Social and Behavioral Sciences Flashcards
What is social and behavioral health?
Concepts & methods of social & behavioral
sciences relevant to the identification & the
solution of public health problems
What is behavioral sciences?
Deals primarily with human action and
often seeks to generalize about
human behavior in society
What are some areas of behavioral sciences?
Anthropology
Demography
Psychology
Sociology
What is anthropology?
Origin, behavior, & physical, social & cultural development of humans
What is demography?
the study of the characteristics of human populations, such as size, growth, density, distribution, & and vital statistics.
What is sociology?
the study of human social behavior, especially the study of the origins, organization, institutions, and development of human society.
Society also includes the analysis of a social institution or societal segment as a self-contained entity or in relation to society as a whole.
What is psychology?
The science that deals with mental processes and behavior.
Why is the field of social and behavioral health important?
Social and behavioral health gets to the “why” of people’s behaviors. It’s a broad area of studies—that really seek to improve population through health status by addressing those “things” in life that affect our health.
What are the 3 leading causes of death (not the disease, but the actual causes of death)?
are using tobacco, poor diet/lack of exercise, and immoderate use of alcohol.
When we look at preventable death in this country, about
50% is lifestyle related.
20% is related to environmental factors.
10% of preventable deaths in this country, according to one recent study, are linked to access to care issues.
What are some determinates of health?
environmental
biological
social
What are environmental determinants of health?
physical environment
conditions of living
toxic agents
infectious agents
What are environmental factors?
hazardous wastes
air pollution
water pollution
noise
crowding, housing quality
work environments
neighborhood quality.
All of these are important to the health of the individual.
What are biological determinants of health?
genetics
behaviors that determine the susceptibility of the individual to disease and other factors related to susceptibility.
What are the types of social determinates of health?
education
income and/or wealth
environment
access to health care/specific services
race
How does education affect health?
In studies, we can see that the more education a person has, the better paying job he/she is able to obtain. More money means more ability to take care of one’s health. Better paying jobs also usually mean better health insurance which means better access to healthcare. Higher salary also usually means you can afford housing in “healthier” neighborhoods (with sidewalks and trees, etc.) and the ability to buy healthier foods. Better paying jobs can lead to having a personal vehicle, which increase one’s access to lots of places—healthcare, stores, recreational activities.
