Professional Authority and Expertise

“Expertise plays a crucial role in political rule in modern societies, by rendering a multiplicity of social fields governable through detailed documentation, classification, evaluation and calculation (Johnson 1993)” (Petersen & Lupton, p. 14) 

In the article, The New Public Health: A New Morality, the authors discuss the evolution of

public health, and the complexity that lives within this “new” idea surrounding policy. As new health education programs are being promoted and strategies to improve lifestyle choices are implemented into communities, a need to bring in more expert knowledge and professional authority to govern is seen. A way to control and regulate a society into a more useful group is to “translate reality into a form in which it can be debated and diagnosed” (Petersen & Lupton, p. 15). The expertise that is tied to public health is seen as one way of shaping and changing behavior to fit a certain measurable standard of living. This new theory that shifts the responsibility to the individual leaves out many of the sociological factors that predispose people to a “unhealthy lifestyle,” such as ethnicity, gender and class, creating assumptions and ultimately blaming the victim (Petersen & Lupton, p. 16). 

Attaching a specific “lifestyle prescription” to daily living is viewed not only as way to enable healthy choices, but also a way to constrain and label many communities whom might be unable to actively participate due to physical limitations.  If the new public health focuses on “appearance of the individual body,” along with pushing a subscription around a healthy “norm” of daily life for everyone, then I believe we are moving further away from keeping our community free of disease and illness (Petersen & Lupton, p. 23). The  human body can be ill without being diseased. Healing and illness are fundamental human experiences that are best viewed holistically. Much of the body and the symptoms within it are filtered through our beliefs and cultural assumptions. 

These types of pamphlets represent what I envision the "Public Health Receptionist" in the above cartoon to be passing out while she is on the phone.

          

 

Public health influences the way people assemble an understanding about the body, and the risk associated with the choices they ultimately end up making. As the above cartoon demonstrates, everyone is looking for professional help in finding answers to their health questions. I think it is interesting how the cartoon depicts this "public place" where there is a one stop shop for finding the answers to all health concerns. Although it tries to represent a diverse group of people, it fails in describing their own unique stories and assumes that everyone regardless of culture must have the same type of questions, easily answered by the receptionist and a paper pamphlet.

 


Will babies be unhealthy if they are not brought up in the typical "normal" male/female relationship? This pamphlet seems to give the impression that without family support, your child will suffer. Representations are a powerful tool when people are looking for professional answers concerning their health.

With illness and disease comes a set of instructions that physicians follow in order to treat the body and give patients freedom and independence back. With specific protocols that the medical community must follow in order to take care of the body, people sometimes begin searching in new directions to find the right doctor or medicine that works for them. With insurance companies dictating how our care should be scheduled, it can be hard for families to achieve what they feel is best for their loved ones. The determination and drive to find the top medical care to fight disease can be a chaotic and long journey. "Although governments cannot assure that every individual attains personally defined 'health,' they at least have the responsibility to establish environments that make possible an attainment level of health for the total population" (Petersen & Lupton, p.17). 

The video clip below is about a documentary called 9000 Needles. It is  about a family who struggles through the health care system, searching for the best doctors and professionals to take care of their brother. Their experience with medicine, healing and the American health care system reminds me of the many topics we have covered this week in class. This family struggles with medical care at the local level, fighting insurance companies along with the other challenges a stoke brings to the body.

I wonder what type of environments are established for the disabled and stroke survivors that really allow complete achievement towards better health.   For them, the body and mind have changed, and they no longer "fit" into the same category.

Works Cited:

• Alan Peterson and Deborah Lupton. 1996. “The New Public Health: A New Morality?” and “Epidemiology: Governing by Numbers.” Pg. 1-60. In the New Public Health: Health and Self in the Age of Risk. London: Sage Publications.

• "Public Health Portal." EWashtenaw.org 20 Jan. 2011 <http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/public_health/ph_portal/public-health-portal>.

• "Sex-Making the Best Decision For You."  hhs.state.ne.us 20 Jan. 2011 <http://www.hhs.state.ne.us/dpc/HIV_Brochures/teenagers.htm>.

•  "Healthy Babies Need Everyone's Support." bcliquorstores.com 20 Jan.2011 < http://bcliquorstores.com/alcohol-pregnancy>  

• 9000 Needles Documentary- Devin Dearth.  YouTube. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSJLn7AKGY0>.