Podcast
Questions and Answers
What factors are included in the definition of socioeconomic status?
What factors are included in the definition of socioeconomic status?
How does employment status affect health outcomes?
How does employment status affect health outcomes?
Which of the following is a benefit of higher education?
Which of the following is a benefit of higher education?
What is a consequence of poverty according to Herbert Gans?
What is a consequence of poverty according to Herbert Gans?
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Which of the following accurately describes medicalization?
Which of the following accurately describes medicalization?
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What does Foucault suggest about medical knowledge?
What does Foucault suggest about medical knowledge?
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Which of the following policy suggestions aims to improve health outcomes?
Which of the following policy suggestions aims to improve health outcomes?
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How do social systems influence health behaviors?
How do social systems influence health behaviors?
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What is allostatic load primarily associated with?
What is allostatic load primarily associated with?
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Which of the following is not a component of the adaptive stress response?
Which of the following is not a component of the adaptive stress response?
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Which of the following conditions is a stress-related disorder?
Which of the following conditions is a stress-related disorder?
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What effect does chronic stress have on heart disease?
What effect does chronic stress have on heart disease?
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How does sleep contribute to the body's functioning?
How does sleep contribute to the body's functioning?
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What is a characteristic of problem-focused coping?
What is a characteristic of problem-focused coping?
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What is the FFF alarm response relieved by?
What is the FFF alarm response relieved by?
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Which psychological outcome is NOT connected to lack of sleep?
Which psychological outcome is NOT connected to lack of sleep?
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What does stigma encompass in the context of disease?
What does stigma encompass in the context of disease?
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How is the experience of illness described in the context of social construction?
How is the experience of illness described in the context of social construction?
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What is a key aspect of 'contested illness'?
What is a key aspect of 'contested illness'?
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Which feature is NOT associated with the built environment?
Which feature is NOT associated with the built environment?
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What was a significant legal action related to racial segregation in the late 19th century?
What was a significant legal action related to racial segregation in the late 19th century?
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Which function of stigma involves making individuals avoid those with a stigmatizing condition?
Which function of stigma involves making individuals avoid those with a stigmatizing condition?
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What is one effective method to address stigma around a health condition?
What is one effective method to address stigma around a health condition?
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Which of the following best describes the impact of medical knowledge?
Which of the following best describes the impact of medical knowledge?
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What does the Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibit?
What does the Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibit?
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What is a consequence of residential segregation on housing quality?
What is a consequence of residential segregation on housing quality?
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Which of the following accurately describes food deserts?
Which of the following accurately describes food deserts?
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What is one disadvantage of greenspaces mentioned?
What is one disadvantage of greenspaces mentioned?
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What does the term 'spatial mismatch' refer to in the context of employment?
What does the term 'spatial mismatch' refer to in the context of employment?
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Which factor is NOT typically influenced by residential segregation?
Which factor is NOT typically influenced by residential segregation?
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How does neighborhood design typically affect housing?
How does neighborhood design typically affect housing?
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Which describes a significant impact of food apartheid?
Which describes a significant impact of food apartheid?
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What is the primary focus of population health?
What is the primary focus of population health?
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What is the primary focus of rural health studies?
What is the primary focus of rural health studies?
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Which act aimed to improve access to primary healthcare in rural underserved communities?
Which act aimed to improve access to primary healthcare in rural underserved communities?
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Which of the following is considered a negative aspect of rural environmental and community context?
Which of the following is considered a negative aspect of rural environmental and community context?
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What issue was addressed by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997?
What issue was addressed by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997?
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Which of the following describes a health behavior more prevalent in rural residents?
Which of the following describes a health behavior more prevalent in rural residents?
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What economic challenge is commonly faced by rural areas compared to urban areas?
What economic challenge is commonly faced by rural areas compared to urban areas?
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How does the definition of rural vary according to different perspectives?
How does the definition of rural vary according to different perspectives?
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What was a significant outcome of establishing rural health research centers in the 1980s?
What was a significant outcome of establishing rural health research centers in the 1980s?
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What is one of the consequences of poorer water quality in rural areas?
What is one of the consequences of poorer water quality in rural areas?
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Which demographic characteristic is often observed in rural areas?
Which demographic characteristic is often observed in rural areas?
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What is a key aspect of institutionalized racism?
What is a key aspect of institutionalized racism?
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Which of the following best describes personally mediated racism?
Which of the following best describes personally mediated racism?
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Which statement accurately reflects internalized racism?
Which statement accurately reflects internalized racism?
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What consequence does racism have on society as a whole?
What consequence does racism have on society as a whole?
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What is meant by 'differential access' in the context of institutionalized racism?
What is meant by 'differential access' in the context of institutionalized racism?
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Which theory relates to the justification of racism through the social interpretation of appearance?
Which theory relates to the justification of racism through the social interpretation of appearance?
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What is a possible upstream factor contributing to health disparities related to racism?
What is a possible upstream factor contributing to health disparities related to racism?
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Which form of racism highlights actions taken based on prejudged assumptions about abilities and motives?
Which form of racism highlights actions taken based on prejudged assumptions about abilities and motives?
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Which of the following factors does NOT typically relate to the definition of socioeconomic status?
Which of the following factors does NOT typically relate to the definition of socioeconomic status?
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What is a consequence of unemployment on an individual's health status?
What is a consequence of unemployment on an individual's health status?
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Which of the following statements accurately describes the concept of medicalization?
Which of the following statements accurately describes the concept of medicalization?
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According to Herbert Gans, which function is associated with the persistence of poverty?
According to Herbert Gans, which function is associated with the persistence of poverty?
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Which of the following is NOT a suggested policy to improve population health outcomes?
Which of the following is NOT a suggested policy to improve population health outcomes?
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Foucault’s concept related to medical knowledge and power structures implies that:
Foucault’s concept related to medical knowledge and power structures implies that:
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Which of the following best captures the relationship between income and lifestyle choices?
Which of the following best captures the relationship between income and lifestyle choices?
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How does social constructionism view the phenomenon of illness?
How does social constructionism view the phenomenon of illness?
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What does the accumulation model emphasize in the life course theory?
What does the accumulation model emphasize in the life course theory?
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Which of the following best characterizes the McKeown Thesis?
Which of the following best characterizes the McKeown Thesis?
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What is a key aspect of the pathway model in life course theory?
What is a key aspect of the pathway model in life course theory?
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Which statement is a limitation of life course models?
Which statement is a limitation of life course models?
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Which factor is not considered a fundamental cause of health disparities?
Which factor is not considered a fundamental cause of health disparities?
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In Life Course Theory, what role does the concept of 'linked lives' play?
In Life Course Theory, what role does the concept of 'linked lives' play?
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What is the primary focus of the sensitive period model within Life Course Theory?
What is the primary focus of the sensitive period model within Life Course Theory?
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What key element does the social mobility model in Life Course Theory investigate?
What key element does the social mobility model in Life Course Theory investigate?
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Which of the following statements aligns with Life Course Theory's notion of 'agency'?
Which of the following statements aligns with Life Course Theory's notion of 'agency'?
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How does Life Course Theory conceptualize the impact of environment on health?
How does Life Course Theory conceptualize the impact of environment on health?
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How does the Fair Housing Act of 1968 influence housing discrimination?
How does the Fair Housing Act of 1968 influence housing discrimination?
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Which of the following aspects is NOT directly associated with residential segregation?
Which of the following aspects is NOT directly associated with residential segregation?
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How does neighborhood design typically exacerbate health disparities?
How does neighborhood design typically exacerbate health disparities?
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What is a significant consequence of food deserts on community health?
What is a significant consequence of food deserts on community health?
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Which built environment factor is associated with the concept of planetary health?
Which built environment factor is associated with the concept of planetary health?
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What is the primary implication of 'spatial mismatch' in employment contexts?
What is the primary implication of 'spatial mismatch' in employment contexts?
