Health and Illness Assignment

Use the case study to answer the questions below in 250 to 350 words on each question.

Case Study
Hannah had just turned 36 when her world began to crumble. Her friends and family were alarmed at the sudden moodiness, insomnia, fatigue, headaches, confusion, joint and muscle pain, nausea and above all, the enduring feeling of tiredness she complained of. Hannah has suddenly changed from a happy woman to someone who battled daily episodes of what she calls extreme tiredness and anxiety. Her husband Paul and sons, Dave and Dan have put this down to overworking and the firmly told her to ‘slacken up a bit’. Although she tried a new relaxation regime suggested by her friend Jenny, she still complained of daily episodes of overwhelming tiredness and general malaise. Her full-time care work had all but thinned out due to this overwhelming tiredness; this is in spite of following Jenny’s suggested relaxation technique. She began to miss work regularly but confided in Dave and Dan, she will only go to the doctors if things persist into the next three weeks.
Hannah is of mixed English-African parentage. Her paternal grandmother Hawa is African. On Hannah’s last visit home, her African grandma confidently confirmed the condition as Kuru, a condition which she says occurred in those days when a woman is about to start early menopause. She prescribed ginger, a cocktail of honey goat weed and other herbs which she says will restore Hannah’s health. Grandma told her “although you live in a sophisticated society now, we have a different and better way of dealing with these things in my younger days”. Hannah eventually went to the doctors in the fourth week as her symptoms persisted. Doctor Pedro suspected depression and put her on anti-depressants.
Six months went by and Hannah’s condition did not improve. She switched jobs constantly because she got fired a number of times for missing too many days and not having a proper reason. She was so miserable and confused that Doctor Pedro’s medication was not working for her. Argument began at home with Paul and sons Dave and Dan who at first were sympathetic but could not understand her illness as they saw no physical sign of “this illness”.
On Paul’s recommendation, she got herself referred to see a specialist at the local hospital. She was very quickly diagnosed as having Myalgic Encephalopathy (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Hannah had a change of medication and now feels more positive. She feels better now and she has an explanation for her condition.

QUESTIONS:
1. From the case study above, explain how biomedical and sociological conceptions of health and illness differ? Refer to sociological critiques of biomedicine

2. Read about the Lay perspective and discuss any aspect of the case study that fits into the description for the lay perspective of Health and illness.

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Health and Illness

Biomedical and Sociological Concepts The biomedical and sociological conceptions of health have different views regarding health and illnesses. The differences spread along several aspects that are critical in determining the aspect of being healthy or ill. The primary difference emanates from the scope and nature of biomedical model that lays focus on biological and physical conditions of health and illness. On the other hand, the sociological concepts are wider in scope and consider a broad range of health and illness determinants (Rogers & Pilgrim, 2014). The biomedical concepts are also limited in terms of the professionals who practice it, majorly the doctors, as opposed to the sociological model, which bring on board more people including therapists and even…