Health and Medicine

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Health, illness, and medicine are main areas of study for many sociologists. We look at how society and health are connected We explore how social factors influence health, illness, mental health, and how health and medicine shape social relations as well. Sociology of medicine often focuses on the relationship between patients and practitioners, health care delivery, access, and inequalities in health and health care at a local and global level.

UVic Resources

Health, Aging, & Society https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/sociology/research/health-aging–society/index.php

Institute on Aging & Lifelong Health https://www.uvic.ca/research/centres/aging/

Social Dimensions of Health Program https://www.uvic.ca/interdisciplinary/socialdimensionsofhealth/

Research by UVIC Health Scholars

Dr. André Smith

Chappell, Neena L., Carren Dujela, and André Smith. 2015. “Caregiver well-being: Intersections of relationship and gender.” Research on Aging 37(6):623-645. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0164027514549258

O’Connor, Deborah, Alison Phinney, Andre Smith, Jeff Small, Barbara Purves, Joann Perry, Elisabeth Drance, Martha Donnelly, Habib Chaudhury, and Lynn Beattie. 2007. “Personhood in dementia care: Developing a research agenda for broadening the vision.” Dementia 6(1):121-142.  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1471301207075648?casa_token=zf70j5enRNIAAAAA:209-3VN4exA-vXjYDosh0qS5Bn7D5Ux8CYX0nKuAK0r4UwP8_u-ym3LOOxXVHnLJEA2ewPUqNg

Dr. Karen Kobayashi

Kobayashi, Karen, and Steven Prus. 2012. “Examining the gender, ethnicity, and age dimensions of the healthy immigrant effect: Factors in the development of equitable health policy.” International Journal for Equity in Health 11(1):1-6. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1475-9276-11-8

Cloutier-Fisher, Denise, Karen Kobayashi, and André Smith. 2011. “The subjective dimension of social isolation: A qualitative investigation of older adults’ experiences in small social support networks.” Journal of Aging Studies 25(4):407-414. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S089040651100034X?casa_token=GWUjl2WntRkAAAAA:APW-y8NRLraerP80TfLpBh8ZkZAIKv-GlKm2_11qIxhXwy0-EBsJ8SY2tBgSvyrvigkBKZo

Dr. Margaret Penning

Penning, Margaret J., and Zheng Wu. 2016. “Caregiver stress and mental health: Impact of caregiving relationship and gender.” The Gerontologist 56(6):1102-1113. https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article/56/6/1102/2952858?login=true

Lee, Yeonjung, Alex Bierman, and Margaret Penning. 2020 “Psychological Well-Being Among Informal Caregivers in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging: Why the Location of Care Matters.” The Journals of Gerontology, 75(10): 2207-2218. https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/article/75/10/2207/5903435?login=true

Haq, Kazi Sabrina, and Margaret J. Penning. 2020. “Social determinants of racial disparities in cognitive functioning in later life in Canada.” Journal of Aging and Health 32(7-8):817-829. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0898264319853137?casa_token=QOh3NDw0pL4AAAAA:WdpSc9IkXPGe3SzYLi_iqT7qf17ITsh6quuD_Cr9YIPgJ5OfwxHH7wjtnF5RLs1s-hmIGOFbag

Dr. Katelin Albert

Albert, Katelin. 2019. “Beyond the responsibility binary: analysing maternal responsibility in the human papillomavirus vaccination decision.” Sociology of health & illness 41(6) (2019): 1088-1103. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-9566.12887?casa_token=LCQLtjyTdQwAAAAA%3ASDdZUjycpnrA4WgMjp-zfYUu6LMVRzDfIVLxV3C1-syetFCX2vzGM5k8wasrequHpuuTIMYeS52W

Albert, Katelin E. 2014. “Erasing the social from social science: The intellectual costs of boundary-work and the Canadian institute of health research.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 39(3) 393-420. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/canajsocicahican.39.3.393.pdf?casa_token=WplJPWYf3oUAAAAA:ZLjqZpAMkiMxYfZKgbczK3-AJNKwJ2prf0mqqKN6DLmud3j-iA2gs_M2Mudd02DG8VrvDSWI0sBXuWbX6zVlcwmIZMLbJLbtizeGqgG7Im4VTYQE

Dr. Cecilia Benoit

Benoit, Cecilia, S. Mikael Jansson, Michaela Smith, and Jackson Flagg. 2018.”Prostitution stigma and its effect on the working conditions, personal lives, and health of sex workers.” The Journal of Sex Research 55(4-5): 457-471. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224499.2017.1393652?casa_token=1tYWpz_MifgAAAAA:QkloML-tdq14fJliw3DVl2vruM_YaGHsWdCTaILZ2Jd9wiG9QgHDHDfhlG0587TtbhRaiKLg4Q

Smith, Michaela, and Cecilia Benoit. “How Social Inequities in Maternity Care Impact Marginalized Groups.” https://www.understandingsexwork.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/2021%20Smith%20%26%20Benoit%20Obstetrics-V1-Pregnancy-and-society-Chapter.pdf

Dr. Aaron Devor

Lau, Francis, Marcy Antonio, Kelly Davison, Roz Queen, and Aaron Devor. 2020. “A rapid review of gender, sex, and sexual orientation documentation in electronic health records.” Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 27(11): 1774-1783. https://academic.oup.com/jamia/article/27/11/1774/5906099?login=true

Goldman, Mindy, Terrie Butler‐Foster, Don Lapierre, Sheila F. O’Brien, and Aaron Devor. 2020. “Trans people and blood donation.” Transfusion 60(5):1084-1092. https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/ahdevor/wp-content/uploads/sites/2247/2020/05/Trans-people-and-blood-donation.pdf

Coleman, E., W. Bockting, M. Botzer, P. Cohen-Kettenis, G. De Cuypere, J. Feldman, L. Fraser et al. 2018. “Standards of Care for the health of trans people and with gender variability The World Association for Transgender Health.” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRANSGENDERISM 19(3): 287-354.

Videos

WATCH: A thank you to Canada’s healthcare workers
WATCH: Frontline healthcare workers recount stories of battling Covid-19: ‘I never felt like a hero’

Sociology Courses at UVic

If you would like to explore work and occupations in more depth, the Department offers a number of courses you might be interested in:

Sociology 285 – Health Over the Life Course
Sociology 345 – Sociology of Mental Health
Sociology 432 – Issues in Health and Aging