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Which of the following statements about greenspaces is FALSE?
Which of the following statements about greenspaces is FALSE?
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How does disinvestment impact the quality of housing in segregated neighborhoods?
How does disinvestment impact the quality of housing in segregated neighborhoods?
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What is a common issue faced by residents of food deserts?
What is a common issue faced by residents of food deserts?
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What was the primary goal of the Hill-Burton Act of 1946?
What was the primary goal of the Hill-Burton Act of 1946?
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Which of the following describes a positive aspect of the environmental and community context in rural areas?
Which of the following describes a positive aspect of the environmental and community context in rural areas?
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Which issue is highlighted by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 concerning rural health?
Which issue is highlighted by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 concerning rural health?
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What demographic trend is commonly observed in rural areas?
What demographic trend is commonly observed in rural areas?
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What was the main contribution of rural health research centers established in the 1980s?
What was the main contribution of rural health research centers established in the 1980s?
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Which factor contributes to higher smoking rates among rural residents?
Which factor contributes to higher smoking rates among rural residents?
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How does the economic landscape of rural areas typically compare to urban areas?
How does the economic landscape of rural areas typically compare to urban areas?
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What is a common issue regarding access to medical care in rural settings?
What is a common issue regarding access to medical care in rural settings?
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Which of the following accurately describes a challenge related to water quality in rural areas?
Which of the following accurately describes a challenge related to water quality in rural areas?
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What health behavior is notably higher among rural residents compared to urban residents?
What health behavior is notably higher among rural residents compared to urban residents?
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Institutionalized racism refers to differential access to goods, services, and opportunities based on _____.
Institutionalized racism refers to differential access to goods, services, and opportunities based on _____.
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Personally mediated racism includes differential assumptions about abilities, motives, and intents based on _____.
Personally mediated racism includes differential assumptions about abilities, motives, and intents based on _____.
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Internalized racism involves acceptance by marginalized groups of negative messages about their own _____.
Internalized racism involves acceptance by marginalized groups of negative messages about their own _____.
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Racism is a system that structures opportunity and assigns value based on the social interpretation of how one _____.
Racism is a system that structures opportunity and assigns value based on the social interpretation of how one _____.
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Theories of health inequalities often seek to explain differences in social interactions and social _____.
Theories of health inequalities often seek to explain differences in social interactions and social _____.
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Examples of differential access in institutionalized racism include disparities in housing, education, and _____.
Examples of differential access in institutionalized racism include disparities in housing, education, and _____.
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One significant issue related to personally mediated racism is _____ brutality, which disproportionately affects marginalized communities.
One significant issue related to personally mediated racism is _____ brutality, which disproportionately affects marginalized communities.
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Racism can sap the strength of society through the waste of human resources and by unfairly disadvantages certain individuals and _____.
Racism can sap the strength of society through the waste of human resources and by unfairly disadvantages certain individuals and _____.
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A stimulus that throws the body’s equilibrium out of balance is referred to as a __________.
A stimulus that throws the body’s equilibrium out of balance is referred to as a __________.
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The process of adaptation to acute stress, involving the output of stress hormones, is called __________.
The process of adaptation to acute stress, involving the output of stress hormones, is called __________.
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The price the body pays for being forced to adapt to adverse psychosocial or physical situations is known as __________ load.
The price the body pays for being forced to adapt to adverse psychosocial or physical situations is known as __________ load.
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An __________ stress response can lead to more energy and increased cardiovascular function.
An __________ stress response can lead to more energy and increased cardiovascular function.
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Symptoms such as fatigue, diabetes, and hypertension are examples of __________-related disorders.
Symptoms such as fatigue, diabetes, and hypertension are examples of __________-related disorders.
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Chronic stress can lead to higher blood pressure and may result in __________ diseases.
Chronic stress can lead to higher blood pressure and may result in __________ diseases.
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Intentional attempts to suppress thoughts related to stressors can result in the __________ effect.
Intentional attempts to suppress thoughts related to stressors can result in the __________ effect.
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Breathing exercises can help relieve the __________ alarm response.
Breathing exercises can help relieve the __________ alarm response.
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Chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, and fibromyalgia are examples of ______ illness.
Chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, and fibromyalgia are examples of ______ illness.
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The term ______ refers to the social dynamics surrounding labeling, stereotyping, and discrimination.
The term ______ refers to the social dynamics surrounding labeling, stereotyping, and discrimination.
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The built environment includes human-made surroundings such as ______, streets, and homes.
The built environment includes human-made surroundings such as ______, streets, and homes.
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Five features that affect health include physical characteristics, sociocultural features, and the ______ of the area.
Five features that affect health include physical characteristics, sociocultural features, and the ______ of the area.
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The 1875 Civil Rights Act forbids ______ segregation.
The 1875 Civil Rights Act forbids ______ segregation.
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The concept of medical knowledge reproducing inequality is illustrated by the social negotiation of ______ diseases.
The concept of medical knowledge reproducing inequality is illustrated by the social negotiation of ______ diseases.
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Addressing stigma involves raising awareness and improving ______ towards people with a condition.
Addressing stigma involves raising awareness and improving ______ towards people with a condition.
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Plessy v. Ferguson was a significant case related to ______ segregation laws.
Plessy v. Ferguson was a significant case related to ______ segregation laws.
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Socioeconomic status is a measure that combines a person’s economic and social position based on ______, education, and occupation.
Socioeconomic status is a measure that combines a person’s economic and social position based on ______, education, and occupation.
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Unemployed individuals are more likely to experience ______ health compared to those who are employed.
Unemployed individuals are more likely to experience ______ health compared to those who are employed.
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Education is linked to better jobs, more money, and ______ access to information and social networks.
Education is linked to better jobs, more money, and ______ access to information and social networks.
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Poverty, as described by Herbert Gans, can spur ______, leading to creativity in challenging situations.
Poverty, as described by Herbert Gans, can spur ______, leading to creativity in challenging situations.
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Medicalization refers to the process by which non-medical issues are framed as ______ problems.
Medicalization refers to the process by which non-medical issues are framed as ______ problems.
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The systematic study of health and illness, disease, and healthcare is known as ______ sociology.
The systematic study of health and illness, disease, and healthcare is known as ______ sociology.
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Illnesses have both biomedical and ______ dimensions.
Illnesses have both biomedical and ______ dimensions.
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Foucault suggested that medical knowledge and practices are intertwined with ______ structures.
Foucault suggested that medical knowledge and practices are intertwined with ______ structures.
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The laws establishing racial segregation are deemed ______.
The laws establishing racial segregation are deemed ______.
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The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination in housing based on ______.
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination in housing based on ______.
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Food ______ refers to geographic areas where residents have limited access to affordable and healthy foods.
Food ______ refers to geographic areas where residents have limited access to affordable and healthy foods.
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Low-density housing features larger ______ sizes and homes.
Low-density housing features larger ______ sizes and homes.
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Disinvestment in urban areas leads to lower quality of ______.
Disinvestment in urban areas leads to lower quality of ______.
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Spatial mismatch is the gap between where low-income households ______ and where job opportunities are located.
Spatial mismatch is the gap between where low-income households ______ and where job opportunities are located.
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Greenspaces can reduce premature ______ and improve cardiovascular risk factors.
Greenspaces can reduce premature ______ and improve cardiovascular risk factors.
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The mismatch between employees’ skills and the tasks required is known as skills ______.
The mismatch between employees’ skills and the tasks required is known as skills ______.
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Over 23 million people in the US are affected by food ______.
Over 23 million people in the US are affected by food ______.
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Population health studies focus on conditions that influence the health of ______.
Population health studies focus on conditions that influence the health of ______.
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Health inequalities are systematic differences in health based on factors such as income, social class, and ______.
Health inequalities are systematic differences in health based on factors such as income, social class, and ______.
