To develop an understanding of the Social Model of health and the sociological critique of the bio-medical approach to public health.

4HW098 - The Sociology of Health and Illness

Assignment 2: A 1500-word essay on: How can Sociological approaches help us to understand Public Health issues?

Weighting: 75% of Total Module Mark

Submit to Canvas on Tuesday 10th January 2023 by 2pm

Essay guide

1)   Choose one public health issue to write about (up to a 500 words) (learning outcome 3)

• This might be on obesity, eating disorders, smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, depression, suicide, dementia, sickle cell disease, sexually transmitted diseases, Covid-19, cancer, or road traffic accidents.
• Make sure you read current literature on why it is a problem and provide statistics on how many people it effects and who it effects most.
• To develop an understanding of the Social Model of health and the sociological critique of the bio-medical approach to public health.

2)   Outline one sociological approach, or theory (up to 300 words) (learning outcome 2)

• This might be on Inequality and Poverty, Social Class and Marxism, Stigma, Feminism, Masculinity, Critical Race Theory, or Ageism
• You will need to explain the theory and include a theorist who has written about this.
• To develop an understanding of sociological perspectives & theories on health inequalities

3)    How does this approach or theory help you to understand the Public Health topic chosen? (up to 500 words) (learning outcome 1)

• Does the approach help explain why the Public Health problem happens?
• Does the approach help you to understand the effects of the Public Health problem on individuals or a social group?
• Explain how this approach offers a different perspective from the biomedical model of health.

4)   Write a conclusion for your essay (up to a 100 words)

• Summarise your main points
• Do not add any new information.

5)    Write an introduction to your essay (up to a 100 words)

• Explain what your essay is about.
• Do not just repeat the assignment question but explain which Public Health issue, which theory and what the application of the theory to the Public health issue shows.
• Once it is written put this at the start of your essay

Learning Outcomes