 Dear students, in this module, we are going to see that how functionalist perspective defines the sick role. Functionalism is a sociological perspective that views society as a system of interdependent parts that work together to maintain social order and stability. Since functionalists look at the society from this point of view, the society continues to move towards maintenance of social order and stability. And all the different parts of it, which we can call different institutions, they remain in a continuous cooperation with each other. If any part of it is dysfunctional, then the rest of the parts have to be adjusted accordingly. In the health and medicine system, functionalists look at the sick role very interestingly. In other words, the most important question is, who does the society think is sick? Who is a sick person? And the most important question is, what expectations do the society keep from the sick role and what obligations do the society accept from the sick role? The Talcott Parsons have defined some expectations regarding the sick role in the mid-20th century. According to that, a sick person, or the one considered to be ill, if he is biologically sick, the society also expects that he should look like a sick person and he should behave like a sick person. And the work of the routine is not expected from him, it is called exempted from him. Along with this, the expectations of the sick role are important, that he himself should not consider himself responsible for the sickness, rather, some biological or natural factors can be the sickness of the sick person. Especially, the sick role in a sick person has the behavioral expectations, that person should also behave like a sick person. It should not be that he should behave like normal people while living in his sickness and expect normal or routine activities from him. So, it is very interesting to see that the functionalist perspective also sees the sick role from the point of view of society that how the sick person performs a function for the society. In Pakistan, for example, the sick role may be influenced by cultural and religious beliefs, as well as socio-economic factors. In Pakistan, it is very interesting to see how a sick person or a sick patient develops different social expectations from it. Number one is that the sick person expects that people should consider him as their own. And number two is that the sick person expects that I should go through any healing process, whether it is the cosmopolitan medical system or the traditional medical system. When we talk about the traditional medical system, the healing mechanism and the expectations are that your spiritual healing is also happening. That is, you cannot do it only with the help of medicines, rather, you also need prayers along with the help of medicines. So, the concept of prayer along with the medicines is particularly related to our religious ideology, and it is deeply related to our overall health system. Then, the sick role can also provide different social support mechanisms and legitimately for someone that who can be considered an ill person. So, our social support mechanisms are non-governmental, that is, there is not so much support in the government that our relatives, the networks of relationships, these social support mechanisms come from the form of being ill. For example, if we look at Western societies, then whatever sick person is, he or she has to go alone in the hospital. As compared to that, if we look at Pakistan, then maybe one or more people go to the hospital to admit or to get someone admitted. And even there, continuously, if it needs nursing support, then your relatives provide nursing support there. Along with this, the sick role can help to maintain social order by allowing for the temporary exemption from certain social obligations and it can also create social norms and expectations around the health and illness. They can also help us understand that how social institutions, such as healthcare systems and work, they develop a sense of social order within the society. And more importantly, the study of sick role can inform healthcare policies and interventions. So, interestingly, the role of sociologists is very important that they see that, for example, in our hospitals, the doctor-patient relationship can be observed, the conditions of the hospitals can be observed, and they can see where improvement is needed and give policy suggestions. So, it's a food for thought for you as well, that you see that when someone is ill in Pakistan, when someone is considered a patient, what is the relationship between the society and the healthcare system? And when is it determined that now, after passing through this healthcare system, now that person would be considered a completely healthy person?