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The ______ theory suggests that health selection occurs when poor health leads to lower socioeconomic status.
The ______ theory suggests that health selection occurs when poor health leads to lower socioeconomic status.
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According to the behavioral theory, differences in health inequalities can be traced back to various ______ like smoking and drinking.
According to the behavioral theory, differences in health inequalities can be traced back to various ______ like smoking and drinking.
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The fundamental cause theory posits that a fundamental cause influences the likelihood of many diseases via access to various ______.
The fundamental cause theory posits that a fundamental cause influences the likelihood of many diseases via access to various ______.
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The structural theory highlights how disparities in socioeconomic status lead to differences in health outcomes throughout the ______.
The structural theory highlights how disparities in socioeconomic status lead to differences in health outcomes throughout the ______.
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A stimulus that throws the body's equilibrium out of balance is referred to as a ______.
A stimulus that throws the body's equilibrium out of balance is referred to as a ______.
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The process of adaptation to acute stress, involving the output of stress hormones, is called ______.
The process of adaptation to acute stress, involving the output of stress hormones, is called ______.
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The price the body pays for being forced to adapt to adverse psychosocial or physical situations is known as ______.
The price the body pays for being forced to adapt to adverse psychosocial or physical situations is known as ______.
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Stress-related disorders can include conditions such as fatigue, diabetes, and ______.
Stress-related disorders can include conditions such as fatigue, diabetes, and ______.
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When sleep is insufficient, it can lead to anxiety and ______.
When sleep is insufficient, it can lead to anxiety and ______.
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A coping strategy that involves changing the emotional response to a stressor is called ______ coping.
A coping strategy that involves changing the emotional response to a stressor is called ______ coping.
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Chronic stress is linked to higher blood pressure and, ultimately, an increased risk of ______.
Chronic stress is linked to higher blood pressure and, ultimately, an increased risk of ______.
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The patterned network of relationships constituting a coherent whole among individuals, groups, and institutions is known as ______.
The patterned network of relationships constituting a coherent whole among individuals, groups, and institutions is known as ______.
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Socioeconomic status is a combined measure of a person's economic and social position, based on ______, education, and occupation.
Socioeconomic status is a combined measure of a person's economic and social position, based on ______, education, and occupation.
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Unemployed individuals are more likely to experience ______ or poor health.
Unemployed individuals are more likely to experience ______ or poor health.
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Higher levels of education are linked to better ______ outcomes.
Higher levels of education are linked to better ______ outcomes.
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Income is linked to affording healthcare costs and influencing lifestyle ______.
Income is linked to affording healthcare costs and influencing lifestyle ______.
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According to Herbert Gans, poverty can spur ______.
According to Herbert Gans, poverty can spur ______.
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Medicalization refers to the process by which ______ issues become framed as medical problems.
Medicalization refers to the process by which ______ issues become framed as medical problems.
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Foucault suggested that medical knowledge is intertwined with ______ structures.
Foucault suggested that medical knowledge is intertwined with ______ structures.
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Social constructionism emphasizes ______ and historical aspects of phenomena.
Social constructionism emphasizes ______ and historical aspects of phenomena.
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The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination in housing based on ______, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and family status.
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination in housing based on ______, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and family status.
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Food ______ are geographic areas where residents have limited options for affordable and healthy foods.
Food ______ are geographic areas where residents have limited options for affordable and healthy foods.
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Residential ______ can lead to lower quality housing and decreased health outcomes.
Residential ______ can lead to lower quality housing and decreased health outcomes.
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Neighborhoods designed for low density and ______ are typically auto-dependent and isolated.
Neighborhoods designed for low density and ______ are typically auto-dependent and isolated.
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There is a significant ______ between where low-income households reside and available job opportunities.
There is a significant ______ between where low-income households reside and available job opportunities.
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Greenspaces can improve ______ quality and reduce premature mortality.
Greenspaces can improve ______ quality and reduce premature mortality.
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The term 'food apartheid' refers to ______ issues that restrict access to nutritious foods for certain communities.
The term 'food apartheid' refers to ______ issues that restrict access to nutritious foods for certain communities.
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Lower ______ scores and limited curriculum are often outcomes of inadequate educational resources in segregated areas.
Lower ______ scores and limited curriculum are often outcomes of inadequate educational resources in segregated areas.
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Children living in ______ neighborhoods are often located further from parks and recreational spaces.
Children living in ______ neighborhoods are often located further from parks and recreational spaces.
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Population health focuses on interrelated conditions that influence the health of ______ over the life course.
Population health focuses on interrelated conditions that influence the health of ______ over the life course.
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Health trajectories are impacted during critical or sensitive ______.
Health trajectories are impacted during critical or sensitive ______.
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The ______ model focuses on the accumulation of exposures rather than their timing.
The ______ model focuses on the accumulation of exposures rather than their timing.
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The ______ focuses on the direction of change of an exposure.
The ______ focuses on the direction of change of an exposure.
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According to the Life Course Theory, the things you experience today influence your health ______.
According to the Life Course Theory, the things you experience today influence your health ______.
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McKeown believed that population growth was caused by better standards of living, not advances in ______.
McKeown believed that population growth was caused by better standards of living, not advances in ______.
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Every individual life course is embedded within and influenced by its specific historical ______.
Every individual life course is embedded within and influenced by its specific historical ______.
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The sensitive period model focuses on the differential effect of an exposure based on its ______.
The sensitive period model focuses on the differential effect of an exposure based on its ______.
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Stress is defined as a general term describing the psychological and physical response to a ______.
Stress is defined as a general term describing the psychological and physical response to a ______.
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The ______ focuses on the links between multiple factors affecting health over time.
The ______ focuses on the links between multiple factors affecting health over time.
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Fundamental causes are structural factors that shape access to goods, services, and ______.
Fundamental causes are structural factors that shape access to goods, services, and ______.
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Match the health inequality theory with its description:
Match the health inequality theory with its description:
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Match the description with the corresponding theory:
Match the description with the corresponding theory:
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Match each theory with its contention about health and social status:
Match each theory with its contention about health and social status:
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Match each theory with the aspect of health it addresses:
Match each theory with the aspect of health it addresses:
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Match the following health factors with their associated impacts:
Match the following health factors with their associated impacts:
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Match the following aspects of education with their benefits:
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Match the following consequences of unemployment with their respective outcomes:
Match the following consequences of unemployment with their respective outcomes:
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Match the following functions of poverty with their outcomes:
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Match the following components of the medical sociology with their focus areas:
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Match the following policy suggestions with their intended effects:
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Match the following aspects of health behaviors with their influencing factors:
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Match the following concepts with their primary focus:
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Match the following beliefs about racial inferiority to their origins:
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Study Notes
Stress
- A stimulus that throws the body’s equilibrium out of balance.
- Can be categorized as physical, psychological, social, short-term or chronic
- Allostasis is the process of adaptation to acute stress, involving the output of stress hormones.
- Allostatic load is the price the body pays for being forced to adapt to adverse psychosocial or physical situations.
- The body's adaptive stress response includes increased energy, cardiovascular function, suppressed digestion, suppressed immune system, and sharpened cognition.
- Stress-related disorders include fatigue, diabetes, hypertension, ulcers, and confusion.
- Stress can impact the immune system by suppressing natural killer cells, which are responsible for fighting tumor cells.
- While stress doesn't cause cancer directly, it can contribute to the development of heart disease by increasing blood pressure and atherosclerosis, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
- Stress impacts sleep, which plays a role in restoring the body and facilitating learning. Lack of sleep can interfere with learning, cause hallucinations, anxiety, changes in metabolism, and hormone secretion.
Coping
- Coping can be categorized as problem-focused or emotion-focused.
- Problem-focused coping involves changing the environment itself, through active coping, planning, or seeking social support.
- Emotion-focused coping involves changing the person's emotional response to the stressor, through venting, mental disengagement, and thought suppression.
