Sociology: Exploring Health, Healthcare, and Power in Australia

This essay delves into the sociology of health and healthcare, examining various perspectives to understand the complex interplay of social structures, power dynamics, and individual experiences within the Australian context. The essay begins by introducing the multidimensional nature of health and healthcare, setting the stage for an exploration of functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist approaches. The functionalist perspective highlights how health and healthcare contribute to societal stability and functionality, while the conflict approach critiques inequalities in healthcare access and provision. The symbolic interactionist perspective focuses on the social construction of health and illness, emphasizing how meanings and realities are negotiated. The essay further explores communication within healthcare settings, the impact of hierarchy and power on healthcare practitioners, and the implications of these dynamics on patient care and societal well-being. The conclusion synthesizes these perspectives, emphasizing the need for empowerment and addressing power imbalances to improve healthcare outcomes.

Running Head: Sociology
Topic; Sociology
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Introduction
Health refers to the level of people’s physical, mental and social being as well. In other words
health is multidimensional model. According to sociological perception, the three dimensions
mentioned above can be integrated as far as for individual to be in good condition, that is,
physical and poor mental health. On the other hand health care can be said as the facility of
medical services to protect, diagnose and nurse health complications. Sociological explanation of
health and health care gives a comprehensive understanding than any explanation given
elsewhere (Straus, 2009 ).
The functionalist approach
The functionalist perspective explains that good health and effective medical care are genesis of
essential for the better society’s capability to function. For instance the Australian society have
to be well equipped with medical facilities for the people to participate in daily activities which
contribute to the growth of the country. For the nursing department in the country, better
facilities and working condition should be adhered to for the health workers well-being. The
approach also advocate that ill health facilities provoke the performance of nurses in hospitals
who are part and parcel of the society since if the community is have health issues, societies
functionality and steadiness grieves. More specifically, the approach emphasizes the cause of
premature deaths are as the root cause of nurses and health occupants failing to fully contribute
to the social function. Thus it lead to poor return to the community as a result of various effects
like birth, child care, and socialization of native who ends terminating their life early. Likewise,
the poor medication marks another dysfunctional for the society (McEwan, 2010). The people
who got ill encounter problems in becoming healthy and individual who are seem to be healthy
become ill and vice versa.
For the individuals to be declared sick he/she must follow the hierarchical order to be diagnosed.
First, the sick function. The patient must be considered justifiably sick and some viable
expectations must be met. Nurses should not perceive the patient as the main cause of their
health problem. Instead they should advice on the eating model such as high-fat food, leads to
obese and likely to be affected by heart attack. The nurses should induce less sympathy than if
they experienced good nutrition and maintained good health as well. Secondly, sick people
should appeal to get well. In other words they should seek medical facilities from nurses
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(Armstrong, 2011). The approach provide that if the patients fails to seek medication they may
tend to fake their health problems hence not regarded as a rightfully ill by either people or nurses
in the society. The third hierarchical considers patients should be confirmed by nurses or any
physician or health care professional and adhered to follow the instruction for them to recover.
Contrary, if they fails to follow the prescription they tend to go against the sick function. If all
the above riles are not followed the patients may tend to taken care by family, friends and other
nurse in particular hence exempted from the total society functions (Hirsch, 2011).
To the nurses they have duties to perform as far as hierarchy and powers are concerned. First
they are responsible for the wellbeing of patients in that to diagnose them, ways of treating them,
and support them to improve health wise. For the above to be met the nurses should integrate
with the sick through enhancing cooperation in the health interview and instructions provided by
them. Sociologist have viewed the nurse-patient relationship as hierarchical in that nurses
provides the orders- in terms of giving advices and instructions, and the sick people follows the
them as well (Swazey, 2012).
The functionalist approach also advocate that the crucial part of people’s good health is meant to
enhance society’s health though the idea has been criticized. The main critical view been that the
thought of sick function only applicable more to short term health problems rather than chronic
sickness. Though the approach explanation is short-term, the long term illness patients can be
accommodated in the sick function permanently. The functionalist ignores that social
backgrounds influence the likelihood of people becoming ill and eminence of therapeutic care
they receive. Similarly, the hierarchical inherent in the nurse-patient relationship is approvingly.
Many scholars have advocated that the sick people need to bridge the gap of the hierarchy by
involving themselves in more questions of their nurses or physician and by taking a more
energetic role in upholding their health wellbeing (Rome, 2014).
The conflict approach.
The conflict approach explains the inequality in the value of health and health realm provision.
As explained above the quality of health care differs widely across the globe as well as in
Australia. The society’s being composed of inequalities along the social composition, race, and
ethnicity and gender positions are replicated in our health and health care as well. Individuals
from form less advantaged class usually have no powers hence their bargaining clout in the
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health facilities is reduced unlike the powerful or the elites. The less powerful then are likely to
be affected by illness out of poor health condition they live in and equally, they are provided
with inadequate health care making it hard for them to get better health facilities. The vastness of
health care is enough evidence to portray social difference (Contandriopoulos, 2012).
The approach also critic the determinations by nurses to control the practice of health facility
while at the same time defining different social complications as medical ones. Nurses’ have
doing so as way of motivation on either good or bad. Nurses on the positive side have believed to
be most qualified health practioners to treat any problems and diagnose the individuals’
problems. Detrimentally, nurses have been recognized that their economic effectiveness will
enhance. Furthermore, when they thrive in describing social problems and in dominating the
treatment of the complications become diagnosed, their possible social origins consequently
potential resolutions are abandoned.
Nurses may honesty feel that health substitutes are no enough, ineffective or even harmful, but
they also recognize that the use of these substitute is economically dangerous to their practices
(Booth, et al., 2010).
