Health and illness
Health and illness
- Author
- Susan A McDaniel University of Lethbridge
- DOI
- 10.1177/20568460116
abstract Sociology of health and illness behaviour has been enlivened by increased understanding of the complex roles social factors and structures play in individual and societal health and well-being. New insights are simultaneously empirical and conceptual, leading to innovative approaches to analysis, as well as new conceptual frameworks. Three examples are: the social gradient of health, the population health perspective and the salience of social fabric to both individual and societal well-being. Nonetheless, puzzles remain such as how social inequalities get under the skin, why socioeconomic improvements do not always yield life expectancy gains and how to reduce health disparities and inequalities.