- Thought suppression is intentionally trying not to think about the stressor, and can lead to a rebound effect.
- The "FFF" alarm can be relieved through breathing exercises.
Social Systems
- Social systems are patterned networks of relationships between individuals, groups, and institutions.
- Understanding these complex relationships is crucial to addressing population health.
- Social systems influence behaviors, and health risks are not evenly distributed throughout the population.
Socioeconomic Status
- Socioeconomic status (SES) is a measure of a person's economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation.
- It influences living conditions, access to goods and services, environmental exposure risk, educational resources, and occupational types and risks.
Employment
- Employment is defined as either employed or unemployed.
- Unemployed individuals are more likely to have fair or poor health, higher stress-related conditions, no insurance coverage, and higher rates of depression and anxiety.
Education
- Education is linked to better jobs, more money, access to information and social networks, improved critical thinking, enhanced personal growth, greater civic engagement, better health outcomes, and increased cultural understanding and empathy.
Income
- Income is linked to affording healthcare costs, nutrition and diet, lifestyle choices, and a sense of control in life, which can reduce stress.
- It also influences living arrangements.
Poverty
- Herbert Gans argued that poverty exists and persists because it has a function.
- These functions include spurring creativity, promoting social cohesion, ensuring undesirable jobs are completed, and creating a demand for products geared towards the demographic.
Policy Suggestions
- Policy suggestions to address the impact of socioeconomic factors on health include increasing attention to the education system, redistributing resources, supporting early childhood programs, creating a livable wage, and using a fundamental cause approach.
Medical Sociology
- The systematic study of how humans manage health and illness, disease and disorders, and healthcare.
Disease, Illness, and Sickness
- Disease refers to any harmful deviation from the normal structure or functional state of an organism.
- Illness is a person's subjective experience of their symptoms or having a diagnosis of being sick.
- Sickness is a term to describe events that can either be noted as a disease or an illness.
Social Constructionism
- Emphasizes the cultural and historical aspects of phenomena widely thought to be exclusively natural.
Medicalization
- The process by which non-medical issues become framed as medical problems.
Foucault's View of Medical Power
- Medical knowledge and practices are intertwined with power structures, shaping how illness is defined and managed.
Cultural Meaning of Illness
- Illnesses have biomedical and experiential dimensions, influencing social response and the burden of managing disease and stigma.
- Contested illness refers to conditions sufferers claim to have that physicians do not recognize as medical, such as chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, and fibromyalgia.
Illness Experience as Socially Constructed
- Illness is socially constructed, with individuals giving their illnesses meaning and managing illness within daily experiences.
- This understanding can be used for policy reforms.
Medical Knowledge as Socially Constructed
- Medical knowledge reproduces inequality, as seen in the social negotiation and interpretation of biological diseases, such as pregnancy.
Stigma
- The co-occurrence of labeling, stereotyping, separation, status loss, and discrimination in a context of power.
- Stigma's functions include exploitation/domination, enforcement of social norms, and disease avoidance.
- Addressing stigma involves raising awareness, improving attitudes, increasing disclosure, and promoting anti-stigma engagement.
Built Environment
- Refers to human-made surroundings where people live, work, and play, including buildings, streets, homes, infrastructure, and open spaces.
Five Features of Place that Affect Health
- Physical characteristics
- Availability of healthy environments within the built environment
- Publicly or privately provided support services
- Sociocultural features
- Reputation of the area
Brief Historical Content: Zoning and Segregation
- 1867: San Francisco prohibits specific obnoxious uses in certain districts (beginning of land-use zoning).
- 1875: Civil Rights Act forbids racial segregation.
- 1880s-90s: Jim Crow segregation and Plessy v. Ferguson uphold racial segregation.
- 1910: First racial zoning laws adopted in Baltimore, MD.
- 1968: Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and family status.
Residential Segregation and Health
- Residential segregation impacts health through neighborhood/housing, medical care, education, employment, and overall health outcomes.
Neighborhood Design
- Conventional development: Low density, low connectivity, single-use, and car-dependent.
- Low-density housing: More recent, featuring larger lot sizes and homes.
Neighborhood and Housing Quality
- Disinvestment of economic resources leads to lower housing quality and exposure to physical, chemical, and biological hazards.
- Segregated urban areas often experience commercial disinvestment, leading to the concentration of tobacco and alcohol industries in low-income communities and communities of color.
Food Environments
- Food deserts are geographic areas where residents have limited options for affordable and healthy foods.
- They impact over 23 million individuals in the U.S. and are linked to poorer diets, higher obesity rates, and associated illnesses.
- Food deserts and food apartheid are influenced by economic issues, such as catering to affluent buyers and the de-retailing of urban cores.
Greenspace
- Greenspace provides numerous benefits, including reducing premature mortality, improving cardiovascular risk factors, and improving air quality.
- However, only two-thirds of children in the U.S. live within walking distance of a park.
- Green spaces are often a concern for property values and location.
Built Environment Measures Associated with Planetary Health
- Effects of wildfires, flooding, and extreme heat (heat islands) on human health.
Education and Employment
- Educational outcomes are often influenced by property taxes used to finance schools, leading to lower test scores, limited curriculum, and less qualified teachers in segregated areas.
- Employment disparities arise from spatial mismatch (distance between low-income households and job opportunities) and skills mismatch (lack of alignment between employee skills and job requirements).
Population Health
- An approach focusing on interrelated conditions and factors that influence population health across the life course while identifying systematic variations in health patterns.
- It applies this knowledge to develop and implement policies to improve health and well-being.
Rural
- There are discrepancies in defining "rural", with different interpretations based on landscapes, isolation, and farmland.
- The Census Bureau defines rural as areas outside of urbanized areas and urban clusters.
Rural Health
- The health status of people residing in rural areas and the policies guiding the healthcare delivery system serving them.
Timeline of Rural Health Policy in the U.S.
- 1880s: Focus on the health status of people living in rural areas and the policies that guide the healthcare delivery system that serves them.
- 1946: Hill-Burton Act, aimed to build hospitals where needed and ensure their sustainability.
- 1977: Rural Health Clinic Services Act, designed to improve access to primary care in underserved communities and promote a collaborative model of healthcare delivery.
- 1980s: Establishment of rural health research centers, including the National Rural Health Association.
- 1997: Balanced Budget Act, aimed to improve healthcare access and reduce financial vulnerabilities of rural hospitals.
Environmental and Community Context: Rural Areas
- Positives: Smaller amounts of particulate matter, less traffic congestion, space and seclusion, reduced noise.
- Negatives: Poorer water quality, susceptibility to climate change impacts, limited internet access, lack of infrastructure, less access to medical care and first response, food deserts/apartheid.
Economic Landscape: Rural Areas
- On average, rural residents experience worse economic conditions than urban residents.
- Slower economic recovery, slower job growth, and fewer job opportunities.
Sociodemographic Characteristics: Rural Areas
- Higher proportion of older adults due to outmigration of younger individuals to urban areas.
- Declining fertility rates and increasing mortality rates.
- Unique racial demographics.
Health Behaviors: Rural Areas
- Context matters, with environmental, neighborhood, and SES features influencing health behaviors.
- Rural residents have higher smoking rates, less physical activity, higher overweight/obesity rates, and higher deaths from motor vehicle incidents.
Healthcare in Rural Areas
- Medical care, though not the most significant contributor to health, is essential for well-being.
- Rural healthcare faces challenges related to shortages, facility closures, long driving distances, less access to preventive care, financial barriers, and cost constraints in running facilities.
Government
- Holds the power to make decisions and act on them.
- Controls resources.
- Can become dangerous when it aligns with specific groups and ignores fairness.
Racism
- A system that structures opportunities and assigns value based on how someone looks.
- Unfairly disadvantages some individuals and communities while unfairly benefiting others.
