Deck 10: Health Care: Problems of Physical and Mental Illness

Question 1

Infant mortality is higher in the United States than in a number of other developed nations.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Acute diseases gradually develop and cause incapacitation and may lead to death.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

People with AIDS do not die of AIDS.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Mental disorders are not very costly to the nation.

Question 5

Deinstitutionalization moved people onto the streets and into the jails.

Question 6

People in the United States pay more for health services than people in other developed nations.

Question 7

The likelihood of being covered by health insurance increases with income.

Question 8

Women continue to be underrepresented in the field of medicine today.

Question 9

The failure of researchers to include women in their research results in differential medical treatment for women.

Question 10

As a result of the development of the Affordable Care Act, citizens now have equal access to health care, regardless of race, class, or gender.

Question 11

According to life expectancy rates, which group has the longest life expectancy?

A) black males
B) white males
C) black females
D) white females

Question 12

The infant mortality rate is

A) the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births in a given year.
B) not an important indication of a society's level of preventive/prenatal care.
C) considerably lower in the U.S. compared to a number of other high-income nations.
D) about the same for African Americans and whites.

Question 13

Chronic diseases

A) are illnesses that strike suddenly and cause dramatic incapacitation and sometimes death.
B) are illnesses that are long term or lifelong and that develop gradually or are present from birth.
C) have decreased in the U.S.
D) do not affect life expectancy.

Question 14

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Chronic diseases are ones that a society has a difficult time eradicating, such as cholera, tetanus, typhoid, and malaria.
B) Acute diseases still common in the United States today include chicken pox and influenza.
C) High-income nations have seen a greater decline in deaths from chronic diseases than from acute diseases.
D) Many acute diseases can be attributed to the manufacturers of illness.

Question 15

Disability

A) is a restricted ability to perform certain activities due to physical limitations or the interplay of limitations, social responses, and environment.
B) is an illness that is long term or lifelong and that develops gradually or is present from birth.
C) is an illness that strikes suddenly and causes dramatic incapacitation and sometimes death.
D) refers only to mental disorders.

Question 16

Which of the following statements regarding AIDS is true?

A) A controversial cure for AIDS was developed in 1990.
B) Once HIV develops into AIDS, it eventually is fatal.
C) Newer anti-HIV medications cannot control the reproduction of the virus.
D) Newer anti-HIV medications cannot slow the progression of HIV-related disease.

Question 17

How is AIDS transmitted?

A) AIDS is transmitted through routine contact such as handshakes and hugging.
B) AIDS is transmitted primarily through bodily fluids.
C) AIDS is transmitted by sharing eating utensils.
D) AIDS is transmitted by any kind of physical contact with an infected person.

Question 18

According to the textbook, some social scientists argue that the growth rates of obesity are due to

A) wealth and excess.
B) poverty leading to lack of proper nutrition.
C) the proliferation of processed foods and fast food restaurants.
D) genes.

Question 19

Although most social scientists use the terms mental illness and mental disorder interchangeably, many medical professionals distinguish between the two. How do medical professionals make this distinction?

A) A mental disorder is a condition that makes it difficult or impossible for a person to cope with everyday life.
B) A mental illness is a condition that makes it difficult or impossible for a person to cope with everyday life.
C) A mental disorder is a condition that requires extensive treatment with medication, psychotherapy, and sometimes hospitalization.
D) Mental illness affects large numbers of people while mental disorders only affect a few people.

Question 20

The highest rate of serious mental illness among U.S. adults is for persons ages

A) 18-25.
B) 26-39.
C) 40-59.
D) 60-75.

Question 21

Direct costs associated with mental disorders include

A) lost earnings of individuals.
B) costs associated with homelessness.
C) prices of medications.
D) costs associated with incarceration.

Question 22

Deinstitutionalization

A) refers to the practice of discharging patients from mental hospitals into the community.
B) has proven to be a solution for the problem of "warehousing" mentally-ill patients.
C) often included committing people to psychiatric hospitals without their consent.
D) has increased the number of mentally ill patients in psychiatric hospitals.

Question 23

A place where people are isolated from the rest of society for a period of time and come under the complete control of the officials who run the institution is a

A) medical-industrial complex.
B) halfway house.
C) total institution.
D) managed care system.

Question 24

With regard to race and mental disorders, which of the following statements is true?

A) Racial hostility affects the psychological well-being of African Americans but not that of whites.
B) Racial hostility affects the psychological well-being of African Americans and whites.
C) Racial hostility affects the psychological well-being of lower class African Americans but not African Americans of any other social class.
D) The research findings regarding the effects of racial hostility on the well-being of African Americans and whites cannot be determined.

Question 25

Most studies of the relationship between mental illness and immigration status have found that

A) the later the age of immigration, the later the onset of any psychiatric disorders.
B) the earlier the age of immigration, the later the onset of any psychiatric disorders.
C) the later the age of immigration, the earlier the onset of any psychiatric disorders.
D) there is no correlation between the age of immigration and the onset of psychiatric disorders.

Question 26

Analysts using the social stress framework to examine mental disorders believe that

A) mental disorders cause people to drift downward in class position.
B) mental disorders are present equally in all classes.
C) stresses associated with lower-class life lead to greater mental disorders.
D) racism is a mental disorder.

Question 27

Which of the following statements regarding gender and mental disorders is true?

