Public Health (from Revision document) Flashcards
What is the gini coefficient?
a statistical representation of nation’s income distribution amongst its residents - the lower the coefficient, the greater the equality amongst people. UK has a rather high inequality coefficient compared to Scandinavian countries (Denmark etc)
What were the key findings of the Black Report (1980)?
i Material (environmental causes, might be mediated by behaviour) ii Artefact (an apparent product of how the inequality is measured) iii Cultural/behavioural (poorer people behave in unhealthy ways) Iv Selection (sick people sink socially and economically)
What were the key findings of the Acheson Report (1998)?
i income inequality should be reduced
ii give high priority to the health of families with children
What is proportionate universalism?
i Focusing on the disadvantaged only will not help to reduce the inequality
ii Action must be universal but with a scale and intensity proportional to the disadvantage (hence the name)
iii Fair distribution of wealth is important
What is the psychological theory of causation?
i stress results in inability to respond efficiently to body’s demands
ii impact on blood pressure, cortisol levels and on inflammatory and neuroendocrine responses
What is the neo-material theory of causation?
i more hierarchal societies are less willing to invest into the provision of public goods (this is the fundamental issue in societies such as the United States, hard to justify public goods)
ii poorer people have less material goods, quality of which is generally lower
What is the life-course theory of causation?
i a combination of both Psychosocial and Neo-material explanations
ii critical periods - possess greater impact at certain points in the life course (childhood)
iii accumulation - hazards and their impacts add up -> hard work leads to injuries resulting in disabilities that may lead to more injuries
iv interactions and pathways - sexual abuse in childhood leads to poor partner choice in adulthood
What are the 4 domains of public health?
Health Protection: infectious diseases, chemicals and poisons, pollution, radiation, emergency response
Improving services: clinical effectiveness, efficiency, service planning, equity
Health Improvement: lifestyles, family & community, education, employment, housing, surveillance and monitoring
Addressing the wider determinants of health: seeing the big picture - making sense of data
What are meta-ethics?
exploring fundamental questions:
right/wrong/defining the good life
What are ethical theories?
philosophical attempts to create ethical theories: i virtue ii categorical iii imperative iv utilitarianism v 4 principles
What are applied ethics?
a recent emergence of ethical investigation in specific areas (environmental, medical, public health)
What is a deductive ethical argument?
(one general ethical theory -> all the medical problems)
What is an inductive ethical argument?
(settled medical cases -> generate theory or guides to medical practice)
What is meant by considering what we believe in?
(General ethical theory -> institutions/feelings -> medical problem)
What are the ethical fallacies?
Ad hominem: responding to arguments by attacking person’s character rather than the content of their argument (Latin for: “to the man”)
Authority claims: saying a claim is correct because authority has said so
Begging the question: petitio principii - assuming the initial point of the argument
Dissenters: identifying those who disagree does not itself prove the claim is not valid
Motherhoods: inserting a soft statement to disguise the disputable one: “All humans are equal (so we shouldn’t stop PVS patient treatment). Confusing necessary & sufficient
No true Scotsman: modifying the argument:
i “No Scotsman would do such thing.”
ii “But this one did.”
iii “Well, no true Scotsman would.”
When can confidentiality be disclosed?
- Required by law: Notifiable Disease, Court/judge/police
- Public at risk:
Serious crime
Serious communicable disease
Research/education - Individual is vulnerable to exploitation:
Disabled etc - Patient consent:
-
What is the criteria for disclosure of confidential info?
Anonymous if practicable
Kept to necessary minimum
Meets current laws (data protection)
Patient’s consent
What are the 3 main notifiable diseases?
Yellow Fever, Cholera, Plague
What are 5 lifestyle factors that increase mortality?
