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Sociology of Health

By Prof. Mohammad Akram   |   Aligarh Muslim University
Learners enrolled: 562   |  Exam registration: 104
ABOUT THE COURSE:
Sociology of Health, being a sub-discipline of Sociology, helps us to understand the world of health, illness, disease, healthcare and medicine through the lenses of socio-cultural and politico-economic processes, institutions and mechanisms. Socio-cultural determinants play very crucial role in ensuring preventive, promotive, rehabilitative and public health in any society. Study of social structure, culture, social groups & social patterns help in understanding differences in health outcome of different groups and necessary for removing inequalities & inequities there. “Health for all” is a global goal and this paper helps in understanding health policies, programmes, missions and national/ international development goals also with special focus on health targets. It also helps in understanding contribution of food, nutrition, sanitation etc in achieving the goal of having a healthy society. This paper has included sixty important topics to be covered in twelves weeks. This course could be opted as a core paper by students of Sociology and as an Elective/Open Elective paper by any other student at UG/PG levels

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Core paper & Elective paper for Undergraduate, Postgraduate & Research students studying Sociology; Social Policy; Gender Studies; Law; B Pharma; Nursing Elective & Open Elective for all students studying at undergraduate or postgraduate level in Social Sciences or in any other faculty Social workers; Policy makers; Health activists; Health/Hospital Management; Nursing; Community Medicine; common educated people who want to understand society & health inter-relationship

PREREQUISITES:
  • No necessary pre-requisite; anybody enrolled in a Sociology course can opt for this as a Core/Elective course if allowed by their course structure;
  • As Elective/Open Elective, it could be used by anybody in any faculty interested in this paper.
  • This course begins with basic understanding required at UG level.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT:
  • Any industry/service related to healthcare & public health.
  • Any industry showing interest in CSR in the field of public health, nutrition, sanitation, healthcare of women, children, elderly or at community health level.
Summary
Course Status : Completed
Course Type : Elective
Language for course content : English
Duration : 12 weeks
Category :
  • Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit Points : 4
Level : Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date : 22 Jul 2024
End Date : 11 Oct 2024
Enrollment Ends : 05 Aug 2024
Exam Registration Ends : 16 Aug 2024
Exam Date : 25 Oct 2024 IST
ALERT ON EXAM DATE :

Exam date is subject to change.

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits



Course layout

Week 1: Sociology of Health: Introduction and Basic Concepts
  • Sociology of Health: An Introduction
  • Sociology of Health: Emergence, Growth and Scope 
  • Basic Concepts in Sociology of Health: Health, Disease, Illness, Sickness, & Medicine
  • Diseases: Classification, Prevalence, Causative Agents and Social Factors
  • Health and Diseases: Indicators and Socio-Cultural Determinants 
Week 2: Theoretical Perspectives to Understand Health & Illness
  • Biomedical Perspective on Disease, Health and Medicine
  • Functional Perspective on Health, Illness and Medicine
  • Marxist (conflict) Perspective on Health, Disease and Medicine
  • Symbolic Interactionist and Post-structural Perspectives on health, illness and medicine
  • WHO, Holistic Approach and Cross-Cultural Perspective on Health
Week 3: Medical Pluralism & Health Behaviour
  • Medical Pluralism and Biomedicine
  • Traditional Medicine, Complimentary Medicine and WHO
  • AYUSH: Indian Systems of Medicine
  • Social Medicine, Community Medicine and Preventive Medicine
  • Health Behaviour, Healthcare Approaches and Medical Pluralism 
Week 4: Medicalization & Demedicalization
  • Medicalization: An Introduction
  • Demedicalization, Medicalization and Emerging Discourses
  • Ivan Illich: Iatrogenesis and Medicalization 
  • Michel Foucault on Medicalization
  • Gender and Medicalization
Week 5: Public Health
  • Emergence of Public Health in the United Kingdom and the United States
  • Public Health in India: Definition, Goals and Agencies
  • Sanitation and Public Health in India
  • Food, Nutrition and Safe Drinking Water in India
  • Epidemiology and Social Epidemiology
Week 6: MDGs & SDGs: Health Goals and Achievements in India
  • Understanding Development: Economic, Social, Human and Sustainable
  • MDGs: Background, Goals and Health Targets
  • MDGs in India: Health Goals, Targets and Achievements 
  • SDGs: Background, Approach and Health Goals
  • SDGs: Other Important Goals Related to Health 
Week 7: Healthcare Structure & Major Health Programmes in India
  • Health Committees and Healthcare in India
  • Vertical Disease Control Programmes in India
  • Vaccination and Universal Immunization Programmes in India
  • Healthcare Structure and Government Healthcare System in India
  • NRHM, NUHM and National Health Mission (NHM) 
Week 8: Health Policies in India
  • First National Health Policy of India (1983) and Alma Ata Declaration
  • National Health Policy 2002 of India: Background and Thrust Areas
  • National Health Policy 2002 of India: Highlights and Analysis
  • National Health Policy 2017 of India: Contexts, Aim, Goals & Objectives
  • National Health Policy 2017 of India: Thrusts, Programmes & Other Issues  
Week 9: Health of Women & Reproductive Health
  • Health of Women: Emerging Concerns
  • Reproductive Health of Women
  • Maternal Health and Pregnancy Care in India: Concerns and Achievements
  • Maternal Health in India: Inter-State Disparity
  • Maternal Health in India: Recent Government Programmes  
Week 10: Health of Children & Vulnerable Groups
  • Health of Children in India: Global Initiatives and Major Problems
  • Health of Children in India: Disparities and Government Initiatives
  • Health of Elderly Population: Global and Indian Scenario
  • Persons with Disability (PwD): Perspectives and Issues 
  • Occupational Health: Major Concerns  
Week 11: Health Expenditure & Universal Health Coverage (UHC)
  • Health Expenditure Patterns (THE, GHE and OOPE) in India
  • Expenditure on Hospitalization (Public & Private) in India: Major Issues
  • National Health Accounts (NHA) Estimates for India 2019-20: A Review
  • Universal Health Coverage (UHC): Definition, Need & Targets
  • Universal Health Coverage in India: Contexts and Achievements
Week 12: Health Inequality and Sociology of Health
  • Health Inequality and Inequity: Emerging Challenges
  • Addressing Health Inequality in India: Trends and Initiatives
  • Sources of Health Information in India 
  • NGOs, People's Participation and Healthcare in India
  • IHDI, GII and Other Emerging Issues in Health 