The Symbolic interactionist approach
The symbolic approach explains the health and sickness are based on social constructivism. The
approach emphasizes that various physical and mental circumstances have little or no goals
reality but instead are painstaking healthy or sick environments only if they demarcated as such
by a society and its community members. In relation to hierarchy and power, the approach views
the truth in different ways. For the nurses it is therefore possible to attend to various voices.
The theory also consider to the position of nurses on the issues to do reveal realities but construct
and reconstruct their patients as informed and knowledgeable and vice versa sick people also
reconstruct their nurses.as caring or vague. The scholars of social constructivism take credit of
the expectations and values backgrounds and the functions of the society and the clinic
concerned. .the factors that influences the social constructivism ranging from time, space
political factors that concerns the power of patients as well as for nurses. The other relation on
these factors is that they translate to anxiety as expressed and constructed (Calnan, et al., 2012).
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Hierarchy and power in the social context and personal context compete for both the patient and
nurse. The beliefs, values, language and habits are part of the identity rather than detached and
changed hence increases doubting questions on concerning the extent of free will and
independence.
Communication in health sector. In any social context communication is the backbone of the
operations done in those institutions. The exchange of symbols translate the interpreting the
behavior and intentions of others. In health care in Australia communication differs with the
ranks of the nurses. For instance, senior clinic officer delegate duties to the juniors and vice versa
the juniors take any information as feedback to their supervisors. Communication is a two way
traffic process involves a negotiation among the practioners within the health care. The
negotiated order that develops therefore concerns the individual construct get to recognize
themselves and include others in their capabilities they have and the circumstances they find
themselves. This translate to the understanding among the individuals as far as power is
concerned (Fine, 2013).
To be specific, the power in medical and health care field encompassing and originate as
rational scientific practice as related to the work of nurses in the hospital and health care.
According to the social constructivism the reproduction of biomedical dissertation. For the
scholars the relationship between power and the nurse knowledge is unavoidable and inextricable
one. The scholars has singled the two term (power and knowledge) as any allowance of power
that need to be increased in knowledge. The particular systems of power requires specific
foundations of knowledge. Nurses play a mediating function between authorities.
Scholars have also discussed the place of nurses in the observation and administration of
populations and their bodies. The context of power in the health care is seen as closed coercive.
It is facilitate the capacity or resource, that is, it brings into being the subjects nurses, and sick as
well as the portent of the patients illness. Thus, whilst there is a recognition of the function of the
state in the reproduction of the nurse’s dominance, rather for the capitalist state it may serve
interest for the nurses. The approach denies the medical practitioner particularly the nurses’
preferment strategies have that has raised directly from a strategy process prompted by the
Australia authority which has its own actual sets of attentiveness and objectives.
Impact of hierarchy and power to health practitioner
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The discussion have raised the following impacts to the health care in relation to power and
hierarchy crescendos. The use of power to prevent their independence that is power shifts
between private and public sector providers. Inspite of the stiff policies from the Australia
government to help more shared decision, there is slight evidence that this is happening. The
main trust ideas re4lated to the duties perceptions, demonstrated competence, and the imperative
of effective communication for the development of trust over the time. The interactions between
trust and the function of perceptions went beyond understanding each other’s roles and
professional identity. The level of trust related to the acceptance of each other.
The shipping of primary and community-based totally fitness offerings that crosses
organizational boundaries provides a layer of complexity to inter-professional relationships.
The position of and within professional corporations and offerings are changing. The uncertainty
and vulnerability companion with those adjustments has affected the level of trust and distrust.
Conclusion.
In a nut shell the paper cover the both power and hierarchy in terms of fitness care as well
as clinical expert. The fantastic point in the discussion the view of functionalism which underline
key component of the power as the end result of the masculinity and in direct opposition to being
concerned that is seen as the essence of nursing and historically aligned with feminist. Many
nurses may be reluctant to access or use power due to view strength as
masculine characteristic that is inconsistent with their self-identities as ladies. Consequently the,
a contributing to nurses persevering with loss of strength. The scholars maintained
that electricity is obtained via the system of empowerment. The scholars’ views empowerment
as bobbing up from social systems inside the place of job that enable that enables people to
be happy and greater powerful at the service. Others students argues relationships and now
not merely from the parceling out manipulate, authority, and have an effect on. Empowerment
has been conceptualized from many distinctive perspectives. The empowerment. The
empowerment has established that nursing need to be exceptionally encouraged and are able
to inspire and empower others by sharing the resources of strength. Via empowerment the nurses
faces much less burnout and less paintings stress. Despite empirical proof of the high
quality results of empowerment for nursing exercise,
a historic angle is helpful in understanding the cause nurses stay disempowered. as long as nurses
view electricity as most effective having manage its personal destiny, nurses
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will preserve to war with problems of energy and empowerment.
Several powers that a nurse re2uire include manage over the content of practice,
and manage over competence. The continued loss of control over both the content and context of
nursing work suggests that power remains an elusive attribute for lots nurses. strength is
an attribute that nurses have to cultivate which will exercise more autonomously because it is
through strength that member of an career are capable
of boost their status, outline their place of information, and gain and preserve autonomy and have
an impact on.
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References
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Booth, B., Zwar, N. & Harris, M., 2010. A complexity perspective on health care improvement and reform
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Contandriopoulos, D., 2012. A sociological perspective on public participation in health care.. Social
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Fine, M., 2013. Dependency work: A critical exploration of Kittay’s perspective on care as a relationship
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Hirsch, L. L., 2011. Medical Sociology. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 23(4), pp. 321-
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