Deck 9: Health and the Determinants of Health

Question 1

The most common chronic health problem among older people in Canada is

A) arthritis and rheumatism
B) migraine headaches
C) diabetes
D) ulcers
E) high blood pressure

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The ability to adapt to change and compensate for limitations is part of Canada's National Advisory Council on Aging's definition of

A) aging in place
B) assisted living
C) successful aging
D) internal locus of control
E) health and illness

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The most prevalent form of dementia is

A) dementia with Lewy Bodies
B) multi-infarct dementia
C) Alzheimer's Disease
D) HIV dementia complex
E) dementia associated with Parkinson's Disease

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Canada's first and only national study to establish the prevalence of dementia was called

A) the Canadian Study on Dementia
B) the Canadian Study on Older People
C) the Canadian Study on Health and Aging
D) the Canadian Study on Caregivers of People with Dementia
E) the Canadian Study on Health and Chronic Diseases

Question 5

The Canadian Study on Health and Aging established that the prevalence of dementia among those aged 65 and over in Canada was

A) 1 to 3 percent
B) 6 to 8 percent
C) 15 to 20 percent
D) 25 to 30 percent
E) over 45 percent

Question 6

The Canadian Study on Health and Aging found that _____ of older adults who suffer from dementia live in a long-term care facility.

A) one-quarter
B) one-third
C) one-half
D) two-thirds
E) three-quarters

Question 7

While older Canadians are far more likely than younger Canadians to suffer from physical illnesses and conditions

A) they experience psychological well-being; but they are often unhappier than young adults
B) they experience poor psychological well-being; but they are often happier than young adults
C) they experience poor psychological well-being; and they are often unhappier than young adults
D) they experience psychological well-being; in fact, they are often happier than young adults
E) they experience psychological well-being; but are about as happy as young adults

Question 8

Health has traditionally been defined in terms of

A) the absence of illness
B) the absence of disease
C) the presence of wellness
D) the presence of well-being
E) enhanced quality of life

Question 9

Which of the following relates to changes in specific organs of the body caused by pathogenic agents, such as germs?

A) health
B) wellness
C) sickness
D) illness
E) disease

Question 10

All but which of the following are true of the biomedical or mechanistic model

A) each disease has a particular cause or specific etiology
B) disease is related to changes in specific organs caused by pathogenic agents
C) disease is viewed as objective
D) considers how older people experience illness
E) disease constitutes deviation from normal biological functioning

Question 11

Wellness is often spoken of as including a level of fitness. This level of fitness may refer to

A) only physical fitness
B) only mental fitness
C) only mental and social fitness
D) only physical and mental fitness
E) physical, mental, and social fitness

Question 12

Population health involves a multidimensional approach to health and encompasses

A) a societal rather than an individual focus
B) an individual rather than a societal focus
C) only those who are healthy
D) only those who are not healthy
E) individual level health data

Question 13

Why are we much better at measuring sickness than wellness?

A) the traditional emphasis on biomedical disease
B) the traditional emphasis on social fitness
C) the traditional emphasis on being healthy
D) the traditional emphasis on popular beliefs
E) the traditional emphasis on physical fitness

Question 14

According to the World Health Organization, the definition of health should take into account

A) only subjective feelings
B) only physical state
C) subjective feelings and physical state
D) lay beliefs and physical state
E) subjective feelings and lay beliefs

Question 15

Men compared to women are

A) more willing to admit to being sick
B) more willing to accept help in dealing with their health problems
C) more likely to discuss their health problems freely
D) less likely to seek help from a health professional
E) less likely to deny experiencing symptoms of disease and illness

Question 16

The feminist perspective has been critical of the biomedical model for all but which of the following reasons

A) it does not take the whole person into account
B) it includes social, psychological and spiritual factors
C) it privileges the expertise of physicians
D) it discounts the feelings and experiential knowledge of women
E) it does not recognize women's contributions to health as informal caregivers

Question 17

In old age, some people become debilitated, with the coexistence of several chronic conditions. This is known as

A) old age
B) chronological age
C) disability
D) independency
E) frailty

Question 18

Aging in place refers to

A) people wanting to live in one house for their entire lives
B) people in later middle years and early old age wanting to be moved from their current location to a more manageable facility
C) people preferring not to stay in their own homes as they age
D) older people wanting to move into a long-term care facility to age
E) people preferring to stay in their own homes as they age

Question 19

An example of personal health determinants is

A) health beliefs
B) social environment
C) gender
D) race
E) social support

Question 20

All but which of the following are examples of structural determinants of health?

A) gender
B) race
C) beliefs
D) social support
E) unemployment

Question 21

Scientific, modern and expert sources of knowledge fall within which type of interpretive framework for explaining health and illness?