- Wastes human resources by hindering the potential of the entire society.
Institutionalized Racism
- Unequal access to society's resources, goods, and opportunities based on race.
- Examples include disparities in housing, education, employment, income, medical access, environmental toxins, information, resources, and advocacy.
Personally Mediated Racism
- Different assumptions about individuals' abilities, motives, and intentions based on their race.
- Actions taken based on these assumptions.
- Examples include police brutality, surveillance of individuals while shopping, and devaluation of teachers based on race.
Internalized Racism
- The acceptance by marginalized racial groups of negative messages about their abilities and worth.
- Examples include feelings of self-devaluation, resignation, helplessness, and hopelessness.
Relevant Exam Content
- Theories used to justify racism.
- The system that structures opportunities according to a person's appearance.
- Causes of disparities based on race.
- Key figures involved in the creation of social categories.
- Distinction between upstream and downstream factors influencing disparities.
- Levels of racism depicted in the "Gardener's Tale."
- Terms such as "racial formation," "race," and "racism."
Theories of Health Inequalities
- Theories aim to explain social interactions, social structures, and produce testable hypotheses.
- Effects on health persist over time even though the mechanisms may change.
Fundamental Causes
- Structural factors that determine access to resources, goods, services, and power.
- Examples include segregation, which shapes socioeconomic conditions at individual, household, and neighborhood levels.
- Segregation impacts access to education and employment opportunities, affecting economic mobility.
Proximal Causes
- Directly responsible for a specific health outcome.
- Changes in these factors don't produce substantial changes in health outcomes.
- Examples include physical activity and diet.
McKeown Thesis
- Argued that population growth was driven by improved living standards, especially diet and nutrition, rather than medical advances.
- This theory has been discredited due to misinterpretation of results, the importance of clean water and milk supplies, and the significant role of medical interventions and improved social conditions in overall health.
Exam Content for Theories
- Understanding the difference between fundamental and proximal causes.
- Ability to identify and apply various theories of health inequalities.
- Definition of "theory" in the context of sociology.
Life Course Theory
- Emphasizes the impact of past experiences on future health.
- Health trajectories are influenced during critical or sensitive periods.
- The environment shapes an individual's health potential.
- Health disparities extend beyond genetic or behavioral choices.
- Provides a framework for identifying cumulative experiences.
- Helps determine how significant life events shape health outcomes.
Life Course Model
- Lifespan Development: Acknowledges human development and aging as lifelong processes, not limited to specific stages.
- Agency: Individuals have the capacity to make choices and take actions that influence their lives within their contexts.
- Time and Place: Each individual's life course is embedded within and influenced by their specific historical context.
- Timing: Similar events or behaviors can have different effects depending on when they occur in someone's life.
- Linked Lives: Individuals experience life interconnectedly through shared relationships, influencing each other.
Key Concepts in Life Course Theory
- Sensitive Period Model: Focuses on the varying effects of an exposure based on timing. Early life exposures have stronger effects than those occurring later. Examples include learning to crawl.
- Accumulation Model: Emphasis on the accumulation of exposures rather than their timing. Exposures have an additive effect. Interventions should aim at preventing risk accumulation. Examples include exposure to salty food over time.
- Pathway Model: Focuses on the interconnectedness of multiple factors. Events and circumstances at one point in the life course can indirectly impact later risks. Example: multiple factors contributing to traumatic behaviors later in life.
- Social Mobility Model: Considers the direction of change in exposure. It helps assess the impact of socioeconomic status on health risks and behaviors.
Life Course Models Strengths and Weaknesses
- Strengths: Offers a comprehensive perspective, focuses on longitudinal analysis, considers contexts, and allows for interdisciplinary approaches.
- Weaknesses: Complexity, measurement issues, limited consideration of non-normative events, and uncertain predictive power.
Stress
- A psychological and physical response to stimuli that disrupt the body's equilibrium.
- Social systems play a crucial role in shaping behaviors.
- Health risks are not distributed evenly across the population.
Socioeconomic Status (SES)
- A combined measure of economic and social standing, taking into account income, education, and occupation.
- Influences living conditions, access to goods and services, environmental exposure risks, educational resources, and occupational type and risks.
Employment
- Employed or unemployed individuals have different health outcomes.
- Unemployed individuals are more likely to experience poor or fair health, higher stress-related conditions, lack of insurance coverage, and increased depression and anxiety.
Education
- Linked to better jobs, higher income, access to information and social networks, improved critical thinking, enhanced personal growth, greater civic engagement, better health outcomes, and increased cultural understanding and empathy.
Income
- Linked to affordability of healthcare, nutrition and diet, lifestyle choices, control over life (reducing stress), and better living arrangements.
Positive Functions of Poverty (Herbert Gans)
- Poverty, despite its negative impacts, serves various functions within society.
- These "functions" include stimulating creativity, fostering social cohesion, ensuring undesirable jobs are performed, and creating a demand for products catering to this demographic.
Policy Suggestions for Addressing Health disparities
. - Focusing on education system improvements.
- Redistributing resources more equitably.
- Supporting early childhood programs.
- Creating a livable wage.
- Utilizing a fundamental cause approach to address underlying structural factors.
Medical Sociology
- The study of how humans manage health and illness, disease and disorders, and healthcare for all.
Disease
- A harmful deviation from an organism's normal structure or function.
Illness
- An individual's subjective experience of symptoms or a diagnosis of being ill.
Sickness
- A term describing events that can be classified as either disease or illness.
Social Constructionism
- A framework that emphasizes the cultural and historical aspects of phenomena often perceived as solely natural.
Medicalization
- The process by which non-medical issues are reframed as medical problems.
Foucault's View of Medical Knowledge
- Medical knowledge and practices are deeply intertwined with power structures.
- These structures shape how illnesses are defined and managed.
Cultural Meaning of Illness
- Illnesses have both biomedical and experiential dimensions.
- Social responses to illness reflect cultural beliefs and norms.
Housing Segregation
- A significant contributor to health disparities.
- Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) ruling declared school segregation unconstitutional.
- The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited discrimination in housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and family status.
Residential Segregation and Health
- Links between segregation, housing quality, medical care access, health status, education, and employment.
Neighborhood Design
- Conventional Development: Characterized by low density, low connectivity, single-use zoning, and car dependency.
- Low-Density Housing: Often more recent, with larger lot sizes and homes.
Neighborhood and Housing Quality
- Disinvestment: Economic resources are often withdrawn from segregated areas.
- Lower Housing Quality: Leads to poorer housing conditions.
- Environmental Exposure: Increased exposure to harmful physical, chemical, and biological agents.
- Commercial Avoidance: Businesses often avoid segregated areas.
- Targeted Marketing: Industries like tobacco and alcohol often target poor minority communities.
Food Environments
- Food Deserts: Geographic areas with limited access to affordable and healthy food options.
- Food Apartheid: Related to food deserts, but emphasizes the systemic and intentional nature of food insecurity, often rooted in racialized policies and practices.
- Impact: Food deserts impact over 23 million people in the US, contributing to poorer diets, higher obesity rates, and related illnesses.
Greenspace
- Benefits: Reduced premature mortality, improved cardiovascular health, enhanced air quality.
- Access: Two-thirds of US children don't live within walking distance of a park.
- Property Values: Can contribute to property value increases.
- Location: Greenspace location and accessibility are crucial.
Built Environment Measures for Planetary Health
- The built environment influences the impact of environmental challenges like:
- Wildfires
- Flooding
- Extreme heat and heat islands
Education and Employment
- Schools: Often financed through property taxes, leading to funding disparities.
- Educational Outcomes: Lower test scores, limited curriculum, and less qualified educators in segregated areas.
- Employment: Spatial Mismatch: Imbalance between low-income household locations and job opportunities.
- Employment: Skills Mismatch: Discrepancies between employee skills and job requirements.
