Social medicine is a specialty of medicine that does not directly provide patient care. It deals with the social and natural environmental conditions as causes of diseases. In addition, social medicine is concerned with the effects of disease on society. In doing so, it uses the methods of various other sciences and also assesses the diseases from social and economic aspects.
What is social medicine?
Social medicine is a specialty of human medicine that does not directly provide patient care. The tasks of social medicine include the study or analysis of the effects and interactions of health and disease on individuals and society. In contrast to most other medical specialties, the field of social medicine does not only concern the individual, but the entire society or population. For this reason, sociology, psychology, epidemiology, social work, and economics also influence the medical specialty of social medicine. Social medicine is not primarily concerned with the cure of the individual, but with the study of the causes of diseases and health disorders, especially the so-called common diseases. In addition, social medicine is concerned with the development of preventive measures and with the effects of diseases and health disorders on the population or society.
Treatments and therapies
Because social medicine is not a field of direct patient care, it does not diagnose and treat diseases. In this medical specialty, the focus is much more on researching the frequency and distribution as well as the causes of diseases and health disorders, especially common diseases. Furthermore, social medicine is concerned with the development of preventive measures. All the issues of social medicine are dealt with taking into account the social and natural environment, health care and social security and their institutions. The aim of social medicine is to evaluate the impact of diseases on society and their development in the context of the social and natural environment. In addition, social medicine makes proposals on preventive measures and deals with the management of common health problems and their social consequences on the population. Economic consequences of the diseases are also considered. For this reason, social medicine is also concerned with the development of measures to restore the ability to work after illness. Reintegration into working life is thus also an area addressed by social medicine. In addition, coping with illness-related restrictions on the ability to work is a task of social medicine. It should be noted, however, that the aim of social medicine is not to rehabilitate the individual, i.e. the patient, as is the case with physical and rehabilitative medicine, for example, but to make the working capacity of the sick person available to society again. Accordingly, the assessment of the work and performance capacity of the sick person represents a large part of the work of a social physician. All in all, it can be said that social medicine also plays an important socio-political role. It investigates the causes and effects of diseases, taking into account not only medical but also social and economic aspects. The social effects and causes of a disease, especially a widespread disease, on society are researched and measures for prevention are developed. Furthermore, efforts are made to develop measures for reintegration into the labor market and society. The relationship of a certain lifestyle to the occurrence of certain diseases is also researched and assessed by social medicine.
Diagnosis and examination methods
In addition to medical knowledge, social physicians also need a good knowledge of social law, the organization of social security institutions and the organization of health insurance. In addition to the aforementioned research into the causes and social effects of illnesses, the tasks of social medicine also include assessing the patient’s ability to work and perform.For all these tasks, social medicine uses the methods of epidemiology, statistics, demography, prevention and other fields. Physicians who have acquired the additional title of social medicine therefore have knowledge not only in the field of human medicine, but also in the field of social law and all other specialties necessary for the practice of social medicine. The diagnosis and treatment of diseases is not one of the tasks of social medicine. It does not deal primarily with the individual, but mainly with the entire population or society. Diagnosis and therapy are therefore not carried out. Instead, evaluation and expert assessment are the main focus of social medical activities. Statements are made about work and performance capacity. They also frequently provide expert opinions. Social physicians are primarily employed by the medical service of the health insurance funds, the German pension insurance, the social medical service of the Federal Miners’ Insurance or pension funds. Here it can be clearly seen that the assessment of work and performance capacity are of great importance in most social medical activities. In terms of social medicine, it is of great importance to consider not only the disease itself, but also the social and natural environmental conditions, the biography and generally the circumstances of life. Social medicine is one of the ecological subjects in the clinical section of medical school.
