This article looks at the historical construction of knowledge about the elderly body from a medical perspective that is concerned with the materiality of the body and associated losses. It recalls, presents and analyses the paradigm of loss, decline and failure that dominates the way care is provided, and examines the issues associated with this domination. By presenting old age as a social construct produced by language and subject to values relating to a certain performance of the body, the author invites us to shift our perspective and take a finer, more complex and broader view of the body and the experience of being old.

In 2023, Martinez et al. examined trends in the inclusion, conceptualization, operationalization and analysis of race and ethnicity among studies published in US epidemiology journals. Based on a random sample of papers (N=1,050) published from 1995-2018, the authors describe the treatment of race, ethnicity, and ethnorace in the analytic sample (N=414, 39% of baseline sample) over time. Between 32% and 19% of studies in each time stratum lacked race data; 61% to 34% lacked ethnicity data. The review supplies stark evidence of the routine omission and variability of measures of race and ethnicity in epidemiologic research. Informed by public health critical race praxis (PHCRP), this commentary discusses the implications of four problems the findings suggest pervade epidemiology: 1) a general lack of clarity about what race and ethnicity are; 2) the limited use of critical race or other theory; 3) an ironic lack of rigor in measuring race and ethnicity; and, 4) the ordinariness of racism and white supremacy in epidemiology. The identified practices reflect neither current publication guidelines nor the state of the knowledge on race, ethnicity and racism; therefore, we conclude by offering recommendations to move epidemiology toward more rigorous research in an increasingly diverse society.

This study investigates the intricate relationship between sociodemographic factors, social dominance orientation (SDO), and perceptions of wine in France. Emphasizing the symbolic role of wine in French culture, and employing a survey-based approach, the research explores how societal hierarchies and individual positioning within these structures influence the appraisal of rosé wine. The findings revealed that sociodemographic factors, particularly education level, significantly influence wine appraisal, while social dominance orientation serves as a mediating factor. This research contributes to the understanding of the cultural and social dynamics shaping wine consumption in France, highlighting the fact that wine appraisal is deeply embedded in societal structures.

Metaphysical realism about mental disorder is the thesis that mental disorder exists mind-independently. There are two ways to challenge metaphysical realism about mental disorder. The first is by denying that mental disorder exists. The second is by denying that mental disorder exists mind-independently. Or, differently put, by arguing that mental disorder is mind-dependent. The aim of this paper is three-fold: (a) to examine three ways in which mental disorder can be said to be mind-dependent (namely, by being causally dependent on the human mind, by being weakly dependent on human attitudes, and by being strongly dependent on human attitudes), (b) to clarify their differences, and (c) to discuss their implications regarding metaphysical realism about mental disorder. I argue that mental disorder being mind-dependent in the first two senses is compatible with metaphysical realism about mental disorder, whereas mental disorder being mind-dependent in the third sense is not.

This study aimed to analyze the community\'s disaster response awareness during the Covid-19 pandemic during the implementation of The Large-Scale Social Restrictions (LSSR) in Gresik. Self-awareness was observed using Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luck man\'s Social Construction Theory through a dialectical process of internalization, objectification, and externalization. The results showed that there had been no good awareness in efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in Gresik. Socially, the community had not taken the dangers of Covid-19 seriously. There was also an inconsistency between knowledge and reality related to disaster response. In coping with the dialectical process, the community had not implemented a disaster-aware culture by obeying the existing regulations. At least, the sociocultural environment determined a person\'s construction for self-identification, interaction, and adjustment to the social changes that occurred. Hence, the sociocultural construction of the community had never made the disease outbreak a serious problem and considered it as well as God\'s reminder even though infected cases continued to increase. A situation was indeed difficult for the Task Force to succeed in the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (LSSR) to Community Activities Restrictions Enforcement (CARE) suppressed the increase of Covid-19 positive cases in Gresik, Indonesia. This research sees that the government\'s policies in handling Covid- 19 are not enough, it needs more optimal involvement of community and religious leaders, to provide education on the importance of maintaining health protocols and building self-awareness of the dangers of Covid.