A) professional
B) popular
C) professional and popular
D) theoretical
E) clinical

Question 22

Nonscientific, traditional, and lay sources of knowledge, fall within which type of interpretive framework for explaining health and illness?

A) professional
B) popular
C) professional and popular
D) theoretical
E) clinical

Question 23

An older person experiences muscle pain and fatigue. When asked, the older person explains these symptoms are a result of bad weather. This person is drawing on which type of interpretation?

A) scientific
B) modern
C) expert
D) professional
E) popular

Question 24

An older person experiences muscle pain and fatigue. When asked, the older person explains these symptoms are a result of a flare-up of a chronic condition. This person is drawing on which type of interpretation?

A) traditional
B) non-scientific
C) lay
D) medical
E) popular

Question 25

Home remedies such as having chicken soup to feel better, not sleeping with the window open to avoid getting sick, and not getting wet to avoid catching a cold, are examples of

A) medical explanations
B) expert opinion
C) lay beliefs
D) professional framework for illness interpretation
E) scientific evidence

Question 26

An older person who has personal or self-control beliefs that emphasize personal mastery of health and illness has

A) an external locus of control
B) an internal locus of control
C) a split locus of control
D) a shared locus of control
E) a personal locus of control

Question 27

An older person who focuses on faith in health care professionals and chance outcomes where health is beyond all control, would be considered to have

A) an external locus of control
B) an internal locus of control
C) a split locus of control
D) a shared locus of control
E) a personal locus of control

Question 28

The health locus of control relates to which health belief?

A) susceptibility
B) controllability
C) seriousness
D) changeability
E) permeability

Question 29

According to the host response or general susceptibility hypothesis it suggests that

A) individuals who are not particularly susceptible to illness, can be treated or cured much faster when they do develop an illness
B) individuals who are not susceptible to illness will not develop the same illness after it has been treated the first time
C) individuals who are susceptible to illness will develop another illness after the first is treated or cured
D) individuals who are susceptible to illness in general will develop a resistance to other illnesses
E) individuals who are less susceptible to illness will experience fewer illnesses over the life course

Question 30

The research suggests that that while many adults believe that a change in personal lifestyle choices would improve their health and well-being

A) the proportion decreases with age
B) the proportion increases with age
C) the proportion remains the same with age
D) with age, men are less likely to perceive a benefit than women
E) research in this area has not been conducted with older people

Question 31

The research suggests that older adults living with chronic conditions typically report _____ health.

A) very poor
B) poor
C) deteriorating
D) good
E) improving

Question 32

Performing activities related to the interpretation of symptoms experienced, and taking action in response to this condition, refers to

A) illness behaviour
B) health protective behaviours
C) health behaviour
D) self-health management
E) self-care

Question 33

Any activity or behaviour we routinely engage in that is intended to protect, promote, or maintain one's health refers to

A) illness behaviour
B) sickness behaviour
C) health protective behaviour
D) self-health management
E) self-care

Question 34

General activities that we do or routinely engage in, including both health protective behaviours and illness-treatment activities, refer to

A) illness behaviour
B) health protective behaviours
C) health behaviour
D) self-health management
E) self-care

Question 35

Any behaviours that are lay-initiated through a process of self-determination refers to

A) illness behaviour
B) health protective behaviours
C) health behaviour
D) self-health management
E) self-care

Question 36

All but which of the following are examples of personal health practices?

A) good nutrition
B) exercise
C) smoking
D) alcohol consumption
E) socio-economic status

Question 37

Which of the following personal health practices are positively related to health?

A) exercise
B) poor nutrition
C) smoking
D) over-use of medications
E) poor sleeping habits

Question 38

Research suggests that some health behaviours change with age. For example, the use of medications

A) decreases with age
B) increases with age
C) stays the same with age
D) increases for those aged 65 to 74 and then decreases among those 85 and over
E) stays the same for those aged 65 to 74 and increases among those 85 and over

Question 39

In Prince Edward Island, researchers asked a number of groups about the determinants of health. When asked to rank where resources should be shifted in order to improve health, what did the public rank second?

A) personal health practices
B) healthy child development
C) physical environment
D) formal health care
E) pollution control

Question 40

Most research has been unable to confirm the existence of personal health behaviour clusters, with one exception of a moderate correlation between

A) exercise and eating nutritious meals
B) eating nutritious meals and getting enough sleep
C) smoking and drinking
D) smoking and medication use
E) exercise and seeking health care services

Question 41

Social structure is a determinant of health. All but which of the following are examples of social structural variables?

