Emerging trends in the application of the social sciences to health and medicine

Tensions are inevitable between funders seeking to solve specific health care issues within existing frameworks and many social scientists who see health and health care as reflections of societal stratification and processes of power and control. Many current and impending issues require deep scrutiny of values and meaning systems as they relate to class, gender, ethnicity and other forms of social differentiation. Interdisciplinary efforts provide social scientists important problem-solving opportunities but also occasions to refine disciplinary theories and methods. In recent years such efforts have resulted in increased sensitivity to demographic imperatives, prospective investigations, social experimentation, a growing appreciation of the complexity of life trajectories, development of more complex models of causation and remediation, and a revival of interest in meaning systems and their effects on ultimate outcomes. Social scientists have come to play a variety of roles in health services and policy research that contribute to a fruitful interplay of theory and practice. Major roles include helping to frame issues and how they are attacked; anticipating emerging trends, issues and problems; monitoring health and the provision of health services; evaluation and assessment; and implementation processes. The contributions of the social sciences to understanding complex organizational arrangements, structures, cultures, managerial approaches, financial arrangements and regulatory processes are increasingly evident and part of a culture of informed thinking.