Smoking Obesity Sedentary Lifestyle Excess Alcohol Poor diet
What are structural determinants of illness?
i social class ii material deprivation/poverty iii unemployment iv discrimination/ racism v gender and health
What is the biomedical model of health?
i Mind and body are treated separately
ii Body, like a machine, can be repaired
iii This privileges use of technological interventions
iv It neglects social and psychological dimensions of disease
What is health behaviour?
aimed to prevent disease (eating healthily)
What is illness behaviour?
aimed to seek remedy (going to the doctor)
What is sick role behaviour?
aimed at getting well (compliance, resting)
Describe the Health Belief Model (Becker 1974) of behavioural change?
i individuals must believe they are susceptible to the condition
ii individuals must believe it has serious consequences
iii individuals must believe that taking action reduces their risks
iv individuals must believe that the benefits of taking action outweigh the costs
Describe the transtheoretical model of behavioural change?
i Pre-contemplation (no intention giving up smoking) ii Contemplation (considering quitting) iii Preparation (getting ready to quit in the near future) iv Action (engaged in giving up smoking) v Maintenance (steady non-smoker) vi Relapse???
Define morality?
concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong (rather universal)
Define ethics?
a system of moral principles and a branch of philosophy which defines what is good for individuals and society (may differ in different cultures)
What are explanations and criticisms of utilitarianism/consequentialism?
An act is evaluated solely in term of its consequences
• Maximising good and minimizing harm
• Types: hedonistic, rule, act, preference
• The “greatest happiness principle” of John Stuart Mill
Critique:
Treat minorities unfairly to promote the happiness of majority?
• Carry out ethically questionable research to maximise welfare of society?
What are explanations and criticisms of Kantianism (deontological)?
Features of the act themselves determine worthiness (goodness) of that act
• Following natural laws and rights
• Categorical imperatives - a set of universal moral premises from which the duties are derived (do not lie; do not kill; …)
A person is an end itself, never a means to an end • deon = duty (from the Greek)
Critique:
Key concern is with duties and rights.
• Not about consenquences of actions but acts have intrinsic worthiness
• Can duties conflict?
What are explanations and criticisms of Virtue Ethics (deontological)?
Focus is on the kind of person who is acting, deemphasizes rules
• Is the person in action expressing good character or not?
• We become virtuous only by practicing virtuous actions
• Integration of reason and emotion
• The Five Focal Virtues: i Compassion ii Discernment iii Trustworthiness iv Integrity v Conscientiousness
Critique:
The assessment of virtue is culture-specific? • The notion of virtue is too broad and nonspecific to allow for practical application?
• An emphasis on the moral character of individuals ignores social and communal dimensions – Honesty points to telling the hurtful truth, kindness and compassion to remaining silent or even lying.
What are four principles (prima facie)?
Autonomy:
• (self-rule, the obligation to respect the decisions of our patients)
Ø The decision is intentional
Ø The decision is done with understanding
Ø There are no major controlling influences over the decision
Benevolence:
(providing benefits, balancing the benefits against risks)
Non-maleficence:
(do no harm, reduce or prevent harm)
Justice:
(Utility/QUALY, need vs. benefit, fairness in the distribution of benefits and risks)
What are the ethical duties of a doctor according the GMC?
Protect and promote the health of patients and the public
Provide good standard of practice and care
Recognise and work within the limits of your competence
Work with colleagues in the ways that best serve patients’ interests
Treat patients as individuals and respect their dignity
What are the different forms of assessment for assessing the functional limitations of elderly/frail patients?
The Katz ADL (Activities of Daily Life) Scale
IADL (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living)
The Barthel ADL Index
MMSE (Mini Mental State Examination)
What variables are examined by the Katz ADL scale?
i bathing ii dressing iii toilet use iv transferring (in/out of bed or chair) v urine and bowel continence vi eating
What variables are examined by the IADL?
i use of the telephone
ii travelling by car or using public transport
iii food or clothes shopping
iv meal preparation
v housework
vi medication use (preparing and taking correct dose)
vii management of money (paying bills)
What variables are examined by the Barthel ADL Index?
i feeding ii moving from wheelchair to bed iii grooming iv transferring to and from a toilet v bathing vi walking on level surface vii going up and down stairs viii dressing ix continence of bowels x continence of bladder
What variables are examined by the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE)?
i orientation, immediate memory
ii short-term memory
iii language functioning
Define Acute Illness?
a disease of short duration that starts quickly and has severe symptoms (often can be cured)
Define Chronic Illness?
a persistent or recurring condition, which may or may not be severe, often starting gradually with slow changes (can’t be cured but can be treated)
Define Polypharmacy?
the use of multiple medications or administration of more medications than are clinically indicated
What are the key public health challenges of an ageing population?
