unable to help the wheels of society going and are unable to fulfil the roles that are set out for them. Functionalists argue that when an individual is in “ill health”, they take on the ‘sick role’. This creates new responsibilities for health care providers and the individual, although both have the same aim of getting the individual’s holistic health restored in order for them to retake their place within the function of society.
Disability helps improve service provision as it brings attention to the diverse needs of individuals, to the main institutions within society. The government has introduced legislation like the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Equality Act 2010 to help those with a disability feel safer and more welcome in the community and within society. These acts help ensure that those with a disability are able to access the services they need whether this be through the instillation of ramps and lifts, widening doorways or providing someone with an advocate when they are unable to communicate effectively.
Not all service provision is equitable though due to a system of care and treatment provision referred to as “postcode treatment”. For those who are in a lower class or poorer area this can mean that they might not get offered the same level of treatment as those who live in a higher class or wealthier area. This can have detrimental impacts on individuals who are in the age 21-30.
Individuals of this age are in the peak of their physical condition. However, if they cannot access sufficient health and care services, their health and wellbeing can be severely impacted which can influence how an individual behaves and how much enjoyment an individual is finding in life.
Furthermore, service provision can be described as inequitable due to the different stigmas and stereotypes that society has. This is abundantly clear when looking at mental health services. As mentioned in P1, women find it much easier to reach out for help from their GP or other mental health services when they have an issue or realise that they are struggling. However, for men, this is much harder. This is a direct result of the stigmas in society that projects on men the ideas that they need to “man up” and that “big boys don’t cry”. This can have an influence on those who are elderly and feel lonely as they “do not want to bother anyone” or they do not want to be seen as breaking away from what is expected for them. As a result elderly gentlemen who are feeling lonely and depressed, in particular, are made to feel that they must suffer in silence and do not tell those around them that something is wrong. There are also issues with men feeling they are unable to access services related to breast cancer as it is widely believed that it is only women that experience it. This links to feminism as they would argue that there needs to be more equality in service provision when it comes to mental health and breast screening as so many men suffer in silence due to the fear of being made fun of for not “meeting the standards society sets for them”.
P5: Explain how social inequality affects different groups in society
The different groups in society face inequality every day. This can be a result of the institutions that make up society such as the government, religion, the health service and education. If an individual that is aged 21-30 and is from a lower-class background or area, they are more likely to experience discrimination and inequality from the institutions as a result of labels given to those individuals by society. A common belief that is held within society is that those from a lower-class background are unable to do anything but the jobs of a manual labourer and so are treated in a negative manner when they apply for a job that requires more skills and intellect. Furthermore, this can be seen as a continuation of the system that is in place in the education system as those from a lower-class background or are from poorer areas are more likely to find themselves in the bottom sets for English, maths and science. This can then affect the physical and emotional health and wellbeing of an individual as it affects their self-esteem and self-worth. The government also tends to overlook those of lower-class backgrounds when making legislations which can be seen in the increasing rate of homeless and unemployed people there are in the UK. This is strongly supported by the Marxist arguments as they believe that members of a lower-class background are oppressed and kept down by the bourgeoisie which creates the imbalance in power dynamics between the haves and the have nots.
Another popular belief that is held by society is that once an individual reaches a certain age, they are unable to carry out any of their roles and responsibilities. Individuals should feel that they are allowed to be a part of the community without fear of discrimination. Typically, when an individual reaches a certain age, institutions start to see them as having fulfilled their purpose and start to fade them out of work and including them in society as a form of preparation for what is due to happen in the natural part of the life cycle. Functionalists would argue that when an elderly person steps away from their roles in the main institutions in society, they are just filling out the role that has been pre- determined for them by society. They have to make way for those of younger generations in order for everything to keep moving in society. Functionalists would also argue that there have to be differences in the power dynamics between certain groups as without this, society would not function as well as it should which could cause further imbalances and inequalities.
As already stated above, people in society are living longer and well beyond the retirement age. Growing older is a natural process and while it may lead to loss of hearing, restricted mobility, poorer eyesight and slower reactions, it generally does not create significant problems. However when there is insufficient support and routine activities become challenging, this can be the cause of a significant problem. So for elderly individuals if they are living longer and for the majority are remaining healthy and are living active lives, they are less reliant on health and care services which brings GP visit numbers down and the number of people living healthy lives increases. However, for those who are unable to live active and healthy lives, this balances out the number of those in good health and the number of those making visits to their GP. Elderly individuals also tend to experience a variety of mental health issues but they feel that they need to “suffer in silence”. This can be a result of either simply not knowing what support is available to them or it is because of the way that they were raised and so do not feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings. This can also impact on the patterns and trends for that age group in terms of health and wellbeing as there are more and more people feeling isolated, lonely, anxious and depressed after they step away from their working life and struggle to adapt to their new lifestyle.
For individuals who are from a lower-class background and, in particular, are aged 21-30, their health and ill health levels can be really impacted by the class that they are in or come from. As mentioned above, those in lower classes are seen as not being able to carry out roles and responsibilities that are higher paid and require more intellectual skills due to the stereotypes placed upon them by society that they are not good at anything but manual labour. This then affects the numbers of those who are in health and those who are in ill health. Generally, the number of those in ill health outweighs that of those who are in health and this a direct correlation of their employment status. As they are only carrying out manual labour jobs, they tend to be paid a much lower wage than someone who is a manager and is sat in the office. This then means that they are unable to afford access to reasonable quality standard housing, a diet that is rich in all of the nutrients that they need and are unable to access the health and care services that they need due to either not having transport or feeling that they cannot ask for help as they will be judged for where they come from. This all negatively impacts health as the conditions that they live and work in are not suitable and they are not able to receive the care and support they need to help live happier and healthier lives. As a result, the ill health numbers for the community rise and, potentially, so could the number of suicides in the area which increases the mortality rates for that number of the population.
Patterns and trends, inequalities within society, different cultures, beliefs and the different social groups all have an impact on whether we are ill or not. It can have both a positive and negative impact. Although there have been changes made within the institutions of society to improve health and social care provision, there needs to be more done to reduce the amount of inequalities that are experienced by the different social groups in order for society to work better and include everybody as social trends continue to evolve.
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BTEC Level 3 Health and Social Care - Unit 10: Sociological Perspectives Assignment
Course: Health And Wellness Promotion (SPST 211)
University: Guilford College
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