Peculiarities of medical sociology: application of social theories in analyzing health and medicine.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE. To reveal the peculiarities of medical sociology introducing the application of social theories in analyzing public health and medicine. METHODS. Comparative and descriptive analysis of scientific references found and current situation. RESULTS. During the last decade of the 20th century, the discussions about the sociology of health and medicine as separate discipline and its practical applications became more active. Main factors determined the growing importance of discipline were institutionalization of medicine and health care, changing patterns in doctor-patient relationships, different health perceptions, understanding of the influence of social factors on health, cardinal changes in the area of health technologies, consumeristic attitude towards health, appearance of market relationships within health care, and other global phenomena. In sociology, usual social theories such as structural functionalism, conflict, symbolic interaction, poststructuralism, feminist often attempt to explain the changes within health care. There is a relation of medical sociology and other types of sociology having common areas with medicine and health being analyzed in the article; social theories and their application in the field of health and medicine are being introduced attempting to explain the ongoing social changes in both Lithuania and the world. CONCLUSIONS. More and more attention in various areas of medical activities is being paid to the social aspects (both individual and society levels) of these activities, and there is a shift from applied sociology towards medical one. Despite the cessations of the development of medical sociology as separate branch of sciences, the researches of recent years are demonstrating obvious approaching modern research issues and methods, which do exist in contemporary world. Such tendencies show the prompt approaching of the academic community of Lithuania the general scientific standards which are dominating in the globalization-effected world.