Healthism and the Medicalization of Everyday Life
1980/07/01 by Robert Crawford · 1 voice · 38 citations
Social Sciences · Health Professions · #Cultural Competency in Health Care #Ethics in medical practice #Public Health Policies and Education
paper · doi:10.2190/3h2h-3xjn-3kay-g9ny
Abstract
This article considers some implications of the new health consciousness and movements--holistic health and self-care--for the definition of and solution to problems related to "health." Healthism represents a particular way of viewing the health problem, and is characteristic of the new health consciousness and movements. It can best be understood as a form of medicalization, meaning that it still retains key medical notions. Like medicine, healthism situates the problem of health and disease at the level of the individual. Solutions are formulated at that level as well. To the extent that healthism shapes popular beliefs, we will continue to have a non-political, and therefore, ultimately ineffective conception and strategy of health promotion. Further, by elevating health to a super value, a metaphor for all that is good in life, healthism reinforces the privatization of the struggle for generalized well-being.
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