SOC 381 Midterm vocab
Iatrogenic disease
A condition that is caused by a drug or medical treatment, or somehow induced by a doctor
Mediator
A factor that explains a disparity and comes between the group and the outcome in the flow chart (ex. Gender —> education —> diabetes)
Medicaid
A federally funded, state operated program of medical assistance to people with low incomes, authorized by Title XIX of the Social Security Act
Munchausen's Disorder
A person repeatedly presents to hospitals with symptoms suggestive of serious physical illness. Patients may simulate signs/symptoms in bizarre ways. Complaints of abdominal symptoms are most common. Thought to be form of hysterical behaviour in a severely disordered personality; masochistic; and attention-seeking.
Medicare
A social health insurance program started by the national government that helps pay healthcare expenses for people over the age of 65 or with certain disabilities
WHO definition of health
A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
Homeopathy
A system of alternative medicine founded by Hahnemann at the end of the 18th c.. It is based upon the theory that diseases are curable by those drugs which produce effects on the body similar to symptoms caused by the disease. In administering drugs, the theory is also held that their effect is increased by giving them in minute doses obtained by substantially diluting them, sometimes to the point that they are undetectable. There is no convincing evidence for its value beyond the PLACEBO effect, despite its popularity.
Osteopathy
A system of medicine historically based on the theory that disease is caused by impaired functional integrity and is resorted by manipulation. Contemporary osteopaths rely more heavily on the use of medications and surgery than upon body adjustments. It's recognized as a standard method of medical and surgical care.
Employer-sponsored insurance (ESI)
A system originating in the 1930s in which insurance coverage is provided to employees, and, in some cases, their spouses and children, as benefits of a job.
Flexner Report (1910)
American medical school review that outlined shortcomings and recommended closing all but two black schools, helping to cement an educational system that was separate, unequal, and destined to be insufficient to needs of black peoples nationwide.
Food desert
An area in a developed country where healthy food is difficult to obtain
Illness representation
An organized set of beliefs regarding how the illness affects the body and likely impacts on life experiences
Fringe benefits
Any financial extras beyond the regular pay check, such as health insurance, life insurance, paid vacation and/or retirement
-iactric
Anything pertaining to a doctor
Idiopathic
Applied to diseases on a case by case level to indicate that their cause is unknown
Fundamental cause theory
Argues that even though the common diseases and their causes may change over time and place, in each situation those with greater access to resources will experience better health because those resources help protect their health.
Food swamp
Communities that are flooded with unhealthy, highly processed, low-nutrient food combined with disproportionate advertising for unhealthy food compared to wealthier neighborhoods; have a stronger effect on obesity rates than deserts.
Disease
Condition marked by subjective complaints, a specific history, clinical signs/symptoms, and laboratory/radiographic findings. Disease and illness differ in that disease is usually objective and measurable, whereas illness is subjective and personal. Thus, a person may have a serious but symptom-free disease (such as hypertension) without illness. Conversely, a person may be extremely ill (i.e. PTSD) but have no obvious evidence of disease.
Morbidity
Condition of being diseased
Moderator
Descriptions that give context to a disparity and comes before the group and outcome in the flow chart (ex. Black/white —> gender —> diabetes)
Malingering
Feigning illness for an external purpose, such as getting out of work.
Premium
Monthly payments made to keep your insurance account
Telomeres
Non-coding, repetitive nucleotide segments (protective caps) on the ends of each chromosome that serve a protective role during DNA transcription; their length has been studied in relation to stress.
Nocebo effects
Occurs when negative expectations of the patient regarding treatment cause the treatment to have a more negative effect than it otherwise would have; definitions typically focus on the role of negative expectations in producing aversive outcomes
Nosocomial
Pertaining to or occurring in a healthcare setting
Obesogenic
Promoting or contributing to obesity
Common-sense model of (the self regulation of) illness
Specifies that individuals hold mental representations of their illnesses that include beliefs about the identity, cause, timeline, consequences, cure/controllability, and cause of their condition
SLEs
Stressful life events
Deductible
The amount of money that you have to pay for healthcare services, other than preventive care, before the insurance company shares the cost
Somatization
The expression of a mental condition as a disturbance in bodily function
Out-of-pocket maximum
The most amount of money you will have to pay for healthcare over a year period.
Golden age of doctoring
The post-WWII period characterized by miracle drugs and surgical innovation when physicians were supported by strong professional organizations and were at the pinnacle of the healthcare field.
Cumulative advantage hypothesis
The process by which initial comparative advantages in a certain domain beget subsequent advantages that systematically widen differences over time (poor get poorer).
Comorbidity
The simultaneous presence of two or more clinical diseases or conditions in a patient, not always related
Prestige hierarchy
The social ranking of certain diseases and speciality medical fields according to perceived severity
Nosology
The term applied to scientific classification of diseases
Allopathy
a derogatory term applied sometimes by homeopaths to the methods used by registered practitioners of medicine and surgery
Allostatic load
the cumulative dysregulation of biological systems with prolonged or poorly regulated allostatic responses
Allostasis
the dynamic, adaptive regulatory process that maintains homeostasis during exposure to physical and behavioral stressors, balancing levels of biological conditions that vary according to individual's needs