Health and Healthcare Disparities

The Disparities

Health disparities are preventable differences in disease burden between groups. Race and ethnicity predict less aggressive treatment and worse outcomes partly independent of insurance and SES; lower SES brings later diagnosis; the uninsured delay care; rural geography limits access to specialists. Health equity -- fair opportunity to be healthy -- is the goal, distinct from mere equality of resources.

Three Paradigms on Medicine

Functionalism: illness is dysfunction, and Parsons's sick role grants exemption from obligations and freedom from blame in exchange for wanting to recover and cooperating with treatment (a model that fits acute better than chronic or stigmatized illness). Conflict theory: healthcare reproduces inequality, and medicalization expands professional power. Symbolic interactionism: the illness experience and doctor-patient relationship are constructed through interaction and labels.

Disease, Illness, Sickness

Disease is biological pathology; illness is the lived subjective experience; sickness is the social role. Medicalization redefines conditions (childbirth, ADHD, addiction) as treatable medical problems -- reducing moral blame while expanding medical authority.

Key Takeaways

• Disparities track race, SES, insurance, and geography; equity is the goal
• Parsons's sick role: rights (exemption, no blame) and duties (want to recover, seek help)
• Medicalization is the key conflict-theory critique
• Distinguish disease (biology), illness (experience), sickness (role)