Population Health
- A holistic approach that focuses on interrelated conditions and factors influencing population health over the life course.
- It identifies systematic variations in health patterns and uses this knowledge to develop policies and actions for improving health and well-being.
Rural Health
- Encompasses the health status of rural residents and policies guiding healthcare delivery in rural areas.
Timeline of Rural Health Policies
- 1880s: Early efforts to address rural health concerns began.
- 1946: Hill-Burton Act aimed to expand hospital access in underserved areas.
- 1977: Rural Health Clinic Services Act of 1977 promoted access to healthcare in rural communities.
- 1980s: Established rural health research centers.
- 1997: Balanced Budget Act aimed to expand healthcare access and reduce rural hospital vulnerability.
Environmental and Community Context in Rural Areas
- Positives: Better air quality, less traffic congestion, space and seclusion, reduced noise.
- Negatives: Poorer water quality, susceptibility to climate change impacts, limited internet access, infrastructure challenges, limited access to healthcare and emergency services, food deserts/apartheid.
Economic Landscape in Rural Areas
- Rural residents experience lower economic well-being compared to urban dwellers.
- Slower post-recession recovery, slower job growth, and limited job availability.
Sociodemographic Characteristics in Rural Areas
- Higher proportion of older adults due to outmigration of young people.
- Declining fertility rates and increasing mortality rates.
Health Behaviors in Rural Areas
- Contextual factors are important in shaping rural residents' health behaviors.
- Higher smoking rates, lower physical activity levels, higher overweight or obesity rates, and higher motor vehicle incident deaths.
Healthcare in Rural Areas
- While healthcare isn't the most influential factor for health, it remains crucial in rural areas.
- Challenges: Healthcare shortages, facility closures, longer travel distances, lower preventive care access, financial barriers, and costs of operating facilities.
Government
- Governments have the power to make decisions, take action, and control resources.
- Governments become dangerous when they support only one group or aren't concerned about fairness.
Racism
- Racism is a system that creates inequality and assigns value based on how someone looks.
- It unfairly disadvantages some individuals and communities while unfairly benefiting others.
- It weakens society by wasting human potential.
Institutionalized racism
- It refers to unequal access to societal goods, services, and opportunities based on race.
- Examples include disparities in housing, education, employment, income, medical care, environmental exposure to toxins, access to information, resources, and advocacy.
Personally mediated racism
- It involves making assumptions about people's abilities, motives, and intentions based on their race.
- These assumptions lead to discriminatory actions.
- Examples include police brutality, discrimination while shopping, and teacher bias.
Internalized racism
- It involves accepting negative messages about one's abilities and worth based on race.
- This can result in self-devaluation, feelings of resignation, helplessness, and hopelessness.
Theories of Health Inequalities
- Theories in sociology help explain social interactions, structures, and create hypotheses.
- A stimulus that disrupts the body's equilibrium is called a stressor. Stressors can be physical, psychological, social, short-term, or chronic.
Allostasis
- It's the body's adaptive process to acute stress, involving the release of stress hormones.
Allostatic Load
- It represents the long-term consequences of chronic stress on the body.
- It can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and death.
Adaptive Stress Response
- Provides increased energy, boosted cardiovascular function, suppressed digestion, weakened immune system, and sharpened cognition.
Stress-related Disorders
- Can lead to fatigue, diabetes, hypertension, ulcers, and cognitive impairment.
Stress and Health
- Stress weakens the immune system and can suppress natural killer cells, which fight tumor cells.
- Stress doesn't directly cause cancer but might contribute to its development.
- Chronic stress can lead to high blood pressure and atherosclerosis, increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
- Sleep is crucial for body restoration, learning, and overall health. Insufficient sleep can interfere with learning, lead to hallucinations, anxiety, metabolic changes, and hormone imbalances.
Coping
- Problem-focused coping: aims to change the environment or the stressful situation itself.
- Emotion-focused coping: focuses on changing the individual's emotional response to the stressor.
- Thought suppression: consciously trying to avoid thinking about the stressor, which can backfire and increase stress.
FFF Alarm
- This refers to the "fight, flight, or freeze" response to stress.
- Breathing exercises can help manage this reaction.
Social Systems
- A network of interconnected relationships between individuals, groups, and institutions.
- Understanding these relationships is crucial for addressing population health.
- Social systems influence behaviors and health risks.
Socioeconomic Status
- A combined measure of a person's economic and social position based on income, education, and occupation.
- It influences living conditions, access to goods and services, environmental risks, educational resources, and occupational health risks.
Employment
- Individuals classified as unemployed often experience poorer health, higher stress-related conditions, lack of insurance coverage, and increased rates of depression and anxiety.
Education
- It's linked to better employment opportunities, higher income, access to information and social networks, critical thinking skills, personal growth, civic engagement, better health, cultural understanding, and empathy.
Income
- Higher income allows for better access to healthcare, nutritious foods, lifestyle choices, greater control over life (reducing stress), and better living arrangements.
Positive Functions of Poverty
- Herbert Gans argued that poverty, if it exists and persists, serves certain functions in society.
- These functions include providing a source of creativity, fostering social cohesion, ensuring undesirable jobs, creating demand for specific products, and providing a contrast for the "successful" members of society.
Policy Suggestions
- Increasing attention to education, redistribution of resources, support for early childhood programs, creation of a livable wage, and a fundamental cause approach can address societal inequalities.
Medical Sociology
- It studies how humans deal with health, illness, disease, disorders, and healthcare.
Disease, Illness, and Sickness
- Disease: A harmful deviation from the body's normal structure or function.
- Illness: An individual's subjective experience of symptoms or a diagnosis of being sick.
- Sickness: A broader concept that encompasses both disease and illness.
Social Constructionism
- It emphasizes the social and historical influences shaping our understanding of phenomena often considered naturally occurring.
Medicalization
- The process of defining non-medical issues as medical problems.
- This can lead to increased focus on medical solutions for societal problems.
Foucault and Power
- Michel Foucault argued that medical knowledge and practices are intertwined with power structures leading to the definition and management of illness.
Cultural Meaning of Illness
- Illnesses have both biological and social dimensions.
- Society's response to illness often differs from the actual disease.
- Individuals must manage both the disease and social stigma attached to it.
- Contested illness: Sufferers experience symptoms that are not recognized or accepted by many medical professionals.
Illness Experience as Socially Constructed
- Individuals give meaning to their illnesses, impacting their daily lives and management of the condition.
- Understanding the social context of illness can be beneficial for policy reforms.
Medical Knowledge as Socially Constructed
- Medical knowledge can reproduce existing inequalities.
- Even biological diseases are influenced by social negotiation and interpretation.
Stigma
- It involves labeling, stereotyping, separation, status loss, and discrimination based on a specific characteristic.
- Stereotype: A fixed and often negative impression about a group.
- Prejudice: Preconceived opinions about a group.
- Discrimination: Unfavorable treatment based on prejudice.
- Functions of stigma: exploitation, domination, enforcement of social norms, and disease avoidance.
- Addressing stigma: Raising awareness, changing attitudes, encouraging disclosure, and promoting anti-stigma engagement.
Built Environment
- Human-made surroundings where people live, work, and play.
- Includes buildings, streets, sidewalks, homes, infrastructure, and open spaces.
- Five features that affect health: physical characteristics, availability of healthy environments, support services, sociocultural features, and reputation of the area.
Historical Context of Residential Segregation
- 1867: Beginning of land-use zoning in San Francisco.
- 1875: Civil Rights Act prohibits racial segregation.
- 1880s-1890s: Jim Crow segregation and Plessy v. Ferguson, upholding racial segregation in the US.
- 1910: First racial zoning laws adopted in Baltimore, MD.
- Fair Housing Act of 1968: Prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and family status.
Residential Segregation and Health
- Impacts housing, access to medical care, health outcomes, education, employment, and overall health disparities.