A) Diagnosable depression typically emerges in adulthood for both males and females.
B) The rate of diagnosable depression is about twice as high for females compared to that of males.
C) The rate of diagnosable depression is higher for females than for males during their adolescent years but this rate evens out as both males and females enter adulthood.
D) The rate of diagnosable depression is higher for males than for females during their adolescent years but this rate evens out as both males and females enter adulthood.

Question 28

According to the text, the learned helplessness theory

A) is based on the idea that people become depressed when they think they have no control over their lives.
B) is embraced by feminist theorists who believe that women sometimes contribute to their own helplessness.
C) supports research findings that women in high-income, high-status jobs experience lower levels of psychological well-being because of work-related pressures and stress.
D) is embraced by feminist theorists who believe that the powerlessness in women's lives is an objective condition.

Question 29

A comparison of U.S. and Canadian health care shows that

A) Canadians never see a medical bill or health care form.
B) Canadians have less access to health care than U.S. citizens.
C) the cost of health care has increased in Canada.
D) Canada has not been influenced by new medical technology to the extent that the United States has.

Question 30

A comparison of U.S. and Swedish health care shows that

A) the costs of health care have remained consistent in Sweden while the costs of health care have skyrocketed in the U.S.
B) all physicians in Sweden are salaried employees of the government.
C) Sweden provides a national health care system for all of its citizens regardless of nationality.
D) the costs of health care have declined in Sweden while the costs of health care have skyrocketed in the U.S.

Question 31

The U.S. health care system before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act was best described as

A) a universal health care system.
B) a government subsidized system.
C) a fee-for-service system.
D) a health prevention system.

Question 32

Which of the following statements regarding health maintenance organizations (HMOs) is true?

A) HMOs typically work on a fee-for-services basis.
B) HMOs typically emphasize prevention because they hope to avoid costly treatments later.
C) Recent competition from preferred provider organizations (PPOs) caused most HMOs to stop requiring that their patients use only doctors and hospitals affiliated with the HMO.
D) HMOs operate on a non-profit basis, whereas PPOs and other health care organizations are profit-making, capitalistic endeavors.

Question 33

Cost containment in health care is often referred to as

A) socialized medicine.
B) health maintenance organizations.
C) managed care.
D) centralized medicine.

Question 34

Which of the following statements regarding public health insurance is true?

A) Medicare is a medical entitlement program for the elderly while Medicaid is a medical welfare system for the poor.
B) Medicare is a medical welfare system for the poor while Medicaid is a medical entitlement program for the elderly.
C) Medicaid is based primarily on age while Medicare provides medical, hospital, and long term care for people who are poor and either aged, blind, disabled, or pregnant.
D) Medicare is funded by federal and state governments whereas Medicaid is funded by people's payments into the Social Security system.

Question 35

The U.S. financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the slow recovery in the aftermath of the Great Recession have contributed to the number of uninsured due to affected

A) employment rates.
B) private insurance rates.
C) medical costs.
D) Medicaid spending.

Question 36

According to the functionalist approach, problems in U.S. health care are caused by

A) the dominant societal perspective that views medicine as a commodity to be bought and sold.
B) structural changes in society, such as the development of medical technology, physician overspecialization, increasingly limited health insurance protections, and higher demands for health care by consumers.
C) social and cultural factors influencing how people define physical illness and mental illness.
D) poor doctor-patient interactions in health care settings.

Question 37

Which perspective asserts that the most important way to change health care is to have the government provide and regulate it?

A) functionalist
B) conflict
C) feminist
D) symbolic interactionist

Question 38

According to symbolic interactionists, the communication problem in medicine might be solved by

A) increasing the number of family practice doctors because they focus on patient care.
B) encouraging medical students to become highly specialized so that they can provide more details for patients regarding their illness and the medical procedures they will experience.
C) viewing health care as a right, and encouraging people to seek alternative medical treatments.
D) considering race, class, and gender.

Question 39

After chain-smoking for 20 years, Dana was diagnosed with lung cancer. She is suffering from

A) an acute disease.
B) a chronic disease.
C) a congenital disease.
D) a genetic disease.

Question 40

Mary tried to achieve upward social mobility to move out of the inner-city projects by graduating high school and trying to get into college. However, when she was not accepted, she was forced to get a low-wage job because she did not have many skills. She realized after holding this job for a period of time that she was not only stuck in a low-wage job but also a dead-end job. This resulted in severe depression because she no longer felt that she had any control over her life. This is an example of

A) an objective condition.
B) learned helplessness.
C) powerlessness.
D) fear of success.

Question 41

Explain why health care in the U.S. has been heavily criticized.

Question 42

Compare and contrast public and private health insurance. Describe the extent to which U.S. citizens do not have health insurance. Explain why a large percentage of U.S. citizens do not have health insurance, including the groups who are least likely and most likely to have health insurance.

Question 43

Describe how the treatment of mental illness changed during the twentieth century. Explain in detail the extent to which the changes were for better or worse.

Question 44

Briefly describe the functionalist perspective of illness. Define and explain the concept of the sick role. Point out weaknesses in this perspective.

Question 45

What first step do you think should be taken in overhauling and improving the U.S. healthcare system? Do you agree with any functionalist, conflict, or symbolic interactionist solutions? If so, which ones? If not, why?