- Strains on pension and social security systems
- Increasing demand for health care
- Bigger need for trained health workforce
- Increasing demand for long-term care
- Pervasive ageism (denying older people the rights and opportunities available for other adults)
What are the causes of the ageing population?
- Improvements in sanitation, housing, nutrition & medical interventions
- Life expectancy is rising around the globe
- Substantial falls in fertility (higher age of first pregnancy?)
- Decline in premature mortality
- More people reaching older age while fewer children are born
What is intrinsic ageing?
natural, universal, inevitable
What is extrinsic ageing?
dependent on external factors (UV ray exposure, smoking, air pollution, etc.)
Give examples of physical changes in later life?
- Loss of skin elasticity and hair colouring
- Decrease in size and weight
- Loss of joint flexibility
- Increased susceptibility to illness
- Decline in learning ability and less efficient memory
Describe the age-related reduction in sensory effectiveness?
Visual:
i Need 3x more light
ii Depth/colour perception
iii Narrowing of visual field
Hearing:
i High frequency loss
ii Speech comprehension 20%
Taste and Smell:
i 50% loss of taste buds
What is the gender bias of ageing?
- Women live longer than men
- In very old age, the ration of women:men is 2:1
- Causes are: approx. 20% biological – premenopausal women are protected from heart disease by hormones § 80% environmental – men take more lifestyle risks than women
What are the consequences of higher life expectancy?
- Pensions will have higher pay outs than those currently planned
- Chronic and comorbid conditions will prevail
- Rising inequalities as more affluent groups will use health services for longer
What are the different types of dementia and what percentage of the total do each of them make?
Alzheimer’s disease: 62%
Vascular Dementia: 17%
Mixed Alzheimer and Vascular: 10%
Lewy bodies: 6%
Fronto-temporal:2%
Other types: 3%
What are alternatives to hospital admission for elderly patients?
- Supporting discharge from inpatient hospital care
- Providing alternatives in acute care within the community
- Supporting chronic disease management within the community
What is the institutionalisation of death?
60% of people die in hospital (but 70% want to die at home)
What is the medicalisation of death?
death as failure, curative endeavour of biomedicine, prolonging life at any cost, death as natural part of our life challenged
What were the 4 awareness contexts identified by Glaser and Strauss (1965) awareness of dying?
i Closed awareness
ii Suspicion awareness
iii Mutual Pretence
iv Open awareness
What is social death?
when people die in social and interpersonal terms before their actual biological death - lonely, impersonal death
What is meant by good death?
palliative care became a specialty, aiming to demedicalise death - a reaction against the impersonal medical city
What is death the hospice way?
i open awareness, compassion, honesty
ii multi-disciplinary teams
iii emotion and relationships - modeled on a family approach
iv holistic care
What is the chain of infection?
• Susceptible host - low immunity, low white cell count, imbalance in normal flora, invasive procedures
• Causative micro-organism - increase number in hospital, resistant strains
• Reservoir - patients, visitors, stuff, fomites -> where the spread originates
Portal of entry/exit - respiratory tract, GI tract, GeUri tract, broken skin
Mode of transmission:
i exogenous spread (direct/indirect contact, vector spread, airborne)
ii endogenous spread (self spread)
How can you break the chain of infection?
• removing transient hand flora i staphylococcus aureus ii streptococci iii viruses • reducing number of resident flora i anaerobic cocci ii staphylococcus epidermidis
What are the different levels of hand washing?
- Routine handwash
- Hygienic hand antisepsis
- Surgical handscrub
What is alcohol gel?
destroys most transient organisms (MRSA) but does not kill Norovirus or Clostridium difficile
What is antimicrobial liquid soap?
removes all transient organisms
What are the types of waste?
Household waste:
paper, plastic bottles, containers
Clinical waste: sharps, soiled dressings, blood, body fluids (must be traceable back to the source!)
Sharp bins -