The Perils of Medicalization for Population Health and Health Equity

Policy Points Medicalization is a historical process by which personal, behavioral, and social issues are increasingly viewed through a biomedical lens and “diagnosed and treated” as individual pathologies and problems by medical authorities. Medicalization in the United States has led to a conflati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Milbank quarterly 2023-04, Vol.101 (S1), p.61-82
Main Authors: LANTZ, PAULA M., GOLDBERG, DANIEL S., GOLLUST, SARAH E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomedicine
Confusion
Delivery of Health Care
Fairness
Health care
Health care delivery
Health care management
Health care policy
Health disparities
Health Equity
Health Policy
Health services
Health Status Disparities
Humans
Inequality
Journalists
Macro and Structural Drivers of Population Health
Medicalization
Mental health services
Policy making
Population policy
Public health
Social issues
United States
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Summary:Policy Points Medicalization is a historical process by which personal, behavioral, and social issues are increasingly viewed through a biomedical lens and “diagnosed and treated” as individual pathologies and problems by medical authorities. Medicalization in the United States has led to a conflation of “health” and “health care” and a confusion between individual social needs versus the social, political, and economic determinants of health. The essential and important work of population health science, public health practice, and health policy writ large is being thwarted by a medicalized view of health and an overemphasis on personal health services and the health care delivery system as the major focal point for addressing societal health issues and health inequality. Increased recognition of the negative consequences of a medicalized view of health is essential, with a focus on education and training of clinicians and health care managers, journalists, and policymakers.
ISSN:0887-378X
1468-0009
DOI:10.1111/1468-0009.12619