The field of __social medicine__ seeks to implement social care through:
1. Understanding how social and economic conditions impact health, disease and the practice of medicine and
1. Fostering conditions in which this understanding can lead to a healthier society.
Social medicine as a scientific field gradually began in the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent increase in poverty and disease among workers raised concerns about the effect of social processes on the health of the poor. The field of social medicine is most commonly addressed today by public health efforts to understand what are known as social determinants of health - wikipedia 
# Future
Here we look to explore the future of the concept of health in the context of social medicine, and with particular reference to the possibilities of digital medicine. In the iceberg of what we may call health, hospital medicine and general practice lies above water, with the vast mass of the subject hidden below the waves.
In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Adam Gazzaley about the way our technology is changing us. They discuss our limited ability to process information, our failures of multitasking, "top-down" vs "bottom-up" attention, self-interruptions and switching costs, anxiety, boredom, "digital medicine," neuroplasticity, video games for training the mind, the future of brain-machine interface, and other topics - listen
The recent Pandemic has shown forcibly the role of media, and culture as well as general social conditions to the progress of the disease with a given country or region. The structure of social media, and the political ideologies we hold turn out to have profound implications for public health.
Salvador Allende contributed to the early development of social medicine. In his 1939 paper "La Realidad Medico-Social Chileña", he wrote:
> [I]t is not possible to provide health and knowledge to a malnourished people, dressed in rags and working under merciless exploitation.
In ''The Second Sickness'', Howard Waitzkin traces the history of social medicine from Engels, through Virchow, through Allende. Waitzkin has sought to educate North Americans about the contributions of Latin American Social Medicine.
In 1976, the British public health scientist and health care critic, Thomas McKeown (physician), MD, published The role of medicine: Dream, mirage or nemesis? , wherein he summarized facts and arguments that supported what became known as the McKeown's thesis, i.e. that the growth of population can be attributed to a decline in mortality from infectious diseases, primarily thanks to better nutrition, later also to better hygiene, and only marginally and late to medical interventions such as antibiotics and vaccines. McKeown was heavily criticized for his controversial ideas, but is nowadays remembered as "the founder of social medicine".
A group of Chilean 'Damas de Rojo', volunteers on their local hospital and a clear example of social medicine - wikimedia
The field of __social medicine__ seeks to implement social care through: 1. Understanding how social and economic conditions impact health, disease and the practice of medicine and 1. Fostering conditions in which this understanding can lead to a healthier society.
Social medicine as a scientific field gradually began in the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent increase in poverty and disease among workers raised concerns about the effect of social processes on the health of the poor. The field of social medicine is most commonly addressed today by public health efforts to understand what are known as social determinants of health - wikipedia
# Future Here we look to explore the future of the concept of health in the context of social medicine, and with particular reference to the possibilities of digital medicine. In the iceberg of what we may call health, hospital medicine and general practice lies above water, with the vast mass of the subject hidden below the waves.
- Morality as Social Medicine - Who Protects Us from the Cliff
In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Adam Gazzaley about the way our technology is changing us. They discuss our limited ability to process information, our failures of multitasking, "top-down" vs "bottom-up" attention, self-interruptions and switching costs, anxiety, boredom, "digital medicine," neuroplasticity, video games for training the mind, the future of brain-machine interface, and other topics - listen
The recent Pandemic has shown forcibly the role of media, and culture as well as general social conditions to the progress of the disease with a given country or region. The structure of social media, and the political ideologies we hold turn out to have profound implications for public health.
# History
German physician Rudolf Virchow (1821–1902) laid foundations for this model. Other prominent figures in the history of social medicine, beginning from the 20th century, include Salvador Allende, Henry E. Sigerist, Thomas McKeown (physician), Victor W. Sidel, Howard Waitzkin, and more recently Paul Farmer and Jim Yong Kim - wikipedia
Salvador Allende contributed to the early development of social medicine. In his 1939 paper "La Realidad Medico-Social Chileña", he wrote: > [I]t is not possible to provide health and knowledge to a malnourished people, dressed in rags and working under merciless exploitation.
La realidad medico social chilena (1939) by Salvador Allende - pdf
In ''The Second Sickness'', Howard Waitzkin traces the history of social medicine from Engels, through Virchow, through Allende. Waitzkin has sought to educate North Americans about the contributions of Latin American Social Medicine.
In 1976, the British public health scientist and health care critic, Thomas McKeown (physician), MD, published The role of medicine: Dream, mirage or nemesis?
, wherein he summarized facts and arguments that supported what became known as the McKeown's thesis, i.e. that the growth of population can be attributed to a decline in mortality from infectious diseases, primarily thanks to better nutrition, later also to better hygiene, and only marginally and late to medical interventions such as antibiotics and vaccines. McKeown was heavily criticized for his controversial ideas, but is nowadays remembered as "the founder of social medicine".
A group of Chilean 'Damas de Rojo', volunteers on their local hospital and a clear example of social medicine - wikimedia
# Sections
# See also
- Epidemiology - Medical anthropology - Medical sociology - Social determinants of health in poverty - Social epidemiology - Social psychology - Socialized medicine - Society for Social Medicine