Social position and judgment of health care services by users

Abstract

Abstract To investigate the relationship between the judgment of health care services by users and their position in the social space, we performed a study supported by the sociology of Bourdieu involving two groups. Twenty-two in-depth interviews were conducted with university professors and users of the health care system. The social position of these agents was characterized by analyzing their available capital and their social trajectory. We found that the choice of physicians by those users with greater global capital was linked to technical and symbolic criteria. In contrast, among agents of the popular classes, access was the main criterion. We analyzed that the stance taken regarding the service corresponds to an unconscious adjustment between needs and the possibilities available to users. We discussed the implications of a social distance between physicians and their patients in choosing and judging health care services.