Books and references

1. K. White (2002) An Introduction to the Sociology of Health and Illness, London: Sage. 
2. W. C. Cockerham (2007) Social Causes of Health and Disease, US: Polity Publication. 
3. M. Akram (2014) Sociology of Health, New Delhi/Jaipur: Rawat Publications. 
4. V. Sujatha (2014) Sociology of Health and Medicine: New Perspectives, Oxford University Press. 
5. P. Conrad (2007) The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders, Baltomire: Johns Hopkins University Press. 
6. M. Foucault (1973) The Birth of the Clinic, London: Tavistock Publications Limited. 
7. S. Anand, F. Peter, and A. Sen (eds.) (2006) Public Health, Ethics and Equity, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 
8. C. Gandhi, P. Kumar, Saha, et.al. (2011) India Human Development Report: Towards Social Inclusion, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
9. R. Bhardwaj (2010) “Medical Pluralism in India: The Interface of Complementary and Alternative Therapies with Allopathy”, in Arima Mishra: Health, Illness and Medicine: Ethnographic Readings (ed.), New Delhi: Orient Blackswan. 
10. M. Akram (ed.) (2014) Maternal Health in India: Contemporary Issues and Challenges, Delhi/Jaipur: Rawat Publications.
11. Website of WHO (https://www.who.int/ )
12. Website of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, (https://mohfw.gov.in/) for various programmes, reports and reviews; Website of AYUSH, Government of India, (https://ayush.gov.in/ )
13. UN’s SDGs (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300) & MDGs (https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/)

Instructor bio

Prof. Mohammad Akram

Aligarh Muslim University
Prof. Mohammad Akram is Professor of Sociology in Department of Sociology, AMU, Aligarh (India). He has authored three books (Sociology of Health, 2014; Sociology of Sanitation, 2015; Tribal Health, 2008) and edited two books (Maternal Health in India: Contemporary Issues and Challenges 2014; Health Dynamics and Marginalized Communities, 2007) and co-edited one book (Development, Health and Globalisation 2015). Prof. Akram is interested in exploring social determinants of health, maternal health, public health, employment and education focussing on equity and inclusive development. His research is helpful in developing parameters for human, social and sustainable development of marginalized groups including tribes, scheduled castes, minorities, women and migrant workers. Prof. Akram is a member of an Expert Committee on Implementation Research on Tuberculosis (TB) under the India Tuberculosis Research Consortium- (ITRC) Phase II of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). He was the Coordinator and National Faculty of a GIAN Course (sponsored by Ministry of Education, Government of India and IIT Kharagpur as the nodal agency) conducted on the topic “Social Capital and Health in India”.
Prof. Akram has presented his research papers and chaired seminar sessions during international conferences held at Gothenburg (Sweden), Toronto (Canada) and Belfast (United Kingdom). He has more than three dozen published research papers in national and international journals. He is teaching PG and UG students for more than twenty-five years and has supervised eleven Ph.D. and few M.Phil. students. He remained Convener of Research Committee on Population, Health and Society, Indian Sociological Society for four years and also Convener of Research Committee on Health, Ageing and Wellness for two years. He is a member of several academic organizations. His other areas of interest are research methodology, sociology of education, social policy, planning and development. He also worked as Deputy Coordinator of DRS I & DRS-II granted by UGC on the thrust area “Globalisation, Health and Development” at Department of Sociology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. He has also completed few research projects (Major & Minor) funded by UGC.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.
The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).
Date and Time of Exams: 25 October 2024 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.
Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.
The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.
Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.

Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup. It will have the logos of AMU and INI .

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- INI Team


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