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During this unit, you will be introduced to the concepts of the sick role and explore its importance in health and social care. 

Specifically, at the end of this unit you will be able to:

• Define the sick role and its various components;
• Explore how the concept can be applied to health and illness;
• How the sick role has been interpreted by a number of different commentators;
• Be aware of how the concepts may effect professional practice.

In order to complete this unit, you should have the following:

• Your brain!
• A general, introductory, sociology text book (e.g. Scambler, 2003 or Armstong, 2003).

Guidelines on these web pages: how to use them, and the various conventions used within them can be found on this link.