Patients In The New strongEconomystrong The Sick Role In A Time Of.pdfVIP

Animus 7 (2002) www.swgc.mun.ca/animus Patients In The New Economy: The Sick Role In A Time Of Economic Discipline Ivan Emke iemke@swgc.mun.ca From the anonymous victim of epidemics as collective scourges, from the traditional image of the alienated and passive patient to the self-provider of medical care as a new cultural figure, to the health-care user as a collective actor in the public-health system, and finally to the militant for whom the body is the basis of a new political action, the sick person appears to have travelled a long way, about which a number of questions must be asked (Herzlich and Pierret, 1987: 229). A system of healing, like any other structure, includes a set of roles for the major agents. Within our modern health-care system, there is a set of social expectations around what it means to be a patient, how one comes to be a patient and, especially, what one is to do upon becoming a patient. Nevertheless, it is rare that one finds a serious consideration of the role of the patient within the whole practice of medicine. Indeed, one overview of Canadian studies of the sociology of health and illness stated: we are prompted to note the absence of patients in most Canadian theories, explanations, or descriptions of occupations and professions The general absence of patients in the conceptualization of the health care system suggests that sociologists have not defined the system in sociological terms (Coburn and Eakin, 1993: 100-101). However, there have been different social roles for patients, each of which has been influenced by scientific, social and cultural shifts. Indeed, the