Chapter 3: Health, illness, and disparities.

An example of a characteristic of Stage 2 of illness is

A person tells his family that he is sick and allows them to take care of him. Stage 2 is when a person defines their self as sick, seeks validation of this experience, gives up on normal activities and assumes a sick role.

What is an example of the sociocultural dimension influencing a person's health-illness status?

A single mother of two applies for food stamps in order to feed her family. The socioculture dimension refers to health practices and beliefs that are strongly influence by a person's economic level, lifestyle, family and culture. In general, low-income groups are less likely to seek medical care to prevent illness, and high-income groups are more prone to stress-related habits and illness.

An exacerbation refers to the reactivation of a disease. What is an example of conditions associated with exacerbation?

Chronic illness. Exacerbation s the increase in activity of a disease and aggravation of symptoms. This occurs periodically in clients with chronic diseases.

The definition of chronic conditions can be complex. Which factors would you expect to be included in the definition of chronic conditions? Select all that apply

Diseases where complete cures are rare. Diseases that do not resolve spontaneously. Diseases that have a prolonged course. (Chronic conditions can also be defined as illnesses or diseases that have a prolonged course, that do not resolve spontaneously, and for which complete cures are unlikely or rare.)

The nursing student shits their pants (diarrhea) before tests understands that this is not a healthy behavior. The student is aware that this negative effect can impact overall health. The nurse recognizes that this student needs to focus on which dimension of health?

Emotional dimension. How the mind affects body functions and responds to body conditions also influences health. Long term stress affects body systems, and anxiety affects health habits.

Risk factors for illness are divided into six categories. Working with carcinogenic chemicals is an example of which type of risk factor?

Environmental risk factor. Working and living environments may contribute to disease. Working with cancer-causing chemicals is an example of an environmental risk factor for illness.

What is Stage1 illness behavior?

Experiencing symptoms

The nurse practitioner is discussing health promotion with a group of senior nursing students. What would be an example of secondary health promotion?

Family counseling. Secondary health promotion and illness prevention focus on screening for early detection of disease with prompt diagnosis and treatment of those found; this includes emotional issues, making family counseling the correct answer.

What is primary care or health promotion?

Focusses on prevention of the disease. Immunization clinics, poison-control information, accident prevention education.

What is secondary care or health promotion?

Focusses on screening for early detection of disease with prompt diagnosis. Assessing children for normal growth and development, encouraging regular medical, dental, and vision examinations.

A community health nurse arranges for a dental checkup camp for the local children in the school district. Which of the following would most likely be the nurse's goal for this health camp?

Health promotion. The education on lifestyle choices is part of health promotion activity, which focuses on protecting the person's health.

What is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity?

Health. The WHO defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

What is the health promotion model?

How people interact with their environment as they pursue health. Individual characteristics, experiences as well as behavior-specific knowledge and beliefs, to motivate health-promoting behavior.

A group of students is reviewing the various levels of illness prevention. The students demonstrate understanding when they identify which of the following as a goal of tertiary prevention of illness?

Minimizing complications. The goal of tertiary prevention of illness is to minimize complications and maximize function.

The nurse is giving a talk to a local community group on the harms of smoking. The nurse tells the group that a risk factor is something that increases a person's chances for illness or injury. What type of risk factor is smoking?

Modifiable. Risk factors are defined as modifiable (things a person can change, such as quitting smoking) and nonmodifiable (things that cannot be changed, such as family history of cancer).

While providing client care, a nurse determines that a client adheres to the health belief model. What would show a need to assess as a factor possibly affecting the client's response to illness?

Personality characteristics. The health belief model provides insight into the connection between the way a person sees his or her state of health, and that person's response to health, illness, and treatment. According to the health belief model, personality characteristics affect the person's response to illness.

What are the human dimensions?

Physical dimension (genetic inheritance, age, developmental level, race, and gender), Emotional dimension (how mind affects body functions and responds to body conditions), Intellectual dimension (cognitive abilities, educational background, and past experiences), Environmental dimension ( Housing, sanitation, climate, pollution of air, food, and water), Sociocultural dimension (economic level, lifestyle, family, culture), Spiritual dimension (Spiritual beliefs and values), Self-concept (how they feel about themselves-self-esteem, the way they perceive their physical self-body image).

What level of prevention is noted when the nurse educates a group of mothers of school-age children on self-breast examinations?

Primary prevention. Primary prevention focuses on the health of a person with the goal of preventing disease or illness. Self-breast examination education is primary prevention.

Your community outreach class is giving a presentation on seat belts and child safety seats at the local firehouse every weekend in October. What level of health promotion is this an example of?

