[The processes of work and health/disease: a dialectic relationship]

The premise of the authors is that social sciences allow a vision of man as a whole, without separating the biological, psychological and social aspects. In the historical dimension, individuals do not act as isolated entities, but rather as social groups; and it is only from this standpoint that behaviour, events and institutions may be fully understood. The role played by man as a social being is determined by the culture in which he is born and matures as an adult. To understand the health-disease process, it is necessary to go beyond the purely biological approach, where the individual becomes sick basically because of organic disorders, and to look at health problems from the standpoint of the social sciences, which are based theoretically on a broader conception of the individual, allowing an examination of his historical, emotional, and social make-up. The health-disease process is affected by different phenomena whose frequency and intensity vary with time and space; according to the individual level, social class or population group; and economic and social factors. From the relationship between biological, and psychological and social forces, different trends emerge. Some are ecological; others conclude that disease is a social phenomenon in its essence, and biological in its form. This article links the health-disease phenomenon with the labor process and thus places it in the context of occupational health, a field where the social sciences have made their mark. The authors later analyze this process. It is necessary to know all its characteristics, modalities and manifestations, and to discover the final connection between the occupation and the individual, as the only way to have a deeper understanding of the relationship between the labor and health-disease processes.