sick role


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role

 [rōl]
a pattern of behavior developed in response to the demands or expectations of others; the pattern of responses to the persons with whom an individual interacts in a particular situation.
caregiver role the functions performed by a caregiver; see also under fatigue and strain.
gender role the public expression of gender; the image projected by a person that identifies their maleness or femaleness, which need not correspond to their gender identity.
impaired role the role played by a person who is disabled or chronically ill and who is experiencing a state of wellness and realization of potential commensurate with the condition. Unlike the sick person, the impaired person cannot be expected to “want to get well” but is expected to resume as much normal behavior as is possible.
sick role the role played by a person who has defined himself or herself as ill, with or without validation of the role by health care providers or family members. Adoption of the sick role changes the behavioral expectations of others toward sick persons. They are exempted from normal social responsibilities and not held responsible for the condition; they are obliged to “want to get well” and to seek competent medical help. The sick role also involves behavioral changes, including increased attention to the body and bodily functions, regression (increase in dependent behavior), narrowing of interests, and emotional overreactions.

sick role

in medical sociology, the familially or culturally accepted behavior pattern or role that one is permitted to exhibit during illness or disability, including sanctioned absence from school or work and a submissive, dependent relationship to family, health care personnel, and significant others.

sick role

Etymology: AS, seoc + Fr, stage character
a behavior pattern in which a person adopts the symptoms of a physical or mental disorder to be cared for, sympathized with, and protected from the demands and stresses of life.

sick role

A functional role adopted by those who are sick, and for which their peers and society accept their sanctioned deviance from their usual (healthy) role(s).

The sociologist Talcott Parsons saw those in a sick role mode as having two rights:
(1) They are exempt from their usual social roles,
(2) They are not responsible for their sickness;
and two obligations:
(1) They should try to get better; and, if unable,
(2) Seek medical care and follow the doctors’ advice.

sick role

(sik rōl)
The familially or culturally accepted behavior pattern that one is permitted to exhibit during illness or disability, including sanctioned absence from school or work and a submissive, dependent relationship with family, health care personnel, and others.

sick role,

n an unconscious adoption of characteristic attitudes and behaviors by a sick individual. As a result, he or she is temporarily granted certain advantages and privileges and is relieved from particular responsibilities.

sick role

(sik rōl)
In medical sociology, familially or culturally accepted behavior pattern or role that one is permitted to exhibit during illness or disability, including sanctioned absence from school or work and a submissive, dependent relationship to family, health care personnel, and significant others.
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References in periodicals archive ?
1] And while the sick role grants temporary exemption from duties without changing them, persons with chronic illness may never fully resume their former functions.
Understanding chronic illness from the patient's perspective
This pharmacist-patient exchange fits nicely into the sick role model, where the patient has the responsibility to seek professional care and follow the advice given.
The pharmacist's role in patient care
9) A confrontational approach often places the patient's sick role in doubt and does not address the pathological aspect of the disorder.
No evidence of pregnancy, but she is suicidal and depressed after 'my baby died'
In the "Determinants of Health Behaviors" section, separate chapters are devoted to lifestyle, family, social groups, social support, sick role behavior, gender, and culture.
Health Behavior: Emerging Research Perspectives
Factious amnesia (Table 2) (6) is a symptom of factious disorder in which amnesia appears with the motivation to assume a sick role.
A teen with seizures, amnesia, and troubled family dynamics
B's intentional production of physical symptoms strongly suggested malingering, but we instead diagnosed factitious disorder because he was clearly motivated to play the sick role despite lack of a secondary gain (Box 2).
To narrow the differential diagnosis, determine if the patient has long-term fixed beliefs, major depressive symptoms, disordered personality characteristics, obsessive-compulsive traits, or a desire to play the sick role.
One patient's 'shot' at redemption: Mr. B believes shooting himself in the abdomen expunges his guilt. Is he delusional? Depressed? Obsessive-compulsive? Is another psychopathology driving his self-harm urges?
Since most early emphasis comes from a medical model, it can perpetuate a sick role and dependency status.
Empowering people with cerebral palsy
produced to assume the sick role (not to accrue secondary gain--a core feature of malingering).
Factitious illness: a 3-step consultation-liaison approach; Make the diagnosis when it is present, and rule it out when it is not
Dowbiggin's claim, for example, that the self-help and recovery movement "made it acceptable for highly stressed people to adopt certain sick roles rather than use their willpower to overcome their symptoms, as countless human beings had done for generations and generations" (p.
The Quest for Mental Health: A Tale of Science, Medicine, Scandal, Sorrow, and Mass Society

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