health and wellness Flashcards
what is health
- A means to achieve desirable goals in life while maintaining a multidimensional (physical, mental, social, political, economic, and spiritual) equilibrium that is operationalized for individuals as well as for communities
what are the social detriments of health
- the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age - shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources
- these are mostly responsible for health inequities within and between countries
fundamental cause theory when explaining Health disparities and social detriments of health
- Socioeconomic status is the most important factor to explain health disparity
- Income constrains or expands access to resources that promote health e.g. Food deserts; Neighborhood disadvantage
- Stress at work also affects our health
3 ways to get health insurance coverage
- Majority obtain through employers
- Medicaid covers disabled people
- Medicare gives some health insurance to people over 65
**leaves some without healthcare
benefits of the ACA (affordable care act)
- offered states funds to expand Medicaid programs and mandated that everyone obtain health insurance
- reduced the number of people without insurance
- Not all states expanded Medicaid, which left people with limited options
what did the ACA create to remedy some problems with the U.S. health care system
Required insurance companies to cover individuals no matter the cost of their health care needs.
* Allowed young adults to be covered by their parents’ insurance plan until they are 26 years old.
* Prohibited insurance companies from turning you down for coverage.
* Required that preventive health services be free of charge
what is medicalisation
A process by which conditions that previously were not understood as illnesses come to be seen through the lens of health and medicine
- driven by several different factors e.g. technological advances, economic interests, managed care, and the expanding terrain of professional care
* Childbirth
what is overdiagnosis
a consequence of medicalization
- can be a result of social expectations of health
- Health treatment can compel both practitioners and patients to expect active treatment, even for conditions that may be better left untreated
two primary variables to assess citizens’ health in a country
- LIFE EXPECTANCY: The average number of years a person is expected to live
- INFANT MORTALITY: The number of deaths of
children under 13 months of age for every 1000 live births
life expectancy based on race
Asian, White, and Hispanic Americans
tend to live longer than Black and American Indians
life expectancy based on gender
Woman have a higher life expectancy than men - lower mortality rate
- Women go to the doctor more and have higher quality social relationships; men engage in more unhealthy and dangerous behaviors
- but Women have higher rates of morbidity: Rates of illness, injury, disease, or other unhealthy states
what is environmental sociology
Focuses on the interaction between the social + natural systems - provides many useful insights to guide us toward sustainability
what is sustainability
A social – economic system that can function within the earth’s ecological constraints
- The environment may affect a populations mortality; fertility; and migration patterns
what is urbanisation
The concentration/increase of population in urban (cities) areas
* Environmental hazards, especially contagion, were dominant in urbanizing societies
how do sociologists study environmental issues
through a lens of awareness - How concerned or aware are individuals about environmental issues?
*also interested in what shapes how groups think about or act toward environmental issues
