A social factor can be things, people, places, or events that influence an individual’s behavior. There are many different social factors that can impact your life in terms of how you take care of yourself. Age, gender, ethnicity, social networks, health insurance coverage, and socioeconomic status all have an impact on your self-care. In medical sociology research, these social factors have been found to be related to seeking medical care in various forms. “It has been assumed that it is beneficial for patients to become active and informed participants in health care” (Krantz). Self care is extremely important in order to keep yourself well.
Even though there are many different aspects that effect you and self care I really wanted to focus on one. After our discussion in class I wanted to look into the gender aspect a little more. My reasoning for this was because we only have two men in the class, and there was only one in class this day. I feel like the class was really stuck on woman and self care and not men because of this.
In an article I read, Self-care Components of Lifestyles, they believed that gender was the most important factor. “Gender was the major independent influence on patterns of health maintenance behavior while social network variables assumed major importance for self-care responses to illness” (Dean). I really believe that this is because of the “roles” men and women have. Men are supposed to be strong all the time, having signs of weakness is not something men like to show. Women tend to be very sincere and in my opinion, they make things seem a lot worse than they are.
Women typically choose to take their self care more seriously than men. I don’t think that this is necessarily a bad thing. Because women choose to be more careful, things may get caught sooner, which in the long run can help you out. However, going to the doctor could be not so good either. Women may go to the doctor and find that there is nothing wrong, yet they used their insurance to go in the first place. Many insurance companies do not pay for all of the doctor appointments you have, which can become very expensive for you.
When discussing men and self care, it is a whole new ball game. Men on the other hand tend to “tough it out” instead of getting help right away. This could be a good or bad thing. Sometimes waiting out being sick, it will just go away, but if it is something major and they are waiting it out, things can get much worse for them. I feel that men should take their self care more seriously in order to become healthier individuals. They do not always need to play the tough role.
Do you feel like you self medicate too often? Should you go to the doctor more or less?
References:
Dean, K. (n.d.). Self-care components of lifestyles: The importance of gender, attitudes and the social situation. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0277953689901627
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