Impacts of the Sociological Theories and Interactionism on Health Care Institution - Essay Example

? Impacts of the Sociological theories, Functionalism, Conflict and Interactionism on Health Care Task: Sociological theories highlight crucial concepts that affect activities of social institutions. Social institutions interact with the society directly while offering their services to humanity. This means that sociological concepts have considerable impacts on social institutions. Often sociological theories provide strategic approaches capable of addressing dilemmas that emerge within social institutions. This necessitates that developing knowledge about the impact of sociological theories on the social institutions and particularly health care is essential. The practice would promote effective application of sociological theories, which would improve the performance of social institutions. Impacts of the Sociological theories, Functionalism, Conflict and Interactionism on Health Care Institution. Introduction Sociological theories are essential in understanding the organization of social institutions. Furthermore, the theories explain the relationship of people within these institutions while addressing controversial issues that undermine the performance of social institutions. Sociological theories occupy an imperative position in the health care institution. For example, social theories have enabled physicians enhance their treatment procedures by developing models that value the effect of social factors in the health care. Sociological theories such as functionalism, interactionism and conflict provide succinct concepts that promote activities within social institutions. According to Wall (2010), sociological theories are central to health institution’s operations. This is essential because the social life and factors such as morbidity and mortality affects health procedures. Furthermore, social factors define the vulnerability of the society to diseases. Different sociological theories affect health institution in diverse ways especially by stating diverse ideologies. These theories affect both the efficiency of organization’s procedures and the relationship between service providers and recipients. Particularly, sociological theories explore the relationship between the community and health. Evaluating the impact of sociological theories would promote knowledge about health institutions. Sociological perspectives seek to examine the rate of illness to explain the differences in prevalence among diverse groups. Sociological theories state that health institutions should be sensitive to factors such as class, ethnicity and gender. Consequently, these theories lead to the stratification of health institutions, which creates inequalities in health systems. Effective health procedures should consider the patient’s background because social environment affect people’s health. The need of offering such an environment has substantial affects on the organization of health institution. Furthermore, sociological ideas highlight that community’s culture defines people’s understanding of illness and their attitude towards treatment procedures (Weitz, 2012). Particularly, a culture builds the society’s acuity towards the idea of being healthy. This indicates that establishing knowledge about a certain culture can help one understand the social perception of that society towards health and healing. Accordingly, health institution mainly develops culture or behavior suited for a group. This becomes essential because customized procedures are more effective than generalized procedures. This means that an institution may offer segmented services among its clients. Moreover, healthcare procedures should be flexible because the culture is dynamic (Wall, 2010). The society’s culture is likely to define the involvement of social institutions in the healthcare delivery. For example, poor communities have worse health challenges than richer societies. Furthermore, some illnesses are common among richer societies. This means that health institutions are likely to present different strategies while handling members from each of these groups. The prime sociological perspectives on healthcare center their ideas on the functionalism, conflict, and interactionism theories (Mooney, Knox & Schacht, 2012). Functionalism theory affects healthcare institution in various ways. Durkheim developed the concept of functionalism and the theory seeks to establish how the community stabilizes. The theory notes that society comprise of diverse parts that come together to fill various needs. Furthermore, the theory states that each component of the society affects people’s welfare. These parts mainly develop diverse institutions in the society that includes family, economy, healthcare and education (Weitz, 2012). The theory argues that different parts of the community relate with each other, and every institution affects the entire society negatively. Healthcare institution is vital in the society because it defines people’s welfare. Healthcare institution affects the society’s family life, economy and politics. The functionalism theory primarily argues that effective medical care is necessary for ideal functioning of the society. The theory maintains that sick individuals should be exempted from their route duties because they need time for nursing their illness. Additionally, the theory states that physicians and patients have a hierarchical relationship. This means that physicians offer instructions while patients should follow them accordingly (Mooney, Knox & Schacht, 2012). The functionalism theory argues that ill health impairs individuals’ capabilities of conducting their responsibilities. This means that a situation of unhealthy individuals impairs the functioning of the society. The theory argues that health care institutions should not blame sick people for their conditions. However, the theory insists that patients should present a desire of getting well and institutions should not recognize individuals who lack such desires. Functionalism theory also states that sick persons should obtain a confirmation of their illness from physicians (Wall, 2010). Consequently, individuals who lack an endorsement from medical experts or ones who fail to comply with the doctor’s guidelines have no legitimacy of performing the “sick role.” Furthermore, the theory guides that patients who satisfies essential expectations should receive treatments, which is necessary for the sick. The theory also affects the physician activities by guiding that doctors should diagnose the patient’s illness and select the appropriate approach for managing it, but patients should follow physicians’ guidelines to facilitate the