This is the initial report of a longitudinal study conducted in a developing, culturally heterogeneous society. The study compares figures of frequency and length of perceived illness, subjective reports of biological and behavioural symptoms, and use of medical facilities in response to episodes of illness by female heads of households from two highly distinctive social-ethnic groups. Despite ...

2011 marks the 75th anniversary of the publication of Gonigle’s groundbreaking study Poverty and Public Health (1936). Despite being one of the first major expositions of social medicine, it is now largely forgotten. This editorial attempts to correct this neglect by paying tribute to M’Gonigle as a public health pioneer. It outlines his life and summarises his classic work. It concludes by hig...

Yale University School of Medicine has recognized for several years the importance of emphasizing throughout the clinical teaching of the student, the social and public health factors involved in the disease entity itself, as well as in relation to individual patients. Because of this emphasis, the Department of Public Health was organized as one of the basic divisions of the School of Medicine...

2135 Social influences are a primary factor in the adoption of health behaviors. Compliance with diet and nutrition programs, adherence to preventive screening recommendations, and maintenance of exercise routines all can depend on having contact with friends and family who also engage in these behaviors. In addition to a great deal of literature on peer effects, recent studies of large network...

1Research Centre, Centre for Health and Social Services Bordeaux-Cartierville-Saint-Laurent, university-affiliated center, 11822 Avenue du Bois-deBoulogne, Montreal (Quebec) H3M 2X6, Canada 2Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, PO Box 6128, Station Centre-Ville, Montreal (Quebec) H3C 3J7, Canada 3Research Centre, University Institute of Geri...

The article reconstitutes the social thinking in health by Argentine physician and sociologist Juan César García (1932-1984), analyzing the main publications approaching his work and activities. The article situates his thinking in the two fields that marked his production: social medicine and the social sciences from the 1960s to the late 1980s. The article highlights his work with the Pan Ame...

Background: Behavioral, social, psychological and biological factors influence health and disease; and, to achieve professional competency, physicians should be knowledgeable about their society and its inhabitants' behavior. This knowledge will help physicians to become competent in communication, professional behavior, self-awareness, ethical reasoning, and understanding cultural and social d...

earlier this year, illumina inc. and life technologies inc. each announced new products that can sequence a genome for $1,000 in a single day (1); approximately 3 million times cheaper than the cost during the Human Genome Project back in the early part of the last decade. Furthermore, cloud-based, big-data software companies are capable of using whole-and partial-genome sequencing to automate ...

There is an acknowledged need for better information to guide resource allocation and service planning in the health services. Despite the recognition of the important role of socioeconomic factors, difficulties with the appropriate presentation of daya have so far proved insuperable. Social area analysis (SAA), which is a generic name for a number of methods employing census and other data to ...

I n its launch issue in October 2004, PLoS Medicine signaled a strong interest in creating a journal that went beyond a biological view of health to incorporate socioeconomic, ethical, and cultural dimensions. For example, that fi rst issue contained a policy paper on how the health community should respond to violent political confl ict [1], a debate on whether health workers should screen all...