Being sick is a role that offers the patient many advantages both directly, in terms of being absolved from undertaking many daily activities if necessary , and indirectly, through additional financial and other resources that may be offered.
Why is the sick role important in medical sociology?
The Sick Role
It is a concept created by the American sociologist Talcott Parsons in 1951. Parsons was a functionalist sociologist who argued that being sick means that the sufferer enters a role of “sanctioned deviance” . ... Therefore this deviance needs to be policed, which is the role of the medical profession.
What are the rights of the sick role?
The sick person is exempted from carrying out some or all of normal social duties (e.g. work, family). The sick person must try and get well – the sick role is only a temporary phase. In order to get well, the sick person needs to seek and submit to appropriate medical care.
What are the essential features of the sick role?
1. The sick person is expected to see being sick as undesirable and so are under the obligation to try and get well as quickly as possible. 2. After a certain period of time, the sick person must seek technically competent help (usually a doctor) and cooperate with the advice of the doctor in order to get better.
Why is the sick role useful?
The sick role derives certain expectations that represent the norms appropriate to being sick , with its primary function to control the disruptive effect of illness in society by ensuring that those who do become ill are returned to a state of health as quickly as possible.
What is meant by the sick role?
The sick role describes the expectations of a person who is regarded as suffering from some illness . For example, it is expected that a person with health problems will seek medical advice and treatment. Once defined as sick, a person may take time off from work.
What is the sick role example?
Sick-role behaviour is an ‘activity undertaken for the purposes of getting well by those who consider themselves ill’ (Kasl and Cobb, 1966). It can involve, for example, seeking medical advice, taking time off work and relinquishing responsibility for one’s own care to friends or family .
what is a social benefit of adopting the sick role? people who do so are not looked down on or morally judged if they do not work .
What is stage of illness?
The five periods of disease (sometimes referred to as stages or phases) include the incubation, prodromal, illness, decline, and convalescence periods (Figure 2). The incubation period occurs in an acute disease after the initial entry of the pathogen into the host (patient).
What does the idea of a sick role suggest quizlet?
The sick role evokes a set of patterned expectations that define the norms and values appropriate to being sick , both for the individual and for others who interact with the person.
What is the role of the patient?
“patient” are to follow the orders they receive . They are cast into the role of recipient and so they are not expected to give orders or to take the initiative in any respect.
What is the illness experience?
In the sociology of illness experience it is pointed out that illness experience develops in connection with experiencing somatic discomfort , this process occurring in the context of influences of culture, society and socially accepted norms and values.
What are the 5 stages of illness?
- incubation.
- prodromal.
- illness.
- decline.
- convalescence.
What is the difference between the sick role and the illness experience?
Individuals who are diagnosed with illnesses may assume the sick role, exhibiting the expected behaviors for an ill person. ... While the sick role refers to outward behaviors, the term illness experience describes how an individual adjusts to interruptions to their health .
What is a characteristic of the convalescence stage of illness?
Convalescence is the gradual recovery of health and strength after illness or injury . It refers to the later stage of an infectious disease or illness when the patient recovers and returns to previous health, but may continue to be a source of infection to others even if feeling better.
Which disease is called when it lasts for very short period of time?
The disease which lasts only for a short period of time is called a chronic disease .
