Variations of the social: some reflections on public health, social research and the health-society relation

The idea of a social dimension of health is widely accepted as unavoidable and relevant for public health. This article proposes a reflection around the notion of the social examining some of the manifold ways in which it might be inherited by researchers, professionals, administrative staff and mat...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Patricio Rojas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade de São Paulo 2015-06-01
Series:Saúde e Sociedade
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-12902015000500124&tlng=en
_version_ 1818743679610781696
author Patricio Rojas
author_facet Patricio Rojas
author_sort Patricio Rojas
collection DOAJ
description The idea of a social dimension of health is widely accepted as unavoidable and relevant for public health. This article proposes a reflection around the notion of the social examining some of the manifold ways in which it might be inherited by researchers, professionals, administrative staff and material settings involved in the practices of public health care. It will be argued that this inheritance has deep consequences for efforts of care inasmuch these different versions of the social characterise, circumscribe and reframe the health-society relation, modifying the scope under which public health issues are tackled or dismissed. To ground this seemingly abstract discussion I will work considering a specific public health problem: the case of frequent attenders in public health. Drawing on two approaches from the Sociology of Health (i.e. illness-behaviour and the user-professional relation) and the field of Science and Technology Studies, I will show how these ways of framing the study of frequent attenders assume and simultaneously promote three different versions of the social. The article aims to explore how social research in these traditions participate in the achievement and promotion of specific health-society relations, in which certain notions of the social operate helping or limiting research and care efforts by creating richer or poorer possibilities for posing, examining and facing the problems of public health.
first_indexed 2024-12-18T02:32:15Z
format Article
id doaj.art-e3e4076f08744dd4a5f707165bb1d2a3
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1984-0470
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-18T02:32:15Z
publishDate 2015-06-01
publisher Universidade de São Paulo
record_format Article
series Saúde e Sociedade
spelling doaj.art-e3e4076f08744dd4a5f707165bb1d2a32022-12-21T21:23:52ZengUniversidade de São PauloSaúde e Sociedade1984-04702015-06-0124suppl 112414010.1590/s0104-12902015s01011Variations of the social: some reflections on public health, social research and the health-society relationPatricio RojasThe idea of a social dimension of health is widely accepted as unavoidable and relevant for public health. This article proposes a reflection around the notion of the social examining some of the manifold ways in which it might be inherited by researchers, professionals, administrative staff and material settings involved in the practices of public health care. It will be argued that this inheritance has deep consequences for efforts of care inasmuch these different versions of the social characterise, circumscribe and reframe the health-society relation, modifying the scope under which public health issues are tackled or dismissed. To ground this seemingly abstract discussion I will work considering a specific public health problem: the case of frequent attenders in public health. Drawing on two approaches from the Sociology of Health (i.e. illness-behaviour and the user-professional relation) and the field of Science and Technology Studies, I will show how these ways of framing the study of frequent attenders assume and simultaneously promote three different versions of the social. The article aims to explore how social research in these traditions participate in the achievement and promotion of specific health-society relations, in which certain notions of the social operate helping or limiting research and care efforts by creating richer or poorer possibilities for posing, examining and facing the problems of public health.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-12902015000500124&tlng=enSocial ResearchPublic HealthSociology of HealthScience and Technology StudiesFrequent Attenders
spellingShingle Patricio Rojas
Variations of the social: some reflections on public health, social research and the health-society relation
Saúde e Sociedade
Social Research
Public Health
Sociology of Health
Science and Technology Studies
Frequent Attenders
title Variations of the social: some reflections on public health, social research and the health-society relation
title_full Variations of the social: some reflections on public health, social research and the health-society relation
title_fullStr Variations of the social: some reflections on public health, social research and the health-society relation
title_full_unstemmed Variations of the social: some reflections on public health, social research and the health-society relation
title_short Variations of the social: some reflections on public health, social research and the health-society relation
title_sort variations of the social some reflections on public health social research and the health society relation
topic Social Research
Public Health
Sociology of Health
Science and Technology Studies
Frequent Attenders
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-12902015000500124&tlng=en
work_keys_str_mv AT patriciorojas variationsofthesocialsomereflectionsonpublichealthsocialresearchandthehealthsocietyrelation