Exam 19: Health and Medicine

The Black Death contains a vital message for the sociology of health and medicine because it reveals a common pattern, that health risks are evenly distributed across a population.

According to the textbook, how is Canada's health care system generally viewed?

Increased life expectancy in Canada has had which of the following effects?

Jackson is concerned because on the reserve where he has just gotten a job as a community health nurse, twice as many babies die before the age of one year than in the general Canadian population. What he is concerned about?

How were the well-to-do better able than the poor to escape the Black Death?

According to Statistics Canada (July 2015), for the first time the number of persons aged 65 years and older has exceeded the number of children aged 0 to 14 years. Given that Canada has made the epidemiological transition, what does this signify for health-care needs in the next few decades?

The United States has the most expensive health-care system in the world, yet a life expectancy that is the lowest among high-income countries.

As indicated in the textbook, what are the advantages of those with education, occupational status, income, and wealth?

According to the textbook, most Canadians consider individual behaviours like diet, smoking, exercise, and stress to be important. What is another important factor that gets relatively little consideration?

Explain and discuss the socioeconomic gradient in health.

From a sociological perspective, how do social inequalities lead to poorer health in disadvantaged groups?

Health risks are unevenly distributed in the population because of factors such as social class, race, ethnicity, and gender. Which claim follows from this statement?

According to the textbook, when determinants of health pertaining to individual behaviour (such as lifestyle) are identified as causes of negative health consequences, who or what gets blamed?

Olga is an 80-year-old woman living with constant pain caused by arthritis in her fingers and toes. She self-medicates with over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication (taken as recommended) and lives with her situation. What term best describes her ailment?

Why did well-to-do societal members tend to be less impacted by the Black Death plague of the 1300s?

According to the textbook, which of the following countries has the highest infant mortality rate?

What accounts for unevenly distributed health risks in the human population?

In 2013, which of the following did the American Medical Association officially recognize as being a disease?

People in higher classes experience higher levels of stress because they have to constantly work at preserving their wealth from economic uncertainty.

According to Talcott Parsons, what are the rights and obligations of the sick role? How might "acting the sick role" for a chronic illness (e.g., diabetes, arthritis, asthma) be less functional for both the individual and society?