procedure (Weitz, 2012). Functionalism theory indicates that healthcare institution is a social entity that functions to develop the welfare of societal members. Consequently, the concept highlights that failures in health institution systems affect an individual’s well-being and the health of other institutions. The theory indicates that societal changes affect health. Mainly, functionalism affects health care institution by regulating births and death rates (Manza, Sauder & Wright, 2010). The life expectancy of individuals’ increases and birth rates subsides as the society develops better living condition. Societal developments also make the prime causes of deaths change from infectious diseases, maternity mortality, and infant deaths to noninfectious and chronic illness. This means that in a developed society, the health care institution is likely to fight diseases such as cancer, arthritis, and heart diseases among others (Mooney, Knox & Schacht, 2012). In the similar way that social changes affects health, health challenges may enhance a social change. For example, the manifestation of HIV and AIDS among the U.S gay population promoted gay unity and advocacy for the gay rights. Furthermore, increased concern over the impact of exposure to tobacco smoke promoted the legislation that banned smoking of tobacco in the public. These scenarios indicate the impact of functionalism on healthcare institutions. Healthcare institutions should respond to society’s challenges because they are bound by the responsibility of protecting people’s welfare. Consequently, the institution’s procedure and regulations are likely to comply with social forces and demands (Wall, 2010). Functionalism theory advocate for consensus as a vital component of developing strong institutions. The theory indicates that disorganization within an institution leads to changes because different components that form a society should adjust to establish a stable state (Wall, 2010). This means that a breakdown of one element of the society causes detrimental effects on others resulting to social challenges. A change that occurs in the society may have constructive or destructive consequences. A destructive change undermines stability within an institution because it leads to loss of vital virtues and deter people from meeting their needs. In contrast, a constructive change promotes stability within the society (Weitz, 2012). This indicates that the functionalism theory determines the effect of various components of the society in the establishment of stability. Furthermore, the concept determines how various social components contribute to dysfunction of institutions and their stabilities. The theory affects health institution by providing guidelines that aim at avoiding dysfunction within its procedures. For example, the theory enhances the identification of functioning elements within the healthcare institution, while describing the dysfunctional ones. These reduce challenges in the institution leading to the establishment of strong systems. Furthermore, the theory develops the role of healthcare, which is an essential social institution (Manza, Sauder & Wright, 2010). The functionalism theory develops attention of the unintended and occasionally unrecognized detrimental outcomes of social habits. For example, the utilization of antibiotics in household products and prescriptions has generated a severe unintended outcome. The practice has promoted the appearance of antibiotic resistance bacteria. Consequently, treating most infectious diseases is becoming challenging because these infections are responding poorly to ordinary antibiotic treatment. In this sense, resistance has become a severe public health threat with substantial impact on health care procedures. The functionalism concept proposes that healthcare institutions should routinely examine unintended outcomes to modify programs where necessary (Mooney, Knox & Schacht, 2012). Karl Marxist proposed the conflict theory and the concept suggests that different groups in the society have access to unequal resources. Consequently, the theory indicates that any population has two social classes that include the poor and the wealthy. The theory focuses on political, social and material inequality within social groups (Wall, 2010). These elements mainly develop class conflict that emanates from hatred and antagonism. Consequently, the conflict theory examines how the status, authority, wealth and beneficial motives affect healthcare institution. Primarily, the poor group has more health problems because individuals from the group have limited access to quality health care. The two social classes have diverse interests and often, the rich takes advantage of the poor (Manza, Sauder & Wright, 2010). Differences in interests prompt social groups into battling for the limited resources. The powerful group utilizes authority and economic strategies to exploit the inferior group. Consequently, social conflict theory influences healthcare institutions by creating inequalities in health procedures. Conflict theory argues that wealth has a potential of affecting health procedures. The poor are mainly the victims of heath systems because the superior group endorses procedures that favor it. For example, the rich group affects health related policies and procedures by lobbying for the support of policies that protect them (Wall, 2010). Furthermore, the powerful group uses its financial contributions to support political candidates who impose their desired policies. The positions adopted by the powerful group may be inappropriate or prejudiced; however, the lower class can hardly prevent the adoption of such policies because the group has little power. For example, in developed countries such as U.S, the society faces serious health problems that emanate with the commercialization of food production procedures. Social institutions understand the need of discouraging hazardous food production methods; however, the wealth class has hindered the implementation of the procedure. The powerful class gets personal benefits from the productions that make them fail to support the idea. The rich group funds public relations corporations to influence public perceptions about health care issues (Weitz, 2012). Social conflict theory proposes that money creates disorder in the society and persistence conflicts enhance stability. Social conflicts theory affects healthcare institutions by encouraging them to commercialize their procedures. These institutions engage in competition schemes that are profit oriented. These operational strategies disregard the importance of provide quality and equitable health care (Mooney, Knox & Schacht, 2012). Conflict theory highlights a weakness