Health and Society Flashcards
Why do we have waiting lists?
There is a limitless demand for healthcare but limited resources, i.e. finite supply of staff and money
What are the theories about NHS waiting lists
The backlog - implies a need for occasional emergency injection of funds
Demand management - waiting acts as price to deter frivolous use
Don’t want lots of spare capacity as this is a waste
Waiting lists are caused by underfunding and inefficiency
How can the NHS reduce waiting times
Manage demand - appropriate referrals
Manage the queue
Manage capacity - efficient and effective services
provide leadership
What are some social consequences of deafness
Social impact - difficult to have conversations, isolation and intimacy issues
Psychological impact - anger, low confidence, frustration and depression
Practical issues - doorbells, phones etc.
What are the 5 big CAM’s
Acupuncture Chiropractic Herbal medicine Homeopathy osteopathy
What are the 5 categories for significant impaired decision making ability
Lack of insight Cognitive impairment e.g. dementia Presence of psychosis Severe depressive symptoms Learning disability
Why do we need evidence based decision making
Limited time to read
Inadequacy of traditional sources of information - text books out of date
Medical knowledge is constantly changing
Disparity between diagnostic skills and clinical judgement
What are some of the causes of antibiotic resistance
Use in livestock for growth promotion Releasing of antibiotics into environment Volume of antibiotics prescribed Missing doses Inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics
How can antibiotic resistance be prevented
Using antibiotics only when prescribed by a doctor
Completing the full prescription
Never sharing antibiotics or using leftover prescriptions
Only prescribing antibiotics when they are needed
Using the right antibiotics to treat illness
What is the purpose of surveillance
Serve as an early warning system for impending public health emergencies
Document the impact of an intervention
Monitor and clarify the epidemiology of health problems
What can be done to reduce nosocomial infections
Hand washing, infection control programmes, surveillance
Detection, investigation and control of outbreaks e.g. barrier nursing, isolate infected patients
Policies and procedures to prevent infection
Change catheters etc.
What are the functions of global health
To provide heath related public goods e.g, research, standard and guidelines
To manage cross-national externalities through epidemiological surveillance
to mobilise global solidarity for populations facing disaster
To convene stakeholders to reach consensus on key issues
Summarise the key points of the Calman-Hine report
- Public and professional education to recognise early symptoms of cancer
- uniformly high standard of care
- Patients, family and carers given clear information of treatment prognosis etc..
- Primary care to be central to cancer care
- The psychosocial needs of cancer sufferers and carers to be recognised
Public health objectives of vaccination
- To protect individuals from specific disease
- To protect populations
- to protect selected high risk groups
- To eradicate an infectious agent
What is the basic reproductive number
Average number of secondary infections produced by a typical infective agent in a totally susceptible population
