Sport, health and medicine: a sociological agenda

Abstract

This paper explores the ways in which social scientists should respond to the increasing prominence of health and medicine within sports science research agendas. It firstly reviews the research which has already been conducted on these themes identifying core bodies of work on pain and injury, sport and health, and the social organization of sports medicine. It then seeks to highlight the comparisons between the sociology of sport and the sociology of medicine, identifying existing areas of overlap and interchange between these two sociological subdisicplines. Finally it develops a research agenda for the future, consisting of more differentiated and nuanced understandings of sportspeoples' illness/injury experiences, a development of critiques of the sport-health ideology which locate physical activity campaigns within public health more broadly, a scrutiny of the global inequalities which shape athlete health and illness, and an exploration of the impact of elite sports medicine on public health provision.

Football is/as medicine: the growth of a health promotion movement and a challenge for sociologists

“…Michelini & Thiel, 2013;Weed, 2017;World Health Organisation, 2019). As a result, sport, exercise and physical activity have become combined in many programmes and policies, particularly when delivered by organisations more often concerned with elite sport (Malcolm, 2014;Malcolm & Pullen, 2017).…”

“…Instead, a primary focus upon demonstrating the positive benefits of sport/exercise/physical activity behaviour has led to it being presented as a panacea, miracle cure or 'polypill' for multiple health and social problems (Khan et al, 2012;Pareja-Galeano, Garatachea, & Lucia, 2015;Sallis, 2009). Indeed, sport and exercise as healthcare has expanded beyond targeting those who are ill, to promotion of healthy behaviours to entire populations as well as specific risky sub-groups (Malcolm, 2014).…”

Sedentarismo, Deporte Y La Presión Biopolítica De Vivir Saludable: Análisis Del Discurso Del Sistema Elige Vivir Sano en Chile

“…Estos son higiene (PEDRAZA, 2011), epidemiología (BAGRICHEVSKY;ESTEVÃO, 2012;KELLEY;SMITH, 2004;RAIL;HOLMES;MURRAY, 2010), obesidad (MORALES; FILOMENA; JIM; NORTE; ANDALUZ, 2013;RAIL et al, 2010;RAIL;, VALBUENA et al, 2015WACHS;CHASE, 2013;WARIN, 2010), deporte (MALCOLM, 2014;PIGGIN;BAIRNER, 2014;PIPER;GARRATT, 2012), salud (ARBOLEDA, 2013;MARTÍNEZ, 2011;MORALES et al, 2013;PALACIOS;RICO, 2011;PANIER, 2009) y mercado (ARREGUIN;SANDOVAL, 2014;SOSSA, 2011). Estas investigaciones permitieron contextualizar y abordar la temática de una manera profunda.…”

How Person-Centred Is Cardiac Rehabilitation in England? Using Bourdieu to Explore Socio-Cultural Influences and Personalisation

“…The effectiveness of medicalised and behaviour-change-focused interventions, such as CR, has faced considerable critique (Pavey et al, 2011), and yet such programmes continue to be delivered with this focus. With the proliferation of the ‘responsibilisation’ agenda, these interventions risk placing blame for poor uptake and adherence on individuals (Malcolm, 2014; Williams & Gibson, 2018), with little acknowledgement of the socio-cultural context within which decisions are made.…”