Cancer of the head and neck is a confronting condition, as the disease and its treatments alter the appearance and function of body organs associated with physical appearance and identity. Many of the risk factors for head and neck cancers, including tobacco, alcohol, and human papilloma virus, can also have significant negative social and moral permutations. Language and action (discourse) plays an important role in constructing disease and illness and shape the way it is managed, both institutionally and socially. This research used a critical constructionist lens to investigate how the common discourses surrounding head and neck cancer are constructed within the healthcare context and how this influences patients and healthcare professionals\' responses to the illness. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, field noting, journaling and literature reviews. Analysis was guided by a three-dimensional approach to critical discourse analysis that investigated text, discursive practices, and social context. The overarching finding was that deviance dominates the common discourse and shapes head and neck cancer and responses to it. Deviance is channelled through metaphors, adjectives, descriptors, and collective nouns and is made overt through labelling, avoidance, blaming, shame, and categorization. Discourse is contextualized by a sociocultural understanding that when someone deviates from what is perceived as normal, they are devalued. Open dialogue and reflection on head and neck cancer discourse could enable better understanding of how people experience their condition and inform more supportive responses.

Deeply rooted cultural beliefs and norms relating to the position and the responsibilities assigned to men and women play a significant role in propagating intimate partner violence (IPV). It is yet to be understood in what ways experiences of IPV contribute to how people socially construct their health and wellbeing as they navigate the tensions created by the prevailing sociocultural systems. To address this knowledge gap, we employed a social constructionist perspective and the eco-social model to explore how Kenyans aged 25-49 years socially construct their health and wellbeing in relation to their experiences of IPV. We conducted nine in-depth interviews and ten focus group discussions in four counties in Kenya between January and April of 2017. Textual analysis of the narratives reveals that although men are usually framed as perpetrators of violence, they may also be victims of reciprocal aggression by women, as recently witnessed in cases where women retaliate through gang attacks, chopping of male genitalia, and scalding with water. However, women are still disproportionately affected by gender-based violence because of the deeply rooted gender imbalances in patriarchal societies. Women experience social stigma associated with such violence and when separated or divorced in situations of unsafe relationships, they are viewed as social misfits. As such, most women opt to stay in unhealthy relationships to avoid social isolation. These experiences are not only unhealthy for their psychological wellbeing but also for their physical health and socioeconomic status and that of their offspring.

The Covid-19 pandemic added to collective concerns, making health risks salient especially for the older population. The health emergency exacerbated an already widespread negative representation of aging, and phenomena such as ageism. With the present qualitative inquiry, 21 episodic interviews were collected with the aim of understanding the experience of older adults in residential care facilities, exploring their ideas of aging and the viewpoints that helped them to respond to the pandemic successfully. A thematic analysis was conducted using NudIst software. The results show that participants described multiple personal and relational resources they used to cope with the pandemic, and they were able to express counter-narratives to the ideas of aging as coinciding with decline, and of lockdown as a source of distress alone. The paper concludes with reflections on the relevance of research capable of challenging unhelpful dominant discourses and averting the risk of them turning into negative prophecies.

In the book Laboratory Life Latour and Woolgar present an account of how scientific \"facts\" are formed through a process of microsocial interactions among individuals and \"inscription devices\" in the lab initially described as social construction. The process moves through a series of steps during which the details and nature of the object become more and more certain until all qualifications are dropped, and the \"fact\" emerges as secure scientific knowledge. An alternative to this account is described based on a Bayesian probabilistic framework which arrives at the same end point. The motive force for the constructivist approach appears to involve social processes of convincing colleagues while the Bayesian approach relies on the consistency of theory and evidence as judged by the participants. The role of social processes is discussed in Bayesian terms, the acquisition and asymmetry of information, and its analogy to puzzle solving. Some parallels between the Bayesian and constructivist accounts are noted especially in relation to information theory.

There is a widespread practice of using \'sex\' and \'gender\' interchangeably. The World Health Organization considers that they are not. It defines sex as a set of chromosome-dependent biological variables that show unique hormone profiles and anatomy. Conversely, gender refers to socially constructed sex attributions with differential roles, behavioral expressions, identity, etc. Researchers and institutions have proposed guidelines to ensure that good science is not compromised by ideologies, media or social pressures, morality, religion or economic interests. Sex differences are immune to any ideology or socio-cultural interest, because they are governed by biologically determined genetic parameters. Considering men and women to be alike is very valuable from a moral or social perspective, but ignoring differences could be wrong and unacceptable from a biomedical perspective. The organization of health and/or research systems that does not consider the different morbidity, evolution or treatment response depending on sex would generate biases and mistakes. To work on medical innovation with a gender perspective should need to take sex differences into account and integrate them properly, recognizing diversity. The controversy is not just about sex or gender, but about sex and gender and how they may influence each other. Maintaining a scientific and academic approach will help both to advance science and enrich laws and/or ideologies.