Page 10 - Management Theory 2023-2024 Edition

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3. Illness, Sickness and Disease

According to Eliot Freidson, illness is described as:

“One is immediately obligated to distinguish between illness as a purely biophysical state and illness as a human,
social state. Illness as a biophysical state involves changes in bones, tissues, or vital fluids of any living organism.
Illness as a social state involves changes in behavior that occur only among humans and that may vary with the
culture.”

A distinction between illness and disease:

Illness is defined by laymen as a reaction to perceived biological alteration while disease is defined by physicians,
and for that reason, it is perceived to be a more precise term. The following sentences may help an individual to
distinguish illness from a disease.

1. A person may have a disease and not be ill.
2. A person may be ill and not have a disease.
3. Both disease and illness may be present.

To understand more precisely, we can take the following example. Hypertension is a disease that has been
defined by healthcare professionals as a combination of diastolic and systolic blood pressures outside “normal”
limits. Now, it may be possible that a person with the disease of hypertension may be asymptomatic, and
therefore not ill. And, as not being ill, this person may not seek care. An opposite of this can also be true. A
person who experiences dizziness or headaches may perceive himself or herself as ill, seek care and be
diagnosed as disease-free.

Practically, both these differences may have serious outcomes: failure to receive needed care in the first
instance and a possible waste of medical resources in the second.

A definition of sickness:

Sickness is defined as a social state conferred on an individual by others. It is socially defined by sociologists.

According to Bezold, the state of health is determined by the interaction of the following variables:

1. Biology (e.g. generic determinants)
2. Behavior (e.g. smoking, drug abuse, eating habits)
3. Pre and post environments (including physical, biological, economical, and social)
4. The healthcare system

Types of Behaviors

There are three types of health-related behaviors:

1. Health Behavior
2. Illness Behavior
3. Sick Role Behavior

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