INTRODUCTION TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH CARE
SOC 3380
5:30 - 7:00 PM MW
Professor : C. Allen Haney, Ph.D., M.P.H., C.C.S.
Phone: (713) 743-3960
e-mail: soc1b3@bayou.uh.edu
web page: www.uh.edu/~chaney
office hours: 2:00 - 5:00pm Monday and Wednesday and by Appointment
office: 471PGH
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The purpose of this course is to acquaint you with the socio-behavioral dynamics that are such a vital part of health care, healing and the experience of illness. Virtually all that happens when an individual has an injury or disease is socially defined. In this course you will see that the practice of medicine, and medical care in general, is art as well as science. Furthermore, the art rests upon human interaction. We will not focus very much on the economics and organization of health care in the US because it is a system (some say several systems) that is (are) undergoing tremendous change not only in the way in which health care is financed but in the manner in which care is delivered. (If I had all the answers surrounding issues such as these I would be a highly paid consultant rather than a college professor.) We will deal extensively with the social psychology of ill health. If you think about it, you will realize that much that happens between you and a health care provider would be, at the lease "immoral" and at the worst "illegal" if it were not for the sociological and social psychological relationships which make this sort of contact acceptable (at least in this culture). We will deal with the basic concepts from introductory sociology such as stratification, alienation, face work, social distance, prejudice, social class, etc. You already know a great deal of sociology. You managed to get to campus today, therefore you know something about predicting human behavior and human interaction., and that is all sociology about.
REQUIRED TEXT:
Gregory L. Weiss and Lynne E. Lonnquist. The Sociology of Health, Healing, and Illness. (2nd edition) Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1997.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
As an upper division course the demands in this class will be somewhat more stringent than some of you may have come to expect. There will be two regular in class examination each worth 15 percent of your grade and a COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAMINATION, which will be worth 40 percent . You will write a research paper on mutually agreed upon topic. I t will be worth 15 percent of your grade. The remaining 15 percent of your grade will be derived from you class participation and various "mini" assignments. For example, I may require you to get on the internet to either review some cites I have found or to find some I may have overlooked. I may require you to go sit in an emergency room waiting area some evening just to observe what is going on (Saturday night at Ben Taub is a real experience.) In the past, I have arranged for students to see an autopsy. Unfortunately I have lost my contact and thus I doubt we will do that this semester.
Since using class participation requires that I get to know your names I would appreciate it if you would find a seat you like and stay in it. That makes learning your names much easier for me since you are one of the 150 students I am teaching this semester. If I don’t know who you are you can’t get participation credit. If you sit in your chair like a lump and never say a word, you can’t get participation credit. Oh! Another thing. FIVE (5) unexcused absences and you are history.
I require that you all get a university computer account. I often put class announcements on my web page as well as web sites which I want you to see. After all it’s free and you should become computer literate anyway. In addition material on the web that I assign is just like textbook material and therefore testable.
On the off chance that I can blackmail some of my friends from the medical center into giving a guest lecture that would be a very poor time to cut class because I would look foolish. You would not like me if I became angry.
Your research paper must be no less than 10 pages and not more than 30 pages. It must be typed or be off-printed with a font not smaller than 10 points and with margins not greater than 1 inch on all sides. We will discuss this more later, but you topic will be something that we mutually agree upon. You may use the library, the internet or both. I will distribute a hand out which shows the proper way in which to site internet URLs.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:
Jan 21 Introductions and Course Overview
26 Chapter 1. A Brief Introduction to the Sociology of Health, Healing, and Illness
28 Chapter 1. continued
Feb 02 Chapter 2. The Development of Scientific Medicine
04 Chapter 2. continued
09 Chapter 3. Social Epidemiology- Hand out Epidemiology exercise
11 Discuss Epidemiology Exercise
16 Chapter 4. Diseases and Illness in American Society
18 Chapter 5. Social Stress
23
EXAM I
25 Chapter 6. Health Behavior
Mar 02 Chapter 6 continued
04 Chapter 7. Illness and Sick Role Behavior
09 Chapter 7 continued
11 Chapter 8. Physicians and the Profession of Medicine
16
SPRING BREAK
18
PARTY RESPONSIBLY
23 Chapter 9. Medical Education and the Socialization of Physicians
25 Chapter 10. Nurses, Mid-level Health Care Practitioners, and Allied Health Workers
30
EXAM II
Apl 01 TAKE A WALK, Dr. Haney will be giving a paper at a professional meeting which will surely win him the Nobel Prize (or maybe a 2.5 percent raise from the U of H)
06 Chapter 11. Alternative Healers and Alternative Healing Practices
08 Chapter 11. Continued
13 Chapter 12. The Physician-Patient Relationship: Background and Models
15 Chapter 12. continued
20 Chapter 13. Professional and Ethical Obligations of Physicians in the Physician-Patient Relationship
22 FILM: The New Healers
27 Chapter 14 and 15. The Health Care System of the US. And Health Care Delivery
29 Chapter 16. The Implication of Health Care Technology
May 04 Chapter 16. Continued (that is correct - I am not using chapter 17 because before the ink is dry in your book things have changed)
11
KILLER FINAL EXAMINATION 5:00 -8:00PM