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
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 than 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, and Medicare, a government program established in 1965 funding healthcare for the elderly, the disabled, and people receiving long-term treatment with dialysis
socialized medicine, medical and hospital care funded for all citizens by the government
mental illness (HP), abnormal thoughts, 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 a 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.