Neighborhood Design
- Conventional Development: Low density, low connectivity, single-use areas, and auto-dependence.
- Low Density Housing: More recent residential areas with larger lot sizes and homes.
Neighborhood and Housing Quality
- Disinvestment in segregated areas leads to lower-quality housing, environmental hazards, and fewer commercial enterprises.
- Tobacco and alcohol industries often target poor minority communities.
Food Environments
- Food Deserts: Areas with limited access to affordable and healthy food.
- Affects over 23 million people in the US.
- Linked to poorer diets, higher obesity rates, and associated illnesses.
- Convenience, affordability, and concentration of fast food in low-income neighborhoods contribute to poor food choices.
- Food deserts are intertwined with economic issues: catering to wealthier buyers and "de-retailing" of urban centers.
Greenspace
- Benefits: Reduced mortality, improved cardiovascular health, and better air quality.
- Disadvantages: Impact on property values and location challenges.
Built Environment Measures for Planetary Health
- Consider the built environment's effects on wildfires, flooding, and extreme heat.
Education and Employment
- Schools are often financed through property taxes which affects educational resources in segregated areas.
- Educational outcomes: Lower test scores, limited curriculum, and less qualified teachers.
- Employment: Spatial mismatch: Disparity between where low-income households reside and where job opportunities are located.
- Skills mismatch: Lack of alignment between job skills and employee knowledge and skills.
Population Health
- A holistic approach that considers all factors influencing population health over the lifespan.
- Focuses on systematic health variations and uses this knowledge to develop policies and actions to improve health and well-being.
Health Inequalities
- Systematic differences in the health of people occupying unequal positions in society considering factors like income, social class, race/ethnicity, and geography.
Social Ecological Model
- Considers the relationship between individual, community, and societal factors to understand what influences a person’s decisions.
Artefact Theory
- Highlights that the association between markers of social status and health outcomes might be an artifact of how concepts are measured over time.
Selection Theory (Reverse Causation)
- Focuses on reverse causation where poor health leads to lower socioeconomic status.
Intelligence Theory
- Asserts that intelligence, driven by genetic endowment, influences both health status and socioeconomic status.
Meritocracy Theory
- Emphasizes the idea that benefits should be given to the best performers, implying that higher positions are earned based on merit alone.
Behavioral Theory
- Attributes health inequalities to differences in behaviors like smoking, drinking, substance abuse, and physical activity between social groups.
Structural Theory
- Argues that differences in socioeconomic circumstances of social groups throughout the life course cause inequalities in health.
Fundamental Cause Theory
- Fundamental causes influence multiple diseases and health problems through various risk factors.
- Access to resources that mitigate risk and disease severity is influenced by fundamental causes.
- Effects on health persist even when intervening mechanisms change.
Fundamental vs. Proximal Causes
- Fundamental causes (structural factors): Shape access to goods, services, and power, such as segregation.
- Proximal causes: Directly responsible for specific outcomes, such as physical activity and diet.
McKeown Thesis
- Argued that population growth was primarily driven by improved standards of living (diet and nutrition) rather than medical advancements.
- Criticized for misinterpreting results, underestimating the role of clean water and milk supplies, and failing to acknowledge the importance of medical interventions and improved social conditions.
Life Course Theory
- Experiences throughout an individual's life can have long-term impact on their health.
- Health trajectories during critical periods are particularly impactful.
- The environment plays a role in shaping health outcomes.
- Health disparities are not solely determined by genetic or behavioral choices.
Life Course Model
- Emphasizes lifelong human development and aging.
- Recognizes individuals' agency in making choices within their contexts.
- Underscores the influence of historical time and place on life courses.
- Highlights the significance of timing in experiencing life events.
- Acknowledges interconnectedness and influence within relationships.
Key Life Course Concepts
- Sensitive period model: Focuses on differential effects of exposure based on timing, with early exposures having greater impact.
- Accumulation model: Emphasizes the cumulative effect of exposures over time, promoting interventions to prevent risk accumulation.
- Pathway model: Examines how events and circumstances at one life stage can indirectly influence later risks.
- Social mobility model: Analyzes how socioeconomic status changes over time can affect health risks and behaviors.
Life Course Model Strengths and Weaknesses
- Strengths: Comprehensive perspective, longitudinal focus, contextual consideration, interdisciplinary approach.
- Weaknesses: Complexity, measurement challenges, limited consideration of non-normative events, predictive limitations.
Stress
- A general term describing the psychological and physical response to stimuli that disrupt the body's equilibrium.
Stressor
- A stimulus that throws the body's equilibrium off balance.
- Types: Physical, psychological, social, short-term, chronic
Allostasis
- The body's adaptive process to acute stress, involving the release of stress hormones.
Allostatic Load
- The cumulative wear and tear on the body due to repeated or prolonged stress response.
Adaptive Stress Response
- Includes increased energy, heightened cardiovascular function, suppressed digestion, suppressed immune system, and enhanced cognition.
Stress-Related Disorders
- Examples: Fatigue, diabetes, hypertension, ulcers, confusion.
Stress and Immune System
- Chronic stress can lead to immune suppression, affecting natural killer (NK) cells that target tumor cells.
Stress and Cancer
- Stress does not cause cancer, but it can impact the immune system's ability to fight cancer.
Stress and Heart Disease
- Chronic stress can contribute to heart disease through increased blood pressure, atherosclerosis, and potential blockage of arteries.
Stress and Sleep
- Adequate sleep helps to restore the body, facilitates learning, and regulates hormone secretion.
- Sleep deprivation can interfere with learning, and lead to hallucinations, anxiety, and changes in metabolism.
Coping
- Problem-focused: Changing the environment itself (active coping, planning, instrumental social support)
- Emotion-focused: Changing the emotional response to the stressor (venting, mental disengagement)
- Thought suppression: Intentionally trying not to think about the stressor (can lead to rebound effect)
Social Systems
- Patterned networks of relationships between individuals, groups, and institutions.
- Important for understanding how different social systems influence behaviors and health risk distribution.
Socioeconomic Status (SES)
- Combined measure of a person's economic and social position, based on income, education, and occupation.
- Influences access to goods and services, environmental exposure risks, education, employment opportunities, and health outcomes.
Employment
- Unemployed individuals are more likely to experience poor health, higher stress-related conditions, lack of insurance, and higher depression and anxiety.
Education
- Linked to better jobs, higher income, access to information and social networks, critical thinking skills, personal growth, civic engagement, and improved health outcomes.
Income
- Affects affordability of healthcare, nutrition, lifestyle choices, and stress levels.
Positive Functions of Poverty (Herbert Gans)
- Argues that poverty, even if undesirable, serves certain functions: promoting creativity, fostering social cohesion, ensuring fulfillment of undesirable jobs, and creating demand for specific products.
Policy Suggestions for Addressing Health Inequalities
- Increasing focus on education systems.
- Redistributing resources.
- Supporting early childhood programs.
- Creating a livable wage.
- Utilizing a fundamental cause approach.
Medical Sociology
- Systematic study of how humans manage health and illness, diseases and disorders, and healthcare for all.
Disease
- Any harmful deviation from the normal structure or function of an organism.
Illness
- A person's subjective experience of symptoms or a diagnosis of being sick.
Sickness
- A term to describe events that can be noted as a disease or an illness.
Social Constructionism
- A framework that emphasizes the cultural and historical aspects of phenomena often perceived as purely natural.
Medicalization
- The process by which non-medical issues become framed as medical problems.
Foucault
- Argued that medical knowledge and practices are intertwined with power structures, shaping how illnesses are defined and managed.
Cultural Meaning of Illness
- Illnesses have both biomedical and experiential dimensions, influencing social responses and understanding.
Residential Segregation
- The physical separation of racial groups in housing contexts.
Residential Segregation and Health
- Impacts neighborhood and housing quality, medical care access, health outcomes, education, employment, and exposure to environmental hazards.
