Deck 10: Health Care Settings and Technologies

Question 1

Paid home health services are

A) most often used by poor persons.
B) generally provided by new doctors.
C) often provided by home health aides.
D) less common than in the past.
E) readily available at low cost.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

To assist families in caregiving, some wealthy nations provide

A) long-term paid leaves.
B) free or inexpensive assistance with domestic chores.
C) more assistance than the United States.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Timothy Diamond uses the phrase "commodification" to refer to the process of

A) thinking of nursing home residents and workers in economic terms.
B) purchasing goods for nursing homes.
C) thinking of nursing home residents and workers in medical terms.
D) hiring doctors for nursing homes.
E) investing nursing home funds in the commodities market.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following has contributed to the rise in home care?

A) the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill
B) the increasing complexity of medical technologies
C) financial incentives for hospitals to keep patients longer
D) the rising divorce rate
E) All of the above are causes.

Question 5

The cost of hospice care is

A) less expensive than hospital or nursing home care.
B) more expensive than nursing home care.
C) more expensive than hospital care.
D) about the same as hospital or nursing home care.
E) dropping due to the feminization of aging.

Question 6

Hospice care disproportionately serves

A) patients with cancer.
B) patients with AIDS.
C) patients with infectious diseases.
D) disabled individuals.
E) none of the above

Question 7

Modern US hospitals most commonly provide

A) long term care for the disabled.
B) long term care for the dying.
C) short term care for acute illness.
D) long term care for chronic illness.
E) none of the above

Question 8

Which of the following is true?

A) The majority of nursing homes are run on a for-profit basis.
B) Men are more likely than women to eventually need nursing home care.
C) Nursing homes now treat a healthier mix of patient than they did 20 years ago.
D) Since the passage of Medicare, the number of nursing homes has declined.
E) Nursing homes are staffed primarily by doctors.

Question 9

Respite care refers to

A) board and care homes.
B) skilled nursing homes.
C) any system designed to give caregivers a break from their responsibilities.
D) care grounded in a spirit of charity.
E) care given respectfully.

Question 10

Which of the following statements is true?

A) The majority of hospice patients have AIDS.
B) On average, those who use hospices report less satisfaction than those who use conventional care-providers.
C) Hospice care shifts costs to families and away from hospitals.
D) Hospices work primarily with those who have heart disease.
E) Hospices primarily serve lower class non-whites.

Question 11

Most hospice clients pay for their care

A) out of pocket.
B) through private insurance.
C) through family contributions.
D) with Medicare.
E) none of the above

Question 12

Which of the following is a result of commodification?

A) keeping nursing home residents strapped to chairs during the day
B) purchasing gourmet foods for nursing home residents
C) requiring nursing home residents to shower daily
D) increased drug use among nursing home staff
E) increased drug use among nursing home administrators

Question 13

Hospitals were first developed to

A) provide care for the "deserving" poor.
B) protect wealthy people from seeing poor, sick, homeless people.
C) deal with epidemics.
D) provide care for those with chronic illnesses.
E) generate profits for investors.

Question 14

During the first half of the nineteenth century, hospitals

A) provided care to all who needed it.
B) kept dying patients out of sight of other patients.
C) dramatically reduced mortality rates in urban America.
D) were generally chaotic and dirty.
E) generated large profits for investors.

Question 15

By the late nineteenth century,

A) doctors began pushing for access to hospital facilities for medical technology and surgery.
B) voluntary hospitals increasingly emphasized their commitment to serving the poor.
C) demographic changes had reduced the need for hospitals.
D) hospitals had become chaotic and dirty places.
E) most hospitals were owned by only a handful of corporations.

Question 16

Nursing assistants

A) are mostly white women.
B) must complete at least two years of study before entering practice.
C) are regarded by their employees primarily as unskilled workers, rather than as caregivers.
D) all of the above
E) a and b only

Question 17

In the Netherlands, doctors

A) can legally end a patient's life in certain circumstances.
B) who commit euthanasia may receive the death penalty.
C) can legally instruct a patient how to commit suicide painlessly, but cannot end the patient's life themselves.
D) who commit euthanasia can be tried for manslaughter but not for murder.
E) can legally end a patient's life only if they are psychiatrists.

Question 18

US citizens who need nursing home care

A) generally pay for it through Medicare.
B) are disproportionately African-American.
C) often become impoverished as a result.
D) cannot legally be moved to a lower-quality home if their funds run out.
E) are generally under age 65.

Question 19

Which of the following is not a technology?

A) Band-Aids
B) heart-lung machines
C) the process of blood transfusion
D) fruit salads with high vitamin C content
E) blood pressure machines

Question 20

In recent years, hospitals have

A) reduced the number of outpatient surgeries they perform.
B) shifted to treating an older and sicker mix of patients.
C) stopped serving as primary care providers for the poor.
D) abandoned the practice of patient dumping .
E) increasingly moved to nonprofit status.

Question 21

Based on your textbook, compare the experiences of individuals seeking medical treatment in three different time periods. Where would someone seek treatment? How would health care providers interact with a patient? How would race and class affect patients' experiences?

Question 22

Which of the following help explain why hospital care is often depersonalized?

A) Patients are often unable to talk when they enter the hospital.
B) Health care workers often derive much of their data about patients from machines, rather than by interacting directly with their patients.
C) Hospital schedules often don't reflect the natural rhythms of sick patients.
D) all of the above
E) a and a only

Question 23

Give an example of how medical technology shapes society, and of how society shapes medical technology.

Question 24

Given current knowledge about prostate cancer, doctors' support for prostate cancer screening seems an example of

A) depersonalization.
B) emotional detachment.
C) the technological imperative.
D) the emphasis on acute illness.
E) ethical conflicts.

Question 25

Imagine that you are the primary caregiver for a family member with a chronic condition. What would your day look like? Your week or your month? What are the benefits of being able to care for someone at home? What hardships might you face, and how might you do so?

Question 26

Which of the following is true?

A) Few 90-year-old American men have prostate cancer.
B) Prostate cancer kills most who develop it.
C) Treatment for prostate cancer causes few significant side-effects.
D) A nationwide prostate cancer detection and treatment program would reduce the national costs for the disease.
E) A nationwide detection and treatment program would increase the national costs of dealing with prostate cancer.

Question 27

The history of CPR illustrates

A) the scientific nature of medical practice.
B) Americans' discomfort with the inevitability of sudden death.
C) why doctors adopt cost-effective treatments.
D) Americans' preference for a quick and painless death.
E) the social construction of mediocrity.

Question 28

How does the profit motive affect the experiences of hospital patients and nursing home residents?

Question 29

What forces have led to the cooptation of hospices, and how does this cooptation affect users and potential users of hospices?

Question 30

According to sociologists, technology is

A) inherently bad and harmful.
B) inherently good and useful.
C) a blank slate, to be used in whatever way humans desire.
D) a force of its own, which humans cannot really control.
E) none of the above