The Health of the Society in Relation to Epidemic Diseases (Essay Sample)

The Health of the Society in Relation to Epidemic Diseases
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Introduction
As we will observe throughout this paper, there is a connection between sociology and health of a society. This research paper will require a universal approach when it comes to analysis of the health epidemics and society. The main reason for this kind of choice is that societal factors and their influence tend to vary all over the world (Porter, 1999). This can be established by looking at the various key diseases of different places in the world. We will sociologically examine and compare the diseases while basing our findings on the conventional medicine, economy and culture of that region (White, 2002). HIV and AIDS can be used as a common ground for comparing with other regions. It will be problematic in some regions while in some the effects will just be upon a lesser percentage of the population. It is through the use of sociological factors that we can understand the existence of the above discrepancies (White, 2002).
It is a known fact that differences exist when it comes to pattern of health and illness across the globe. It has been characterized by the reduction of mortality rates among the industrialized societies. In most situations, the life expectancy rate tends to be higher in the developed societies as compared to the developing and underdeveloped societies (Porter, 1999). With global emphasis on changes in the health care system, it has become more vital than ever for one to research and understand the sociology of health and these diseases in the society (White, 2002). It is worth noting that, changes in technology have led to the rise of insurance firms the dynamism in people's social life with relevance to healthcare also changes (Porter, 1999).
Literature Review
What is the connection between the society, diseases and the healthcare system? It will be worth to note that, after national security a majority of nations worldwide spend most of their money in improving the healthcare and the education system (Lindemann, 1999). This is a clear indicator that the society has a major role to play in the healthcare industry. In order to care, we need to understand that the spread of diseases is usually influenced by the socioeconomic status of a person, his believes and some of the cultural factors. Thus, a sociological perspective will always be important in explaining the external factors that led to a particular demographic to contact the disease (Lindemann, 1999).
In Kelvin White's book, “An introduction to the sociology of health and illness” we get to explore the author finding of the role the society and its demographic has played in spreading of the diseases. His ideas are further supported by Porter Dorothy (1999). Here, we are able to learn that in some local societies in the South America continent has the luxury of only depending on the traditional healers. With Chile been the only country with the best healthcare system among the nations in the South Americas. A look at the journal, “the sociology f health and illness” its authors have mainly focused towards the sociology of disease (Littman, 2009). Here, it can be observed that medical researchers may be able to collect statistical data on the disease but without a sociological perspective on the disease, it will be hard for them to understand how they contracted the disease. it should be noted that, the sociology of medicine has its limits. Its main concern will always be the relationship between the health professionals and the society. A further look at the epidemiology and paleopathology (Robert 2009) of earlier diseases we are able to learn that in early Europe, lack or availability of health was simply attributed to biological or natural conditions.
Method
When it comes to epidemic diseases and their spreading in society, as we had initially observed, there is a need for a sociological perspective. There are three important variables that we will have to look into; conceptualization, study of specific measurements and their social distribution, and the need to justify the patterns of the diseases (Lindemann, 1999). It is through looking at these variables that we will be able to understand epidemic diseases (HIV/AIDS) through a sociological lens. Take the example of researchers examining bad health patterns (Lindemann, 1999). They will be able to find out if health affects the different social regulations and controls. The next important point will be, during the measurement of the distribution of health and diseases; we will need to look at the government's official statistics and specific community's survey (Babb, 2007). The importance of these statistics will be that they are able to offer a clearer picture on who has been treated and how willing and able were they when it comes to using the available health services (Lindemann, 1999).
Community's survey is helpful for they us see how individuals rate their health while shading light on their view when it comes to their disease. Nonetheless, when it comes to the developed society, mortality statistics tend to take the place of morbidity statistics (Lindemann, 1999). The main reason has been that a majority die from degenerative conditions. With the age that they die, it helps shed more light on their whole life health (Lindemann, 1999). This is known to create limitations when it comes to looking at the patterns of the diseases, but it is the duty of sociologists to look at different data and be able to analyze the distribution. Usually the developed society will tend to have a higher life expectancy as compared to the developing societies. Here, we will be able to find an association between mortality, age and gender (Littman, 2009). With the general assumption been that the older members of the society are always susceptible to sickness and eventually death, with women known to live longer than men and the only setback been that they are prone to bad health (Lindemann, 1999).
Data
As discussed earlier, statistics of this paper can mostly be derived from community surveys and data collected by the WHO (World Health Organization). Data can be collected trough the following mean, Observation, interviews, internet and use of a questionnaire. In order for us to understand the correlation between health and illness and the society we will need to employ the above methods to collect the data. These above steps make it easier to draw an exact boundary between medical sociology and the sociology of medicine (Littman, 2009). This will be seen in findings and results section. Epidemic diseases (HIV/AIDS) data can be easily collected by interviewing individuals infected or affected by it. The internet can also come in handy when analyzing and comparing the different type of data (Littman, 2009).
When it comes to observation, this technique will involve recording the behavioral pattern of the person's been observed in their work place, homes, and objects and place the observations in a systematic manner. This method of data collection is important and is applicable when it comes to collection of relevant information needed in the implementation of a final report in relation to the disease and its effect on society (Babb, 2007). Questionnaires to come in handy and as the name suggest they are catalogs that have prewritten queries that are intended to help in the collection of the relevant data in our area of concentration. It has proved useful in gathering the independent variables that are important when it comes to analyzing the distribution of the disease (Littman, 2009). HIV and AIDS is a worldwide epidemic and is the best disease that can help us understand its spread and effect on different societies (Babb, 2007). The internet will therefore come in handy, both as data gathering or collection tool and in the measurement of our data variables. Its help will mainly range in analyzing different demographic areas with different economic backgrounds. This is relevance to distribution of disease and the health of its people (Babb, 2007).
Findings and Results
It will be worth to note that from the data collected, we will be mostly looking at the expected disparities in health when it comes to people of different social classes and ethnicity in the society. Persons in the medical profession will be more interested in putting the importance of health related behaviors than sociologists. A...