Weeks 2-6

Question 1

What are health studies?

Answer 1

Addresses health, illness, and medicine through a humanities, social science, an interdisciplinary lens

Question 2

What are disciplines?

Answer 2

Disciplines are specific fields that support and constitute medicine

Question 3

What disciplines support and constitute medicine?

Answer 3

• Occupational sciences (pharmacy)
• “Basic science” (immunology)
• Social specialties (family practice)

Question 4

What is qualitative data and give an example

Answer 4

• Data that is interpretation-based and is not measured numerically
• Ex: Focus groups

Question 5

What is quantitative data and give an example

Answer 5

• Data that is measurable
• Ex: Statistics

Question 6

What is disciplinarity?

Answer 6

The notion that different disciplines have unique ways of looking at problems which provide an approach to solutions

Question 7

Health studies explores issues related to health…..

Answer 7

Internationally, politically, individually, economically, culturally, and environmentally

Question 8

What are some disciplinary boundaries of health studies?

Answer 8

Sociology- Focuses on institutions and their practices
Geography- Focuses on space and place, and how it affects people’s well-being
Health Psychology- Focuses on how people think and behave in relation to health

Question 9

What is multidisciplinary collaboration and its disadvantages?

Answer 9

• Involves multiple disciplines that work separately
• Little interaction between researchers who work independently

Question 10

What is interdisciplinary collaboration?

Answer 10

• Involves multiple disciplines that work together to form a solution

Question 11

What is transdisciplinary collaboration and its disadvantages?

Answer 11

• Involves multiple disciplines that work outside of their disciplinary field

Question 12

List 3 social science sub-disciplines

Answer 12

Sociology, health psychology, health economics

Question 13

What is health equity?

Answer 13

An approach that includes interventions and policies that address dsicrimination and oppression to reduce health outcomes

Question 14

What are health disparities?

Answer 14

Differences in health outcomes that are avoidable, unjust, and systematically related to social inequalities

Question 15

Compare health equity and health disparity

Answer 15

• Health equity looks at what could and should have been
• Health disparity indicates what is by reflecting on measureable epidemiological data
  
  • Indicates how far we are from acheieving health equity

Question 16

What is the Lalonde Report and when was it released?

Answer 16

• Released in 1974
• Proposed that public health interventions, government policies, and financial resources should be revert their attention to high risk populations

Question 17

What is the Ottawa Charter/Foundations of Health Promotion and when was it released?

Answer 17

• Released in 1986
• Defines health promotion which includes health resources and fundamental conditions

Question 18

What are the social determinants of health (SDOH)?

Answer 18

They are non-medical factors that impact individuals and their population

Question 19

What are the 2 most important SDOH?

Answer 19

Poverty/income and race

Question 20

What is the Epp Report and when was it released?

Answer 20

• Released in 1986
• Used health promotion to reduce inequities in health

Question 21

What are some issues with crossing disciplinary boundaries?

Answer 21

• Health is difficult to define in biomedical terms which can affect all our understanding of what it means to be healthy or ill
• Health is very complex and requires different perspectives

Question 22

What does it mean to be critical?

Answer 22

Reflecting on information using judgement skills and engaging in higher levels of thinking to formulate reliable decisions

Question 23

What are some concerns about critical approaches?

Answer 23

• Research is typically conducted through an oppressive relationship
• Lacks a movement that can impact real-world to force political and social changes

Question 24

Which definition of health is this: Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

Answer 24

WHO from 1948

Question 25

Which definition of health is this: The capacity to adapt and self-manage in the face of physical, mental, and social challenges

Answer 25

WHO from Huber and colleagues in 2011

Question 26

Which definition of health is this: Health is a condition in which people achieve control over their lives because of the equitable distribution of power and resources. Health is thus a collective value; my health cannot be at the expense of others nor through the excessive use of natural resources

Answer 26

WHO by Wills, Watson & Scott-Samuel

Question 27

What is the Action Statement for Health promotion in Canada and when was it released?

Answer 27

• Released in 1996
• Reformed health care systems in a beneficial way

Question 28

What are the 3 approaches to understanding health and explain them?

Answer 28

1. Biomedical- Health issues are personal, not social issues (ex: cardiovascular disease)
2. Behavioural- Health issues are caused by a person’s behaviour (ex: smoking)
3. Socio-environmental- Health issues are caused by structural factors (ex: eating poorly b/c they cannot afford healthy food)

Question 29

What are the 4 key determinants of health and explain them?

Answer 29

1. Income- Higher income inequality results in a lower life expectancy
2. Political Regimes & Welfare Status- What social and health services the government provides to citizens
3. Social Networks & Neighbourhood- Social support, access to services and facilities can influence a person’s health
4. Activities of Daily Living- Daily physical activity, routines, (ex: transportation and eating habits)

Question 30

How can we identify and address the determinants of health? Give an example.

Answer 30

1. Distal- Furthest away from the individual, caused by infrastructural factors (ex: access to resources)
2. Intermediate- Based on relationships, community based (ex: school, work, family, etc)
3. Proximal- Closest to an individual’s health status, caused by direct biological threats (ex: exposure to disease)

Question 31

What are the 3 different levels of causes

Answer 31

Distal, intermediate, and proximal

Question 32

What are the 2 general determinants of health?

Answer 32

Personal Determinants: At the individual level, includes genetic factors
Structural Determinants: At the societal level, living and working conditions

Question 33

What are the 4 major determinants of population health?

Answer 33

1) Human Biology
2) Health Organizations
3) Environment
4) Lifestyle

Question 34

What is the theoretical framework for the biological basis of the determinants of health?

Answer 34

1) Genes
2) Internal Agency
3) External Agency
4) Aging

Question 35

How can genes affect our health?

Answer 35

• Based on our genetic makeup
• Mutations can produce themselves
• Determines our lifespan

Question 36

How can the external agency affect health?

Answer 36

• Based on how the environment affects our well-being
• Ex: Pathogens, injuries
• Can mainly be prevented rather than cured

Question 37

How cam internal agency affect health?

Answer 37

• Based on how our internal body reacts to changes in the external environment
• Ex: Diseases
• Too much of something can cause stress, too little can cause disuse
• Body needs energy and fuel to survive

Question 38

How can aging affect health?

Answer 38

• A natural metabolic process
• “Wear and tear minus repair”
• As cells divide, they wear out
• The 12 organ systems decline in function by 0.5% from ages 30 to 70

Question 39

What are the 4 basic characteristics of living things?

Answer 39

1) Homeostasis
2) Stimulus, process, response
3) Evolution
4) Metabolism

Question 40

What is the scientific method?

Answer 40

Observation, hypothesis, prediction, experiment, conclusion

Question 41

What is the relative importance of health determinants?

Answer 41

Downstream Factors- Situated closest to the health outcome (ex: health status)
Upstream Factors- Situated farthest from the health outcome (ex: social status)

Question 42

What are the determinants of good and ill health?

Answer 42

Ill Health- Easier to asses, looks at mortality rate, disease rates, and measurements of harmful behaviour
Good Health- More difficult to asses, looks at social environment factors such as employment status and level of education

Question 43

Define homeodynamics

Answer 43

The body responding to constant changes in the environment