A) socioeconomic position
B) age
C) gender
D) race
E) coping

Question 42

Income, education and /or occupation are often used to measure

A) social class
B) social gradient
C) social support
D) social coherence
E) social relations

Question 43

The research has demonstrated a clear relationship between social class and health:

A) those of lower social class have better health than those of higher social class
B) those of higher social class have poorer health than those of lower social class
C) those of higher social class have better health than those of lower social class
D) social class and health are related but the relationship is unclear
E) social class and health are unrelated

Question 44

The concept of social gradient suggests

A) those with more socioeconomic resources than others, regardless of how high up they are in the social hierarchy, experience more ill health
B) those with fewer socioeconomic resources than others, experience more ill health, once they reach below a particular income threshold
C) regardless of socioeconomic resources, once you attain a certain education level, you are more likely to experience better health
D) those with more socioeconomic resources than others, experience better health once they reach above a certain income threshold
E) those with fewer socioeconomic resources than others, regardless of how high up they are in the social hierarchy, experience more ill health

Question 45

The notion that those on the second-highest rung of society are in better health than those on the third-highest rung, but in worse health than those on the highest rung refers to the concept of

A) social class
B) social gradient
C) social support
D) social coherence
E) socio-economic position

Question 46

Some scholars have suggested that redistributive justice is key to improving a society's health. This refers to

A) wealth and prosperity
B) increasing educational opportunities
C) ensuring that a country's wealth is shared by those less fortunate
D) ensuring that a country's wealth is not shared equally
E) distributing a country's wealth based on contributions to society

Question 47

Typically, being a member of an ethnic minority is

A) highly correlated with poor health
B) highly correlated with good health
C) slightly correlated with poor health
D) slightly correlated with good health
E) not correlated with health

Question 48

Rates for which of the following are higher among Aboriginal populations than that of Canadians as a whole?

A) smoking only
B) diabetes only
C) tuberculosis only
D) smoking and diabetes only
E) smoking, diabetes and tuberculosis

Question 49

The health promotion perspective recognizes _____ factors-that is, psychosocial and environmental factors as influencing our health.

A) downstream
B) slipstream
C) upstream
D) preceding
E) broad

Question 50

The approach which embraces a set of principles for examining interdependencies between individual and aggregate manifestations of health problems is known as

A) social ecological
B) social structural
C) social agency
D) social psychological
E) blaming the victim

Question 51

In general, older women suffer more chronic health conditions than older men.

Question 52

There is no distinction between disease and illness.

Question 53

There is some evidence that social structural factors, such as caregiving and social support are strong determinants of health for women, compared to personal health practices, such as smoking and alcohol consumption for men.

Question 54

The lay public often draws on both professional and popular belief systems for understanding health and illness.

Question 55

Many older adults normalize symptoms they experience as simply part of the normal aging process.

Question 56

How does the concept of successful aging relate to health and well-being in older age?

Question 57

Define health, wellness, sickness, disease and illness. What has been the role of the World Health Organization in conceptualizing "health"?

Question 58

What is meant by population health? How does it differ from individual health?

Question 59

Discuss the gender differences with respect to adopting the sick role. How has the feminist perspective shaped our understanding of health and illness?

Question 60

Describe the differences between the professional versus the popular framework for explaining health and illness. Give examples of each, and illustrate how the lay public draws on both belief systems.

Question 61

What does the research suggest about age-related differences for locus of control?

Question 62

Contrast what is meant by illness versus positive health behaviour, and self-health management versus self-care. Define each concept and give examples to illustrate the distinction between these terms.

Question 63

What is meant by self-care? How does this concept fit within the traditional medical model? What is the role of self-care among older adults and why is it important?

Question 64

What is meant by social structure as a determinant of health? Discuss the importance of social class, the social gradient, and redistributive justice.

Question 65

What is meant by a health promotion perspective? Briefly discuss this perspective, and how health promotion perspectives have changed over time.

Question 66

Discuss the environment, both physical and social, as a determinant of health. Define each determinant and give examples. What is assisted living? What role has it played in allowing people to "age in place"?

Question 67

Offer some examples of positive and negative personal health practices. What are the trends in both practices among Canada's older population? Identify and briefly describe the postulated clusters of health protective behaviours. Discuss the nature of the research surrounding these clusters.

Question 68

Choose an area of interest within gerontology. Using specific examples, discuss how different determinants influence health.

Question 69

Discuss how cultural minority status may influence how health experienced. Using examples, illustrate how health experiences differ by cultural minority status.

Question 70

How is health traditionally been defined? How did the World Health Organization alter this definition? Discuss the links between the World Health Organization and the health promotion perspective. What is the importance of an "upstream" approach? What role does agency play in this perspective, and how has the concept of agency changed in this perspective over time?