Notes:
Medical sociology: the sociological analysis of social interactions, organizations and systems related to health, illness, and medicine
Health: as a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
Social stigma: a negative label characterized by one or more personal traits that form a stereotype about the individual
Medicalization: the process by which non-medical problems become defined and treated as medical problems
Medical industrial complex: the multi-billion dollar enterprise consisting of doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, insurance companies, drug manufacturers, and hospital supply and equipment companies
Chronic diseases: long lasting health problems that normally cannot be cured and only controlled, such as heart disease, cancer, and strokes
Community Supported Agriculture(CSA): a system in which individuals purchase shares of food in advance of production from local farmers
Sick role: the rights and responsibilities of those ill
Deprofessionalism: a decline in the power of a profession
Infant mortality rate: the number of deaths of children less that one year of age per 1,000 births
Hispanic mortality paradox: the conditions by which hispanics live longer despite lower income and health care access
employment-based health insurance, a system in which an employer pays all or part of the health insurance premiums for the employee
Medicaid, a government program established in 1965 funding healthcare for qualified persons living below the poverty level and/or who have disabilities
Medicare, a government program established in 1965 funding healthcare for the elderly
Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) is part of Medicaid and provides health insurance for low-income children
socialized medicine, medical and hospital care funded for all citizens by the government
Mental illness: abnormal thought, behaviors, emotions, or actions that are a threat to the individual or society
Herd immunity: a population\\\\\\\’s ability to resist disease as a result of high percentage of its members being immune
physician-assisted suicide, a process in which a doctor provides a terminally ill patient with the means to end their life at the time of the patient’s choosing.
medical tourism, the practice of traveling to another country to seek healthcare.