Write a paper analyzing social factors that influence disease. Analysis Paper Components:
1) Introduce your paper. Identify and define the disease or medical condition that you chose.
- Discuss why you chose this particular disease.
- Why is it important to study?
2) Discuss the epidemiology of the disease.
- What is the prevalence of the disease, or how common is it? When was the disease first discovered? What is the trajectory of the disease? Was the prevalence of this disease higher 20 years ago? Is it higher now? Is the disease projected to be more common in the future? Was or is the disease currently an epidemic? A pandemic?
- What are the causes of and contributing factors to the disease or medical condition? Here you are discussing the fundamental causes of this disease. Please refer to the lecture materials and review the fundamental causes of disease. Can the disease be prevented? How?
- Does it affect different social groups in different ways? Focus on the following: gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and age. How and why does this disease affect these certain groups? For example, if it is a disease that seems to affect men more than women, discuss how it affects men and why.
3) Discuss the disease from the following two sociological perspectives on health: (1) Social Constructionism & (2) Causation versus Selection.
- How is this disease socially constructed? How do the medical community (physicians and other practitioners), the media, or other public officials socially construct this disease? Who is involved in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease or medical condition? Does anyone from the medical community, including pharmaceutical companies, gain anything from the social construction of this disease or disorder? Explain your answer.
- What is the selection versus causation perspective of health and illness? Discuss your disease from both a causation and selection standpoint. Does it appear to be a causation effect? A selection effect? Both causation and selection? Explain your answer. Refer to class materials to answer this question.
4) What are the available treatments for this disease? How much do these treatments cost? In other words, is the treatment affordable and what are the financial costs to the patient? How financially secure would a person have to be to survive this illness? What other resources might those from an upper socioeconomic status, or those with a higher level of education, have to prevent and combat this disease?
5) Conclusion: Provide a summary of your paper and discuss what you think the future trajectory (future outlook) of your disease will be. Briefly discuss the state of the current research on this disease. Does more research need to be conducted? Explain your answer.
