SOCI 100 - 11. Health and Illness

Canadian Health Care System

A program of a medical care system, first implemented in 1972 by Tommy Douglas with the basic principles of

• Universality

• Portability

• Comprehensive Coverage

• Non-profit

• Accessibility

but OVERprivelages biomedicine and physicians

Social Determinants of Health

• Indigenous Status

• Income and income distribution

• Social Exclusion

• Health services

• Gender

• Disability

• Housing

• Early life experiences

• Education

• Race

• Employment and working conditions

• Food insecurity

• Social Safety Net

• Unemployment and job security

Health of Indigenous Canadians

Compared to non-Indigenous Canadians, Indigenous Canadians have lower life expectancy and higher rates of

• suicide

• trauma

• infant mortality

• diabetes and other chronic diseases

• infectious diseases

Emile Durkheim’s Social Cohesion and Health

Lower rates of suicide in those who are religious, married, and during war-time

• contemporary researchers in this field argue that people who are socially dislocated may adopt (unhealthy) behaviours to adapt to their alienation

Social Exclusion

A process of excluding members of a group from normal interaction and sharing of benefits

The Social Model of Disability

A model that shows the relationship between a person with impairment and the environment, including attitudes, beliefs, climate, architecture systems, and services

• views society as disabling, not the impairment itself

The Biomedical Model of Disability

A model that locates a disability in the individual body