Class, Social Suffering, and Health Consumerism

Abstract

In recent years an extensive social gradient in cancer outcome has attracted much attention, with late diagnosis proposed as one important reason for this. Whereas earlier research has investigated health care seeking among cancer patients, these social differences may be better understood by looking at health care seeking practices among people who are not diagnosed with cancer. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork among two different social classes in Denmark, our aim in this article is to explore the relevance of class to health care seeking practices and illness concerns. In the higher middle class, we predominantly encountered health care seeking resembling notions of health consumerism, practices sanctioned and encouraged by the health care system. However among people in the lower social class, health care seeking was often shaped by the inseparability of physical, political, and social dimensions of discomfort, making these practices difficult for the health care system to accommodate.Running title: Health care seeking contextualized

Educational differences in likelihood of attributing breast symptoms to cancer: a vignette‐based study

“…A key finding was that the association between education and likelihood of making a cancer attribution was independent of cancer avoidance . Potential explanations for lower likelihood of mentioning cancer in response to the vignettes in the lower educated groups include lower cancer awareness , higher fatalism , and wider social and cultural barriers .…”

“…Previous research suggested that people from lower SES backgrounds may have lower knowledge of cancer warning signs , or are less likely to consider cancer as a possible cause when they experience ‘alarm’ symptoms in everyday life . Studies indicate that processes involved could include higher levels of cancer avoidance , higher levels of cancer fatalism , or wider physical, political and social issues in people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds . Recent evidence from cancer patients reported socio‐demographic differences in symptom attributions, with patients from lower educational levels more likely to attribute their most important symptom to psychological causes .…”

Association between GPs’ suspicion of cancer and patients’ usual consultation pattern in primary care: a cross-sectional study

“…29 It has been argued that the current structure of the clinical encounter in general practice, which is characterised by strict time limitations and focus on only one medical complaint at a time, does not encourage all patient groups to seek general practice for health problems. 30,31 Some patients may thus be discouraged from seeking care on a regular basis, which questions the accessibility of general practice. European patients generally assess the accessibility of general practice/GPs as low.…”

Mechanisms and drivers of social inequality in phase II cardiac rehabilitation attendance: A convergent mixed methods study

“…In this study, the high‐SEP population displayed a more proactive health consumer lifestyle focusing on body maintenance than people with low SEP. The latter were occupied with social and physical problems and demands, and challenges with the social services (Merrild, Risor, Vedsted, & Andersen, ).…”

“…In this study, the high-SEP population displayed a more proactive health consumer lifestyle focusing on body maintenance than people with low SEP. The latter were occupied with social and physical problems and demands, and challenges with the social services(Merrild, Risor, Vedsted, & Andersen, 2016).Smoking and unhealthy diets were unevenly distributed among patients with high and low SEP and were associated with CR attendance. This finding might be explained by a model of health-relevant cultural capital including health values, perceptions, health knowledge and behavioural norms that form the bases of lifestyle patterns(Abel, 2008).…”