Housing: A Case for the Medicalization of Poverty
Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, Vol. 46, 2018
Virginia Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper No. 2018-67
8 Pages Posted: 5 Dec 2018
Date Written: November 29, 2018
Abstract
Historically, the term and concept of “medicalization” has been fraught. Here we ask whether the medicalization framework is a valuable construct or a wayward notion. To answer this question, we explore questions of how the concept does or does not improve patient care and well-being. We ask whether consideration of poverty can inform improved delivery models which might lead, in turn, to better population outcomes. We consider the prospects for the increased medicalization of poverty in three parts. First, we explore the evolution of the concept of medicalization and changing perceptions of its promise and peril. Next, we describe an alternate interpretation of the concept that applies it to non-biologic risk factors of disease — namely the social determinants of health — and consider its impact on patient care. Finally, we look specifically at the challenge to find affordable, decent housing as a specific feature of being poor or near-poor, to examine how medicalizing poverty can affect the navigation of illness for some of society’s most vulnerable individuals.
Keywords: Medicalization, housing, health, poverty, poor, social determinants
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