Medical care consumption in modern Russia: multidimensional methodological construct of sociological research

The topicality of the article is conditioned by a need for a special sociological theory that explains the patterns of medical care consumption. So, the present paper is devoted to the methodological problems of medical care consumption' categorization in sociological discourse. The purpose of article is to create a uniform methodological space of sociological study in the sphere of medical care consumption. The novelty of the work is expressed in the applying of metapara-digmality constructing to this phenomenon study. The concept of medical care consumption is analyzed as multidimensional, emotionally directed type of adaptive behavior designed by the individual in a wide social context. It's stressed that specificity of medical care consumption consists, first, in need of overcoming of objective and subjective accessibility barriers, secondly, in the alternativeness of a personal choice, thirdly, in subjectively «installable» strength of medical need. On one hand, sociological perspective views medical care consumption as a stage of individual disease career in the social relation system. On the other hand, sociological tradition is concerned with how institutional limitations and cultural program of society influence medical activity. It's argued that medical care accessibility is an integrative factor of consumer choice in the healthcare sphere. Thus, there is necessity to create a theoretical model which includes behavioral and structural factors of medical care accessibility. Particular attention is given to the possibility of integrating the cognitive installations of classical and nonclassical models of scientific rationality for better sociological understanding of medical care consumption dimensions. The task of modern sociology in Russia, in the opinion of the author, is to link the representations of various social groups about «optimal» help-seeking strategies with process of healthcare institute transformation on the national and regional levels. At the end of article the author emphasizes that sociological approach allows to reveal the hidden subjective and objective factors of medical care consumption, as well as to define the reasons and effects of obvious limitations in Russian healthcare system.

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