of the functionalism theory that claims that society values stability, but not social image. Conflict theory affects health care institutions by popularizing various assumptions. Initially, the theory presumes that rivalry over the limited resources is universal in all social relationships. The theory emphasize that competition is a trait of human relationships while consensus is a theoretical postulate (Weitz, 2012). Furthermore, the conflict theory believes that inequalities in various aspects such as power and benefits ought to be common within social structures. Consequently, the class that benefits from particular social structure struggles to retain the prevailing state. Individuals enjoying rewards of authority will hardly abandon their positions and are willing to invest their resources in programs that protect their class. The conflict theory also believes that changes in the community do not happen because of adaptations, but occur due to conflicts among individuals who have different interests. The conflict theory provides a concise account of rivalries and changes in the society; however, the theory fails to consider the stability of the population (Manza, Sauder & Wright, 2010). Conflict theory affects association in the healthcare institution because the organization develops stability out of its stakeholders’ conflicts. Stakeholders of healthcare institutions have constant conflicts that emanate from scarce resources, expertise, authority and divergence in interests. This means that conflicts mainly exist in healthcare institution, and such conflicts will always present disparities in the system (Weitz, 2012). The theory proposes that an ideal strategy of addressing conflicts emerging in the healthcare institutions entails identifying the origin of the conflicts. This is essential because it enables individuals develop strategic solutions for addressing the conflicts. Consequently, conflict theory has enhanced procedures within healthcare institution by equipping stakeholders with essential skills of managing conflicts while coping with social changes and differences. Furthermore, members of the system can advance their associations by being understanding. Members attempt to understand each other despite their differences or authority. Members of these health systems can also avoid exploitations and minimize rivalry to strengthen their relationships (Mooney, Knox & Schacht, 2012). Interactionism theory evaluates how social definitions affect health, illness and care procedures. Concepts learnt on the process of interaction affect healthcare procedures. Interaction theory highlights that conception of health and diseases is socially constructed. This means the definition of health conditions varies with the different groups of people and time. Accordingly, a certain group may associate a certain condition with wellness while another group regards the same condition as a health problem. For example, some groups consider that fatness is a sign of wealth while others consider the state as a serious health problem associated with mental disorders. Furthermore, people associate obesity with socioeconomic status while poverty is associated with starvation in less developed countries (Weitz, 2012). Interaction ideology affects healthcare institutions because the theory examines the relations among various members of the community. Healthcare institution comprise of various interacting personalities. Moreover, factors such as identify, communication and responsibilities are central to the state of relationships among the members of a healthcare institution. The nature of communication determines people’s interaction and relationships (Mooney, Knox, & Schacht, 2012). This is because members of healthcare institutions are sensitive to language used in the communication. Poor communication is likely to minimize interactions institution and affect the development of personalities and self-principles. Considering that environment has the potential of constructing individuals, a favorable environment will lead to positive development while a prejudiced environment is likely to cause a negative construction (Wall, 2010). Members of healthcare institution adjust to various conditions that make them appreciate a change. For instance, individuals may adjust their behavior in order to fit within a culture developed by a certain institution. This promotes the change in behavior in a group making its members present identical characters (Manza, Sauder & Wright, 2010). Interactions theory argues that individuals and society are independent. Furthermore, the theory state that inequality emanates from different exposures. Interaction theory affects members of the healthcare institutions because individuals learn from experiences, attitudes and perceptions and incorporates the learnt concepts in their habits (Weitz, 2012). Furthermore, people practice the learnt ideologies while on their routine duties. Interaction concepts may also define the relationship between caregivers and patients. For example, interaction ideas may make a patient resist or embrace treatment procedures. In all these contexts, the theory will have a significant effect on healthcare institutions. Conclusion Sociological theories are effective in describing controversies presented by different groups within the society. Furthermore, these theories have affected the healthcare institution considerably. The theories provide succinct descriptions of the organization of the society and the nature of interactions among its members. Impacts of sociological theories extend to various social institutions that include families and education. The functionalism theory enhances knowledge about the functionality of various components of society in developing a stable state. Conflict theory provides an approach of identifying the origin of conflicts experienced in institutions while proposing strategies for managing them. Equally important, interactionism theory provides an outline of relations among members of social institutions. References Manza, J., Sauder, M., & Wright, N. (2010). Producing textbook sociology. Archives Europeennes De Sociologie, 51(2), 271-304. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0003975610000135 Mooney, L. A., Knox, D., & Schacht, C. (2012). Understanding social problems. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Wall, S. (2010). Critical perspectives in the study of nursing work. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 24(2), 145-66. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14777261011047327 Weitz, R. (2012). The sociology of health, illness, and health care: A critical approach. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning. Read More