North American Medication
In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in complementary medicine, and indeed alternative medicine. Moreover the number of professionally trained therapist and practitioners has increased giving the patient/client a better choice to their own method of treatment. In this essay a critical assessment of the view that ‘patients use of complementary and alternative medicine, can be understood as part of the individualization of responsibility for health’ will be made and argued, that there are many aspects which influence the uptake of such therapies. Responsibility for health has changed and this will be discussed by examples of sociological theories.
Medical sociologists have been previously concerned with illness rather than health. Functionalists such as Parsons (2011) suggested illness was a deviance and had the effect of disruption on society which had to be controlled. Parsons used the sick note to illustrate that the sick person was excused from performing normally, but this had to be kept to a minimum and the sick person had to want to get better. The function of the medical profession was to socially control the use of the sick notes to those genuinely sick (Webb, Westergaard, 2004). However in 2013 the working person aims to keep working during some illnesses or at least limit the time spent away from work. To do this it involves the patient/client to taking some responsibility for keeping healthy and reducing the time actually being ill. Growing up in North America, studying medicine; we are taught to be more reactive to illness as to being becoming more proactive in keeping a healthy lifestyle. Therefore by choosing to use alternative medicine, it could provide an additional method which may combat illness and help speed up recovery and also, prevent illness in general (Lett, 2000).
Possible reasons why patient/clients use alternative medical practices are more complex than just increased availability. According to Baarts and
Medical sociologists have been previously concerned with illness rather than health. Functionalists such as Parsons (2011) suggested illness was a deviance and had the effect of disruption on society which had to be controlled. Parsons used the sick note to illustrate that the sick person was excused from performing normally, but this had to be kept to a minimum and the sick person had to want to get better. The function of the medical profession was to socially control the use of the sick notes to those genuinely sick (Webb, Westergaard, 2004). However in 2013 the working person aims to keep working during some illnesses or at least limit the time spent away from work. To do this it involves the patient/client to taking some responsibility for keeping healthy and reducing the time actually being ill. Growing up in North America, studying medicine; we are taught to be more reactive to illness as to being becoming more proactive in keeping a healthy lifestyle. Therefore by choosing to use alternative medicine, it could provide an additional method which may combat illness and help speed up recovery and also, prevent illness in general (Lett, 2000).
Possible reasons why patient/clients use alternative medical practices are more complex than just increased availability. According to Baarts and