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Framing disease: An underappreciated mechanism for the social patterning of health

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  • Aronowitz, Robert

Abstract

The emerging fields of social epidemiology and population health seek to understand the social determinants of health. Especially, with regards to how income inequality causes health disparities, attention has been focused on material and psychosocial mechanisms. I use examples from the epidemiological and social science literature to argue for a third broad etiological framework: the role played by the ways we generally recognize, define, name, and categorize disease states and attribute them to a cause or set of causes. These framing effects shape population health by influencing: health and illness beliefs; patterns of consumption and other behaviors; perceptions of what interventions and policies work; class, ethnic, and other social dynamics; and clinical and public health practices. Important characteristics of many framing phenomena are their capacity to be self-perpetuating and their performative power. A better understanding of framing effects can lead to deploying them more deliberatively and flexibly to improve individual and population health.

Suggested Citation

  • Aronowitz, Robert, 2008. "Framing disease: An underappreciated mechanism for the social patterning of health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 1-9, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:67:y:2008:i:1:p:1-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gergen, P., 1996. "Social class and asthma--distinguishing between the disease and the diagnosis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 86(10), pages 1361-1362.
    2. Cunningham, J. & Dockeiy, D.W. & Speizer, F.E., 1996. "Race, asthma, and persistent wheeze in Philadelphia schoolchildren," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 86(10), pages 1406-1409.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gross, Christiane & Schübel, Thomas & Hoffmann, Rasmus, 2015. "Picking up the pieces—Applying the DISEASE FILTER to health data," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(4), pages 549-557.
    2. Wu, Xinyan, 2024. "Performative credibility: How opioid researchers sustain public trust during the opioid epidemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    3. Epstein, Steven & Mamo, Laura, 2017. "The proliferation of sexual health: Diverse social problems and the legitimation of sexuality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 176-190.
    4. Hogan, Vijaya K. & de Araujo, Edna M. & Caldwell, Kia L. & Gonzalez-Nahm, Sarah N. & Black, Kristin Z., 2018. "“We black women have to kill a lion everyday”: An intersectional analysis of racism and social determinants of health in Brazil," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 96-105.
    5. Gollust, Sarah E. & Eboh, Ijeoma & Barry, Colleen L., 2012. "Picturing obesity: Analyzing the social epidemiology of obesity conveyed through US news media images," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(10), pages 1544-1551.
    6. Christine Holmberg & Erika A. Waters & Katie Whitehouse & Mary Daly & Worta McCaskill-Stevens, 2015. "My Lived Experiences Are More Important Than Your Probabilities," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 35(8), pages 1010-1022, November.
    7. Gollust, Sarah E. & Lantz, Paula M., 2009. "Communicating population health: Print news media coverage of type 2 diabetes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1091-1098, October.
    8. Jutel, Annemarie, 2010. "Framing disease: The example of female hypoactive sexual desire disorder," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(7), pages 1084-1090, April.
    9. Meershoek, Agnes & Krumeich, Anja & Vos, Rein, 2011. "The construction of ethnic differences in work incapacity risks: Analysing ordering practices of physicians in the Netherlands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 15-22, January.
    10. Lavanya Vijayasingham & Uma Jogulu & Pascale Allotey, 2018. "Enriching the Organizational Context of Chronic Illness Experience Through an Ethics of Care Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 29-40, November.

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