Sociology of Health in Finland: Fighting an Uphill Battle?

This paper discusses one of the paradoxes of the sociology of health in Finland. On the one hand sociological health research has expanded considerably over the past few decades, during which time there have been a number of changes in the field of health care: the growth of a nation-wide network of health centres, the development and increasing application of medical technology, tendencies towards privatization and concentration, increasing costs of health care, changes in morbidity, and so on. These developments have given rise to a host of new problems which necessitate a social-scientific approach in research and also sociological training for health personnel. On the other hand, within medical faculties there has been growing opposition to sociological health research and education. The paper describes the main features of the sociology of health, the development of the discipline's institutional status, and its relationship to medicine both in countries where the discipline has a strong footing (the United States and Great Britain) and in Finland. In spite of the different circumstances and historical backgrounds, the difficulties encountered by the sociology of health tend to be rather similar in different countries. The development of the sociology of health in Finland is discussed from the point of view of both research and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]