CZY STAROŚĆ JEST CHOROBĄ? – MEDYKALIZACJA STAROŚCI W POLSCE
IS AN OLD AGE A DISEASE? – THE MEDICALIZATION OF AN OLD AGE IN POLAND

Summary/Abstract: According to the main thesis of an article the old age is not easily classified as a solely medicalized phenomenon. Application of various analytical tools shows that the phenomenon can be seen as medicalized and demedicalized. Examples of analyses are to show that one should rather talk about pharmaceuticalization as it really occurs in an objective dimension. Medicalization and pharmaceuticalization considered from the perspective of the elderly is significantly limited by such factors as material status of the old, accessibility of physicians and treatment, time of awaiting for a medical procedure. The aim of an article is also to show methodological weaknesses and limitations in relation to issues of medicalization seen as research questions and a try to evoke a debate which, in effect, would bring reconceptualization of medicalization research in Poland.

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