title: Multimorbidity: a sociological perspective of systems.
abstract: There has been a great tradition of looking at health and illness from a systems perspective. For clinicians and people with illnesses a lot can be gained by mapping the interface of different sectors to understand the nature of conditions. This paper aims to use Sturmberg et als. paper as a stepping off point to present a sociological approach to understanding multimorbidities and gain insights into the illness experience of these people in the greater social system of health and illness. Parsons' sick role provides a useful systems concept through which we can understand the role of doctors and the experience of illness as social, beyond the personal. We also use Bourdieu's concept of habitas and of structure and agency to make sense of multimorbidities being social, economic and a broader part of experiencing social systems. We posit that one option for people coping with multiple conditions is to change identity. We also examine the doctor and patient encounter for mutlimorbidities as being problematic as it forces attention on competence and responsibility in that continuing encounter.
authors.affiliation: Chronic Illness Alliance Victoria, Australia.|Epilepsy Foundation, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: School of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of the Arts, Social Science and Commerce, Plenty Rd, Bundoora, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia.|Epilepsy Foundation, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Chris L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Peterson
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004777:Environment; D023281:Genomics; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000503:physiopathology; D000071069:Multiple Chronic Conditions / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: sick role; social system; structure agency