New Trends in the Sociology of Medicine

Description

New approaches and topics have appeared in the field of Medical Sociology in recent years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and prompt social changes in our societies. The Covid-19 pandemic acted as a trigger for highlighting problems in health care systems, permeating social inequalities and communication patterns. Consequently, social scientists in Medical Sociology have started reexamining conventional topics, theoretical approaches and research methods. The aim of the paper is to review recent topics in the scientific discussion of Medical Sociology. . The qualitative content analysis was made reviewing scientific articles (n=109) within the subfield of Medical Sociology that have been published between 2020 and 2022.. The results of the content analysis show that examination of the content of publications in scientific journals is a significant phenomenon by itself. Based on those reviews, we see that researchers have come up with topics in Medical Sociology that are not mentioned as often, and are less known in scientific discussions. E.g., topics on aging or Sociology of Age, Sociology of Disability, Sociology of Medical Ignorance, global health, digital health care, adaptive communication and care models may be designated as new or even forgotten within the conventional discourse of Medical Sociology. New research methods are also being used in the field of Medical Sociology, i.e., digital storytelling (DST) as a tool of approaching marginalized populations. Qualitative research methods are mostly used in order to establish experiences of patients as well as healthcare workforce, for instance, how nurses describe their work with Covid-19 patients. The Covid-19 pandemic has allowed us to reflect on the resilience and effectiveness of the health care system as well as trust in medicine and science in society. . In conclusion, intensive work reexamining conventional discourse in Medical Sociology is being done; hypothetically, we can expect more diversity in research topics and methods.

Period	30 Mar 2023
Event title	RSU research week 2023: University Teaching and Learning
Event type	Conference
Organiser	Rīga Stradiņš University
Location	Riga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International