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Chapter 10. Health, Health Care, and Disability. Medicine and Social Transformation. As societies have developed, medicine has taken on a scientific role. Medicine men vs. doctors Disease has always affected society. Black Plague Malaria AIDS. Medicalization of Society.
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Chapter 10 Health, Health Care, and Disability
Medicine and Social Transformation • As societies have developed, medicine has taken on a scientific role. • Medicine men vs. doctors • Disease has always affected society. • Black Plague • Malaria • AIDS
Medicalization of Society • Simple processes have become complex • Birth • Problems are now diseases • Addictions • Mental disorders • Obesity
Health, Health Care, and Medicine • Health is a state of physical, mental, and social well-being. • Disease is a pathology that upsets bodily functions • Health care is any activity intended to improve health. • Medicine is an institutionalized system for the scientific diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illness.
Widespread Disease • Epidemic…widespread outbreak • Pandemic…worldwide outbreak • Life expectancy…estimate of the average lifetime of people born in a given year • Infant Mortality Rate…number of deaths per 1,000 births in a given year (below 1 year old)
Social Epidemiology • Study of the causes and distribution of health, and disease in a population: • Disease agents – insects, bacteria, nutrient agents, pollutants, and temperature. • Environment - physical, biological and social environments. • Human host -demographic factors such as age, sex, and race/ethnicity.
Demographic Factors: Age • Rates of illness and death are highest among the old and the young. • After age 65, rates of chronic diseases and mortality increase rapidly. • Chronic diseases are long term or lifelong and develop gradually or are present from birth. • Acute diseases strike suddenly and cause dramatic incapacitation and sometimes death.
Demographic Factors: Sex • Prior to the 20th century, women had lower life expectancies because of high mortality rates during pregnancy and childbirth. • Women now live longer than men. • For babies born in the United States in 2003, life expectancy at birth was 74.8 years for males and 80.1 years for females. • Males tend to engage in more risky activities and lifestyles choices
Demographic Factors: Race/Ethnicity and Social Class • According to a study by the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, people have a higher survival rate if they live in better-educated or wealthier neighborhoods. • People of color are more likely to have incomes below the poverty line, and the poorest people receive less preventive care and less management of chronic diseases. • Engage in poor health activities
Highest Causes of Preventable Deaths • Tobacco • Poor diet/lack of exercise • Alcohol • Bacteria/viruses • Pollution • Motor vehicles • Firearms • Sexual behavior • Illegal drugs
Lifestyle Factors: Alcohol and Tobacco • Chronic heavy drinking or alcoholism can cause permanent damage to the brain or other parts of the body. • Also lead to nutritional issues which causes further problems • On average, Americans consume 22 gallons of beer a year
Lifestyle Factors: Alcohol and Tobacco • Tobacco is responsible for about one in every five deaths in this country. • More addictive than heroin • Environmental smoke (second hand) continues to be damaging, even though smoking rates have dropped. • This especially affects those who carpool and in the office.
Stay Healthy • Exercise and proper diet. • Eat three meals. • Sleep. • Stay away from things that have negative effects.
The Flexner Report • Conducted to professionalize medicine. • As a result, white women and people of color were largely excluded from medical education for the first half of the 20th century. • Flexner report did sets standards for medical training and professionalize medicine.
Medical Care in the U.S. • Private Health Insurance: cited as the main reason for medical inflation, gives doctors and hospitals an incentive to increase costs. • Public Health Insurance: • Medicare…over 65 • Medicaid…in need of medical benefits • Projections call for Medicaid spending to double and Medicare spending to triple in the next few years.
Medical Care in the U.S. • Health Maintenance Organizations: provide total care with an emphasis on prevention. • Must choose from certain physicians • Managed care: monitors and controls health care providers' decisions, insurance company has the right to refuse to pay for treatment. • Need referrals to see specialists
Implications of Advanced Medical Technology • Create options that alter human relationships (prolonging life after consciousness is lost). • Increase the cost of medical care. • Raise questions about the very nature of life (invitro fertilization, cloning, stem cell research).
Other Countries • Single Payer System (socialized medicine) • Government funded • Health care providers bill government, not insurance companies • Non profit • Government does not always authorize all procedures • Limited options
Holistic and Alternative Medicine • Holistic medicine focuses on prevention of illness and disease and is aimed at treating the whole person rather than just the part or parts in which symptoms occur. • Alternative medicine includes healing practices inconsistent with dominant medical practice.
Disability • Disability refers to a reduced ability to perform tasks one would normally do at a given stage of life and that may result in or discrimination. • Estimated 49.7 million people in the U.S. have one or more physical or mental disabilities. • Less than 15% of persons with a disability are born with it. • Accidents, disease, and war account for most disabilities in this country.
Labeling the Disabled • How disabled people are labeled results from three factors: • their degree of responsibility for their impairment • the apparent seriousness of their condition • the perceived legitimacy of the condition.
