Chronic illness and disability Flashcards
what is invisible support
someone is folding your laundry but you don’t realize you have clean clothes because you have been busy
what is formal care
paid caregiver who is coming to your house to take care of you
what is informal care
family and friends give you assistance (more common than formal care)
what are the types of social support
emotional support, visible care, invisible support
what is emotional support
reassurance and emotional kindness
what is visible care
you are aware of someone providing you support
what are the effects of receiving social support
- mixed effects on well-being
- reduced self-efficient (if you need support to do things your self-efficient gets affected)
what is a chronic disease/illness
a condition that lasts 1+ year and that either requires ongoing medical attention, limits activities of daily living, or both
what is a disability
a condition that makes it more difficult to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world (participation restrictions)
what are 3 big categories of effects
- pain, discomfort, fatigue
- stressors managing chronic illness
- anxiety in general surrounding illness/disability
what are diabetes
cells need to eat glucose but need insulin to bring it in
- more insulin means more glucose
- occurs most in childhood (increasing evidence of environmental triggers
what are type I diabetes
- pancreas produced no insulin
- most often diagnosed in children
- causes by autoimmune disorder/genetics
- symptoms: constant thirst, weight loss, blurred vision, fatigue
- treatment: monitoring blood sugar levels and regular insulin injections or an insulin pump
what are type II diabetes
- cells become resistant to insulin and pancreas produces less insulin
- typically diagnosed in adults
- risk factors: high BMI, dietary patterns, physical activity ethnicity
- treatment: monitoring blood glucose level, medication (metformin) or insulin
diabetes and ses
- lower ses = worse prognosis for diabetes
- a gap in mortality between the wealthy and poor has widened (due to lack of insurance)
- insurance doesn’t cover all medication
myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)
- post-exertional malaise: prolonged muscle weakness after minor exertion
- can be caused by carrying in groceries/walking upstairs
- neurological symptoms: sleep disturbances, headaches, dizziness, cognitive problems
ME/CFS - healthcare system
- no known causes/cure
- difficult to diagnose/90% are not diagnosed
- most med schools don’t have training on ME/CFS
ME/CFS - PACE trial
- proposed treatments: cognitive therapy (CBT)/graded exercise therapy (GET)
- reduced trust in the medical establishment
CBT/GET have been treatments for cancer patients where fatigue is a symptom
ME/CFS treatment
- pacing or activity management: patients should balance their perceived and expended energy
- similar to the spoon theory (need certain amount of spoons to do a task)
stigma and stereotypes
- stereotype: less competent
- blame/responsibility for own condition
- people with disability and chronic illnesses are stigmatized (treated with sympathy/blame)
workplace discrimination - disability
- BC Human Rights Code (provincial) and Canadian Human Rights Acts (federal)
- protected from discrimination due to physical or mental disability
- people are not required to disclose disabilities unless they require accommodations
workplace discrimination - employment/income statistics
- those with disabilities are less likely to be employed
- more difficulty attending school
- unemployed but actively searching for work
- the unemployment rate is higher for those with disability
workplace discrimination - field experiment: hiring discrimination
- 6 different resumes were sent to 6016 accounting positions across the USA
- experience level (low vs. high) and disability
- disability applications received 26% fewer call-backs
what are invisible disabilities
- a disability that is not immediately apparent
- more readily receive accommodations, support assistance
- concealment - not given accommodation/judged for using it
what is the medical model of disability
disability is due to the impairments in one’s physical body (focuses on curing/managing disability)