Neighborhood Design
- Conventional development: Low-density, low connectivity, single-use, and car-dependent.
- Low-density housing: Larger lot sizes and homes, often more recent.
Neighborhood and Housing Quality
- Disinvestment in economic resources can lead to lower quality housing, exposure to environmental hazards, limited commercial enterprises, and targeting of poor minority communities by industries like tobacco and alcohol.
Food Environments
- Food deserts: Geographic areas where residents lack access to affordable and healthy food options. Impacts over 23 million people in the US.
- Food apartheid: Links food deserts with poorer diets, higher obesity rates, and related illnesses.
- Food access barriers: Convenience and affordability often prioritize fast food options, with fast food concentrations often found in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
Greenspace
- Benefits: Reduced premature mortality, improved cardiovascular risk factors, enhanced air quality.
- Disadvantages: Potential impact on property values, location limitations.
- ⅔ of US children do not live within walking distance to a park.
Built Environment Measures for Planetary Health
- Consider the impact of events like wildfires, flooding, and extreme heat on populations.
Education and Employment
- Schools: Often financed through property taxes, contributing to disparities in funding and access.
- Educational outcomes: Lower test scores, limited curriculum, less qualified teachers in segregated areas.
- Employment: Spatial mismatch: Disparity between low-income household locations and job opportunities.
- Skills mismatch: Lack of alignment between employee skills and job requirements.
Population Health
- Focused approach that considers interrelated conditions and factors influencing the health of populations over the life course.
- Aims to identify systematic variations in health patterns and translate knowledge into policies and actions to improve population health and well-being.
Race as a Social Construct
- Race is a social construct, not based on biological differences but on societal beliefs and treatment.
- Racial formation refers to the social and historical process of creating racial categories.
Historical Perspectives on Racial Hierarchy
- The Puritans, arriving in the 1630s, believed in a human hierarchy influenced by Aristotle.
- The Curse of Ham, from Genesis 9:18-29, was used to justify the inferiority of Black people.
- Robert Boyle's 1664 work, "Nature of Whiteness and Blackness," argued that black skin is inferior to white skin, influencing Sir Isaac Newton.
Understanding Health Disparities
- Social factors, not just medical care, shape health.
- The US spends more on healthcare than any other country, yet ranks poorly in health outcomes.
- Medical care accounts for only 10-15% of preventable deaths, with social factors explaining around 50%.
Upstream vs. Downstream Interventions
- Upstream interventions focus on prevention and address underlying social determinants.
- Downstream interventions are curative and treat existing health problems.
Upstream Interventions
- Require substantial investment and long-term funding.
- Involve coordination across various groups.
- Complex and slow implementation with results taking years to become apparent.
Downstream Interventions
- Provide more immediate and straightforward responses.
- Less focused on prevention.
- Easier to implement with immediate results.
- Easier to measure effectiveness.
Theories of Health Inequalities
- Gardener's Tale: Health disparities are rooted in systematic differences in health based on social positions.
- Social Ecological Model: Health outcomes are influenced by interactions between individual, community, and societal factors.
Theories Explaining Social Status and Health
- Artefact Theory: Associations between social status and health outcomes are statistical artifacts.
- Selection Theory: Poor health causes people to have lower socioeconomic status.
- Intelligence Theory: Genetic endowment determines intelligence and health status.
- Meritocracy Theory: Benefits should be given to the best performers, with higher positions based on merit.
- Behavioral Theory: Health inequalities are caused by differences in health-related behaviors.
- Structural Theory: Socioeconomic status differences between groups cause health disparities.
The Fundamental Cause Theory
- Fundamental causes influence the likelihood of many diseases and health problems.
- They affect health through various risk factors.
- They influence access to resources that help people avoid or mitigate disease.
- Their impact on health persists over time despite changes in intervening mechanisms.
Examples of Fundamental and Proximal Causes
- Fundamental Cause: Segregation, shaping socioeconomic conditions and access to opportunities for Black Americans.
- Proximal Cause: Diet, physical activity, and other individual-level factors that directly contribute to health outcomes.
McKeown Thesis
- Argued that population growth was driven by improved standards of living, particularly diet and nutrition, rather than advancements in medicine.
- Later discredited due to misinterpretation of results and the underestimated importance of clean water and milk supplies.
- Emphasized the role of medical interventions and improved social conditions in health outcomes.
Life Course Theory
- Past experiences influence future health.
- Health trajectories are impacted during critical or sensitive periods.
- Emphasizes the role of the environment in shaping health.
- Highlights cumulative experiences and the timing of significant life events.
Key Concepts in Life Course Theory
- Sensitive Period Model: Emphasizes the differential effects of an exposure based on timing, with early-life exposures having stronger impacts.
- Accumulation Model: Focuses on the cumulative effect of exposures over time, emphasizing risk prevention.
- Pathway Model: Explores the interconnectedness of multiple factors and how events at one point in the life course can indirectly impact later risks.
- Social Mobility Model: Examines the direction of change in exposures, such as socioeconomic status, and their impact on health risks and behaviors.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Life Course Models
Strengths:
- Comprehensive perspective.
- Longitudinal focus.
- Consideration of contextual factors.
- Allows for interdisciplinary approaches.
Weaknesses:
- Complexity.
- Measurement issues.
- Limited consideration of non-normative events.
- Predictive power limitations.
Stress as a Health Determinant
- Stress is a psychological and physical response to a stimulus that disrupts the body's equilibrium.
- Understanding the complex relationships between stressors and health is crucial for addressing population health.
- Social systems influence behaviors, and health risks are not evenly distributed across the population.
Socioeconomic Status and Health
- Socioeconomic status is a combined measure of income, education, and occupation, reflecting a person's social and economic position.
- It influences living conditions, access to goods and services, environmental exposure risks, educational resources, and occupational types.
Employment and Health
- Unemployed individuals are more likely to experience fair or poor health, stress-related conditions, lack of insurance coverage, and higher rates of depression and anxiety.
Education and Health
- Education is linked to better jobs, higher income, access to information and social networks, improved critical thinking skills, enhanced personal growth, greater civic engagement, better health outcomes, and increased cultural understanding.
Income and Health
- Income influences affordability of healthcare, nutrition, lifestyle choices, stress levels, and living arrangements.
The Positive Functions of Poverty
- Herbert Gans argued that poverty has functional roles in society, including:
- Spurs creativity.
- Fosters social cohesion.
- Ensures that undesirable jobs are filled.
- Creates a demand for products geared towards this demographic.
Policy Suggestions for Addressing Socioeconomic Disparities
- Increased attention to the education system.
- Redistribution of resources.
- Support for early childhood programs.
- Creation of a livable wage.
- Implementation of a fundamental cause approach.
Medical Sociology
- The systematic study of how humans manage health and illness, disease and disorders, and healthcare.
Disease, Illness, and Sickness
- Disease: A harmful deviation from the normal structure or function of an organism.
- Illness: A person's subjective experience of symptoms or having a diagnosis.
- Sickness: A term used to describe events that can be categorized as either disease or illness.
Social Constructionism in Medical Sociology
- Emphasizes the cultural and historical aspects of phenomena that are often perceived as purely natural, including illness and healthcare.
Medicalization
- The process by which non-medical issues become framed as medical problems.
Foucault's Perspective on Medical Knowledge and Power
- Medical knowledge and practices are intertwined with power structures, shaping how illness is defined and managed.
Cultural Meaning of Illness
- Illnesses have both biomedical and experiential dimensions.
- Studies patterns and differences in health across groups to develop policies that improve health and well-being.
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This quiz explores the multifaceted nature of stress, detailing its categories, physiological impacts, and related disorders. Participants will learn about the body's adaptive responses and the potential long-term effects of stress on health. Delve into the interplay between stress and various physiological outcomes to enhance your understanding of this crucial topic.