EDEXCEL BTEC National Certificate

Level 3 Unit 7: Sociological Perspectives for Health

and Social Care
Assignment Title:- How can we apply sociological perspectives in HSC?
STUDENT DECLARATION
I understand the rules of plagiarism and I declare that the work produced for this assignment is
my own.
Student Signature ____________________________________Date_____________
Assignment Launch Date
Assignment Hand in
Dates

Tuesday 3rd November 2011

Assignment 1
Assignment 2

2011
2011

GRADING CRITERIA
To achieve a pass grade you must
show that you are able to:

To achieve a merit you must show

that you are able to:

P1 explain the principal

sociological perspectives
P2 explain different
sociological
approaches to health and ill
health
P3 explain patterns and
trends
in health and illness among
different social groupings.

M1 assess the biomedical

and
socio-medical models of
health

To achieve a distinction you

must show that you are able
to:

M2 use different
sociological
perspectives to discuss
patterns and trends of
health
and illness in two different
social groups.

BTEC National Certificate in Health and Social Care

Level 3 - Unit 7 Assignment Brief TH FHS 09/10

D1 evaluate different
sociological
explanations for
patterns and trends of
health and illness in
two different social
groups.

BTEC National Certificate in Health and Social Care

Level 3 - Unit 7 Assignment Brief TH FHS 09/10

Assignment 1
Successful completion of this task will allow you to generate evidence to meet
Grading Criteria P1, P2, M1 (Wednesday 5th October 2011)
You have just begun a career at the Department of Health and have been asked to
investigate how sociological perspectives and theory can be used in the planning of
health care services for the UK population. The main focus of your work is for you to
find out information on different sociological perspectives, define the meaning of
health and ill health and explore the biomedical and socio-medical models of health.
You will present your findings to the rest of your team.
Task 1 (P1) - Produce a report which explores and explains the meaning of different
sociological perspectives. Make sure that you look at Functionalism, Marxism, New
Right, Feminism, Interactionism, Collectivism and Postmodernism. You must outline
sociological terminology and use this when describing the perspectives. Please
ensure you use key terminology from this unit in your explanations.
Task 2 (P2) - Write a letter of at least 600 words identifying the different concepts of
health and ill health. You should begin your letter with an introduction outlining the
difficulties of defining health and illness. Ensure that you refer to the work of others
and identify your sources.

Task 3 (P2) Compile a leaflet that can be included with your letter to the Health Care
Commission about the 2 models of health. Describe what each model says about the
causes of health and illness and include pictures to highlight your points.
Task 4 (M1) - Write an account of at least 800 words about how the biomedical and
socio-medical models of health apply in everyday practice. You may wish to use a
case study to help you apply each model. Extend your work from Task 3 and explain
in more depth what the different models mean and their strengths and weaknesses.

BTEC National Certificate in Health and Social Care

Level 3 - Unit 7 Assignment Brief TH FHS 09/10

Assignment 2
Successful completion of this task will allow you to generate evidence to meet
Grading Criteria P3, M2 and D1 (Monday 11th October 2011)

Your line manager is very impressed with your work and would like you to write a
report that compares and contrasts health inequalities in different social groups. This
work will help them improve the delivery of health services for service users from a
range of diverse backgrounds.
Task 1 (P3) Produce a definition sheet that outlines the key terminology for
measuring health. Ensure you cover all the content listed on the criteria page.
Task 2 (P3) - explain patterns and trends in health and illness among different social
groupings. Produce a report to compare the patterns and trends of health and
illness in three different social groups.
1) Gender
2) Social class
3) Ethnicity
4) Age
5) Geographic location.
Compare requires you to identify the health trends of three different social groups
and make comparisons in each. You will need to identify statistical sources, tables
and graphs to support your findings and should present these in your report. Use
your definition sheet from Task 1. You may wish to look at what illnesses are
prevalent in people in different groups; you may look at different mortality rates within
groups or how different groups view illness. Try to focus on health inequalities, as
this will help later with the higher distinction grades. Produce your findings in a report
that can be included in your letter to the Health Care Commission.
Task 3 (M2) - Select two of the social groups explored in task 1 and discuss the
reasons for the patterns and trends you discovered in those two chosen social
groups. You are required to look at four different sociological explanations of health
inequality to do this.
1) artefact.
2) natural/social selection.
3) cultural/behavioural.
4) materialist/structuralist.
Ensure that you refer to the work of others and identify your sources.

BTEC National Certificate in Health and Social Care

Level 3 - Unit 7 Assignment Brief TH FHS 09/10

Task 3 (D1) - Prepare a set of detailed notes for a scheduled meeting with members
of the Health Care Commission that evaluates the reasons you gave for the patterns
and trends in your two social groups.
Look at each of the four sociological explanations you discussed in Task 2 and
discuss their strengths and weaknesses. Remember you are doing this for both
social groups so your evaluations will be slightly different for each social group.
When identifying advantages and disadvantages, make sure you reference your
sources and give clear examples of how they operate in practice.

BTEC National Certificate in Health and Social Care

Level 3 - Unit 7 Assignment Brief TH FHS 09/10

For each coursework task you must include the majority of the content below. Please cross
off each item as you write then tick in the right column when finished.
Assign

Task

Required Content (cross off as you write)

Task 1
(P1)
Report on
sociological
Perspectives

Terminology:
- social structures: eg the family, education system,
health care services.
- social diversity: eg social class, gender, culture,
ethnicity, age, locality.
- socialisation: eg norms, values, beliefs, roles,
status.
Principle sociological perspectives:
functionalism, Marxism, feminism, interactionism,
collectivism, postmodernism, New Right.

Task 2
(P2)
Letter

- Concepts of health: negative, positive, holistic,

World Health Organisation definition.
- Ill health: illness, disability, disease; iatrogenesis,
the sick role; the clinical iceberg.

Task 3
(P2)
Leaflet on models
of health

models of health (biomedical, socio-medical)

Task 4
(M1)
Evaluation of
models

Application of each model to a case study, strengths

and weaknesses and criticisms of each model

Task 1
(P5)
Report on patterns
of illness in 3 social
groups.

Measurement of health: eg morbidity rates,

mortality rates, health events, disease incidence,
disease prevalence, health surveillance; difficulties
in measuring health.
Social Groups: social class, gender, ethnicity, age,
locality

2
Task 5 (M2)
Explain patterns
you found in P5
with sociological
explanations.
Task 6 (D1)
Advantages and
disadvantages of
explanations

Done
(tick)

Sociological explanations artefact, natural/social

selection, cultural/behavioural,
materialist/structuralist.
- Apply to 2 social group in P5 to explain the patterns
and trends you found.
-Strengths and weaknesses of sociological explanations
given in M2
For 2 chosen social groups in P5 and the patterns and
trends you found.
- Include research with references.

BTEC National Certificate in Health and Social Care

Level 3 - Unit 7 Assignment Brief TH FHS 09/10

BTEC National Certificate in Health and Social Care

Level 3 - Unit 7 Assignment Brief TH FHS 09/10