Primary. Primary health promotion and illness prevention is directed toward promoting good health and preventing the development of disease process or injury. Primary level activities include immunization clinics, providing poison-control information, and education about seat belt and child-safety seat use.

What are the factors influencing health disparities?

Racial and ethnic groups, poverty, gender/age, mental health, education level, disabilities, sexual orientation, health insurance, and access to health care.

What is an example of tertiary health promotion?

Rehabilitation. Tertiary health promotion and disease prevention begins after an illness is diagnosed and treated to reduce disability and to help rehabilitate patients to a maximum level of functioning.

A woman over the age of 40 years has an annual mammogram. What level of prevention does this represent?

Secondary prevention. Secondary prevention includes screening for those at risk to develop illness, or those who could be diagnosed early in the process, and receive prompt treatment.

What is basic human needs?

Something essential that must be met for emotional and physiologic health and survival.

A nurse is caring for a female client age 17 years whose left leg was amputated after being crushed in a motor vehicle accident. Which of the following interventions might the nurse perform to accommodate the client's intellectual dimension?

Teaching her how to care for the stump and explaining the rehabilitation program. The intellectual dimension encompasses cognitive abilities, educational background and past experiences. These influence responses to teaching about health, and reactions to nursing care during illness. They also play a major role in health behaviors.

The nurse is teaching a client with diabetes, who is frequently admitted to the hospital due to elevated blood sugars, how to better control the blood sugar level and recognize the symptoms associated with both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. This teaching is an example of which level of health promotion?

Tertiary. Tertiary health promotion and illness prevention begin after the illness is diagnosed and treated, with the goal of reducing disability and helping to rehabilitate to a maximum level of functioning.

Which model is most useful in examining the cause of disease in an individual, based upon external factors?

The Agent-host-environment model. The agent-host-environment is useful for examining the cause of disease in an individual. The agent, host and environment interact in ways that create risk factors. The health-illness continuum is a way to measure a person's level of health. The high-level wellness model is characterized by functioning to one's maximum potential while maintaining balance and purposeful direction in the environment. The health belief model is used to describe health behaviors.

What is Agent-host-environment model?

The interaction between an external agent, a susceptible host, and the environment that causes of disease in a person.

A client arrives at a health care facility complaining of pain in the abdomen and diarrhea. The physician diagnoses the client with colitis, an acute illness. Why is colitis considered an acute illness?

The onset is sudden. Acute illnesses affect a person for a short duration and are cured in a short time. Acute illnesses are not difficult to treat and are curable. Chronic illnesses have a gradual onset and require a longer period to be cured if even possible.

What is the health-illness continuum?

This model views health as a constantly changing state. With high-level wellness and death at opposite ends of a graduated scale, or continuum.

The nursing class has just learned that healthy people 2020 focuses on health disparities. National trends in efforts to prevent these disparities focus on which of the following groups? Select all that apply.

Vulnerable populations. Those living in poverty. Women. Older adults. People with disabilities. Men are not a focus.

A nurse has chose to characterize a new initiative as "wellness promotion" rather than "health promotion." What is the difference between the concept of wellness and the concept of health?

Wellness is an active state, whereas health is more passive state dependent on the absence of disease

What is the health belief model?

What people perceive or believe to be true about themselves in relation to their health.

What is health?

a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

What is wellness?

an active state of being healthy by living a lifestyle promoting good physical, mental, and emotional health

What is Illness?

the unique response of a person to a disease; an abnormal process involving changed level of functioning

What is Stage4 illness behavior?

Achieving recovery and rehabilitation.

A client comes to the emergency room complaining of abdominal pain, fever, chills, and nausea. Upon further examination the client is diagnosed with appendicitis. What type of illness does the nurse identify this client to have?

Acute. Acute illness has a rapid onset and lasts only a short time.

What is tertiary care or health promotion?

After an illness is diagnosed and treated, with the goal of reducing disability and helping rehabilitate patients to a maximum level of functioning.

A rapid onset of symptoms that lasts a relatively short time indicates what health problem?

An acute illness. An acute illness generally has a rapid onset of symptoms and lasts a relatively short period of time. If medical care is required, a specific treatment with medications or surgery usually returns the person to normal functioning.

What is Stage3 illness behavior?

Assuming a dependent role

What is Stage2 illness behavior?

Assuming the sick role

A client makes a decision to quit smoking and joins a smoking cessation class. This is an example of which of Dunn's processes that help a person know who and what he or she is?

Befitting. Dunn defined processes that help a person know who and what he or she is. These processes, which are a part of each indiviual's perception of his or her own wellness state, are being (recognizing self as separate and individual), belonging (being part of a whole), becoming (growing and developing), and befitting (making personal choices to befit the self for the future)