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KMID : 0904520110290010211
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Health and Medical Sociology
2011 Volume.29 No. 1 p.211 ~ p.236
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The Limitation of the Individualism Approach on Chronic Diseases
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Lee Sung-Young
Lee Jung-Whan
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Abstract
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The purpose of this study is to examine whether the Western Individualism underlies the arguments and theories related to the elderly health. The arguments and theories of health burden and health promotion are evolved in the perspectives of the Western Individualism.
First, ‘the age of delayed degenerative diseases’ can be regarded as the rising of ages when chronic diseases occur, which means the lengthening of the elderly’s life-period spent independently of younger generations. Second, according to the theories of ‘the compression of morbidity’, the life-period that an individual maintains his/her autonomy has been extended. Third, the ‘active aging’ approaches are based on the concept that the elderly is not a passive but active, independent person who can enjoy his/her own autonomous life. According to the ‘life-course’ approach, the frailty of an elderly results from not overcoming the bad habits and/or experiences they used to have when young. Therefore, the elderly is responsible for his/her failing health. Fourth, as the naming of ‘lifestyle diseases’ shows, if one controls one’s own lifestyles such as smoking, drinking, diet and exercise, the occurrence rate of ‘lifestyle diseases’ can decrease. Most people tend to think that ‘lifestyle diseases’ are due to the individual’s bad lifestyles, which, we argue, is wrong.
The government health policies based on the Western Individualism ignore the fact that the aging population has the largest socioeconomic inequality, compared to any other age group. If interdependency among individuals and/or groups is more important than individual independency in the aging society, we need to develop the theories for elderly health which are based not on individualism but on collectivism perspective, which emphasizes the interdependency among individuals and/or groups.
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KEYWORD
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Chronic diseases, ideology, health burden, health promotion
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