W6 health and mortality

Question 1

what is life expectancy?

Answer 1

the mean length that one cohort is expected to live assuming the mortality rates of a given year

Question 2

what is Healthy Life Expectancy?

Answer 2

the combined measure of health and mortality

–> average number of years that a person can expect to live in good health

Question 3

what does Fries (1983) say?

Answer 3

compression of morbidity
the life expectancy is gonna hit the biological limit and the average onset of morbidity will be postponed (the time for being ill is compressed)

Question 4

what does Gruenberg (1977) say?

Answer 4

expansion of morbidity
even the life expectancy is getting longer, because the epidemiology is staying the same, years with ill is going to be increasing at the end of life

Question 5

what does Manton (1985) say?

Answer 5

Dynamic equilibrium
it’s the continuous status quo;
the increase in life expectancy is accompanied with postponent of the onset of morbidity

Question 6

obesity rate?

Answer 6

gradually increasing from 15% to 25% (1995-2009)

Question 7

the number of smokers in UK?

Answer 7

decreasing from 46% to below 20% (1974-2013)

Question 8

what does Omran (1971) say?

Answer 8

epidemic transition:

the disease replacement from infectious ones to chronic ones dues to expanded public health and sanitation

Question 9

what are the three stages of epidemic transition?

Answer 9

1: The Age of Pestilence and Famine: Mortality is high and fluctuating precluding sustained population growth
- 12000 years before the agricultural revolution

2: Age of Receding Pandemics: Modernisation triggers a decrease in mortality, which accelerates as epidemic become less frequent or disappear. Life expectancy is increasing – sustained population growth

3: Age of Degenerative and Man-Made(Non communicable) Diseases: Mortality continues to decline and eventually approaches stability at a relatively low level. Life expectancy continuous to increase reaching unprecedented levels
- -> started in the first half of 1900s

Question 10

what is Mc Keown’s thesis?

Answer 10

the increase in life expectancy is happening due to economic growth, rising living standards, public health measures and improved nutrition

Question 11

what is the germ theory of disease?

Answer 11

theory arguing that diseases are caused by the presence and action by specific micro-organisms
–> critical in terms of changing both individual behaviours and health infrastructure

Question 12

according to Rosling (2010), what is the historical trend of increase in life expectancy?

Answer 12

in 1948: the gap between countries was biggest
(western countries were top, Japan in catching up, colonized countries are still low)

civil war, WW2–> really decreases life expectancy

Question 13

what does preston curve (1975) say?

Answer 13

the relationship between income and life expectancy?

Question 14

what are the three ppl saying that social factors are equally as important as medical system?

Answer 14

Bunker et al (1995), Mcginiss et al (2002)

Question 15

what is health inequality?

Answer 15

differences in health status or in distribution of the health determints ex) access to proper information, income that allows access to healthy products

Question 16

right to health is constitute of??

Answer 16

WHO (1946)

Question 17

why it’s important to eliminate the health inequality?

Answer 17

• we can get rid of the cost for welfare and medical assistance (it’s getting 9.4% of european GDP)
• being ill has a negative economic impact such as reduced labour productivity, supply

Question 18

what does black report (1980) say?

Answer 18

• overall improved health due to the welfare state, there is a still huge gap
  ex) the death rate of working class was twice as high as first class guys

Question 19

what is the cultural-behavioral explanation for health inequality?

Answer 19

ppl in the lower SES tend to behave in a specific way that allows them to be sick

more risky health-related behaviour
eg. smoking, eating badly, risky sexual behaviour

Question 20

what is the materialist explanation for health inequality?

Answer 20

who: Lynch et al, 2004

income can allow more access to services and goods

Question 21

what is the psycosocial explanation for health inequality?

Answer 21

who: Wilkinson & Picket, 2006

low social status is more likely to invite , job insecurity, anxiety, social isolation, socially hazardous environments, bullying, and depression that can cause chronic ill

material world vs perception of the inequality

Question 22

what is the health selection explanation for the health inequality?

Answer 22

The health selection approach asserts that health determines socioeconomic class status rather than socioeconomic class determining health. Individuals who are ‘fitter’ are more likely to move up the social hierarchy. In contrast, people with ill health are downwardly mobile (or less upwardly mobile) and are therefore concentrated within the lower socioeconomic classes.