General provisions

The course is given as a course within a programme.

Entry requirements

University degree of at least 180 credits, in sociology, social science, medicine, nursing, or another area relevant to critical studies of health.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students are expected to be able to:

• Outline socio-economic explanations for health inequalities in morbidity and mortality and describe how social divisions (including gender, diversity, disability, sexuality) influence health and health outcomes,
• give a basic account of sociological theories of behaviour and interaction as applied to the doctor-patient relationship and critical approaches to health behaviours,
• describe the importance of theories of embodiment in understanding suffering and disability,
• discuss critical approaches to healthcare organisation drawing on a range of theoretical models, including medical imperialism, managerialism, consumerism and how such challenges have affected medical practice in various settings,
• consider migration in the context of globalization and its implications for models of health in rich and poor settings, with worked examples such as medical tourism and the spread of new pathogens (such as swine and bird flu),
• be able to assess critically the usefulness of social theory in published research that investigates a health problem using both quantitative and qualitative analytic approaches, and
• be able to discuss the merits of social theory in the context of examining primary empirical material, of both qualitative and quantitative nature, in analysis exercises.

Content

This course introduces sociological approaches to health, health care and medicine that have offered critical perspectives on understanding illness and suffering from subjective and structural perspectives.

There is an emphasis on understanding and comparing theoretical models of health, illness and healthcare so as to critically assess research. These theoretical approaches are emphasised for qualitative and quantitative approaches alike, and explore different forms of research (evaluation research, primary and secondary analysis, comparative research).

In addition to a range of theoretical approaches, different applications are covered, to show how theories such as embodiment are applicable across cultural and social settings. Critique of substantive research theoretical and practical perspectives will be encouraged by means of the assessment strategy.

Instruction

The methods of instruction employed in this course include: standard teacher-led lectures; interactive lectures; seminars involving teacher-led analysis and critical thinking exercises; teacher-led computer labs; student-led presentations of the results of their own independent study.

This course will use both teacher-led and interactive methods of instruction in seeking to show how theoretically informed understanding of health explains empirical problems of clinical and public health relevance.

Assessment

The assessment is based on:

• Successful completion of a data-lab manipulating quantitative data sets,
• Successful completion of an exercise based on a qualitative data excerpt,
• The oral presentation of a critique of a paper drawing on social theory,
• A short essay account of a theoretical approach to a health problem.