ISSN: 2639-2038
Authors: Turabian JL*
There are barriers to crossing the boundaries between sociology and epidemiology, due to the history of both disciplines, the definitions of their fields of study and the objectives of study, as well as the concepts and characteristic constructs. Sociological roles imply the articulation of social causality in the epidemiological study of health ("sociology in epidemiology": the study of the influence of the political and social environment on disease and health systems). The study of epidemiology can begin with a non-problematic ontological reality of health and illness, but have to ends up problematizing the very concept of health-disease, demonstrating that the study of health determinants also requires the study of the determinants of the social construction of disease. This article aims to reflect on the boundaries between sociology and epidemiology, and how the arguments of epidemiology can be modified or nuanced by sociological evidences. Thus, certain sociological concepts modify the biomedical epidemiological view and they need to be approach by epidemiological sociology. Some examples are: social capital, empowerment, stress, social support and coping, race, globalization, transnational actors and traditional national and local governmental actors, migrations, multiculturalism, mobility, personal life, intimacy, relationships and families, housing, political, economic and cultural factors which structure the drugs prescriptions, community fragility, the dominant social contexts related to environmental impact and the depletion of staple foods in conditions such as climate change, etc. These sociological factors are generally not considered in the basic approaches of epidemiology, and yet they are fundamental to understanding the role of health and disease development.
Keywords: Sociology; Socialization; Epidemiology; Sociology, Framework; Public Health; Political Motivation; Social Influence; Social Power; Policy; Power Relations
