Health Sociology

Running Head: HEALTH SOCIOLOGY
Health Sociology
Name
Institution

HEALTH SOCIOLOGY 2
Health Sociology
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Theories and Perspectives in Neo-Liberalism in Health.................................................................3
Neo-Liberalism in Healthcare System in Australia.........................................................................4
Health Outcomes for Indigenous Australians..................................................................................7
Biomedical Model........................................................................................................................8
Neo-liberalism Impact on Health Practitioners...............................................................................9
Conclusions....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................12

HEALTH SOCIOLOGY 3
Introduction
Promoting the health standing of Indigenous peoples is a long-term challenge for
governments in Australia. It has been found that the gap in health standing among non-
indigenous and Indigenous persons in Australia remains unsuitably broad. Sociological theories
play a leading in providing the current state of healthcare systems towards meeting the health
needs of the citizens. The Australian health system has been cited as being influenced by the
new-liberalist political agenda that affects the health outcomes of indigenous peoples in
Australia. Significant determinants of Indigenous health inequality indicate the lack of equal
access to primary care, along with inferior standard of healthcare infrastructure among the
Indigenous peoples when contrasted with other Australians (Humphrys, 2014). Whilst it is
essential to promoting Indigenous health outcomes, these concerns remain major problems in the
country. Whilst Australian Indigenous conceptions of health have been described as holistic, as
well as collective, modern approaches to healthcare services and research are frequently
premised on the logical and reflective subject of neoliberal discourse.
In the latest years, healthcare research in Australia has exposed an inequitable burden of
disease among the Indigenous persons, which is attributed to social along with economic
marginalization. The ideology of neo-liberalism endeavours to restructure the practices plus
policies of government through conceiving the issue as coherent, independent, choice-making
plus accountable (AIHW, 2015). The paper will examine the neo-liberalism politics on providing
care to Indigenous persons in Australia, as well as the impact of neo-liberalism on health

HEALTH SOCIOLOGY 4
practitioners by examining different sociological perspectives that include the institutional theory
and biomedical models.
Theories and Perspectives in Neo-Liberalism in Health
Social theories and perspectives have an important role in offering an explanation in the
current inequalities in the healthcare systems, especially in Australia. The current healthcare
system in Australia is characterized by huge disparities between Indigenous along with non-
indigenous peoples because of the power politics that have been brought by the current neo-
liberalism in Australia (Gracey & King, 2009). Theories of institutions general seek to explain
how the social units, like organizations, for example, by state or the professionals and internally
by pressures from within these organizations or units themselves. Significantly, institutional
theory stresses the connections between organizations-the social processes that tie each other-
recognizing the homogenizing forces linked to institutional fields (Goldberg, 2012).
The sociology theories and perspectives have seen to explore the different health
inequalities to ensure that the current gaps are explored and develop the necessary policies
needed to address the health gap among the Indigenous. These theories and perspectives clearly
address the gaps among the Indigenous. The health effects of social inequality have established
the individualistic biomedical model insufficient for explaining health inequalities. The
sociological theories have provided a better understanding of the neo-liberal views in its
inadequacy to meet the wants of the Indigenous persons making it clear on the role of the social
determinants among the Indigenous peoples in Australia (Chapman, 2014).