Health Communication Ch. 6, 7, & 8
One implication of intersectionality theory:
That social position is not simply the sum total of different identities
Power Distance
The degree to which they differ to people of greater power or status
Overinforming
forcing information on people when they are too distraught to understand it or accept it
Central function of social support:
increasing a person's sense of control
Qi
one's central life energy
Communication Accommodation Theory
people tend to mirror each other's communication styles to display liking and respect
Action-Facilitating
performing tasks and collecting information
Yin and Yang
polar energies whose cyclical forces define all living things
E-Quality Theory of Aging
posits that older adults benefit as both teachers and learners when they "use, contribute to, influence, and express themselves" in electronic environments
Direct-Effect Model
proposes that social support is beneficial even when we aren't encountering notable stressors
Overhelping
providing too much instrumental assistance
Culture
refers to a set of beliefs, rules, and practices that are shared by a group of perople
buffering hypothesis
social support is most important when we encounter potentially stressful experiences, in which case knowing that other people are there for us can cushion us from feeling overwhelmed or helpless
Glossolalia
speaking in tongues
Germ Theory
states that disease is caused by microscopic organisms
Health Self-Efficacy
when people believe they can manage their health successfully
Tools for responding to emotions:
1. Acknowledge the emotion 2. Show Respect 3. Reflect 4. Support and Partner
Western Medicine
Cure from Without
People of low socioeconomical status are more likely than others to:
Suffer from depression, have more attention-deficit disorder, be obese, smoke, have poor oral health or cancer
Avoidable health care costs attributed to health literacy are estimated at:
$106 billion to $238 billion a year
Formal-logical Conceptualization
(ages 11 and older) children are remarkably adept at envisioning the complex influence of agents they cannot readily see
Prelogical Conceptualization
(ages 2-6) children define illness as something caused by a tangible, external agent, such as a monster or the sun
Concrete-logical Conceptualization
(ages 7-10) children begin to differentiate between external causes, such as wind and cold, and internal manifestations, such as sneezing and talking funny
Tips for communicating about health when there are language differences:
- Learn at least a few words of another language - Avoid slang - Speak in full sentences when using an interpreter - Don't be afraid to clarify with the interpreter
Advice for explaining illness to children:
- Let children set the tone - Pay attention - Go easy on medical terminology - Talk about illness as something normal
Phases of development in which children conceptualize illness
- Prelogical Stage - Concreate-logical conceptualization - Formal-logical conceptualization
What percentage of Americans who use holistic care tell their providers about it:
1/3
Health Passport
A collection of information that allows people to express biopsychosocial needs and preferences in an easy-to-share format
Health Literacy
A person's capacity to learn about and understand basic health information and services, and to use these resources to promote one's health and wellness
Two main categories of of coping strategies and social support:
Action-facilitating and Nurturing
Overempathizing
Actually something of a misnomer, because it applies only to a particular type of empathy, called emotional contagion
Accommodate
Adapt to another person's style or (perceived) needs
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
Allows employees to take a total of 12 weeks' leave during any 12-month period for the birth of a child or serious health condition of the employee
Overaccommodation
An exaggerated response to a perceived need
Yang
Associated with brightness and warmth
Yin
Associated with coolness and reflection
A majority of communication about health occurs where:
At home, at the store, on the phone, and in other settings of everyday life
theory of problematic integration
Based on the idea that we orient to life in terms of expectations (what we think will probably happen) and evaluations (what occurrences are good or bad)
Queer Theory
Challenges the notion of static identities and rigid social categories
Coping usually involves two efforts:
Changing what can be changed (problem solving) and adapting to what cannot be changed (emotional adjustment)
Health Inequities
Describe structural and systematic factors that put some groups at a disadvantage compared to others
Palliative Care
Designed to keep a person as comfortable and fulfilled as possible but is not designed to cure the main illness once it has been determined that medical care will improve it
Ageism
Discrimination based on age
Overall, the differences in why people of different races and ethnicities respond to medical care differently is rooted in:
Distrust, high risk, lack of knowledge, limited access, and ineffective patient-provider communication
Effective coping seems to combine:
Elements of both problem solving and acceptance
Two components of empathy
Empathic concern and emotional contagion
Nurturing usually involves three types of support:
Esteem Support, Emotional Support, and Social Network Support
Two contexts with powerful implications for social support and coping:
Family caregiving and end of life
Some of the most powerful influences on social identity are:
Gender and Family
Eastern Medicine
Health from Within
Harmonic Balance Perspective
Health is not simply the absence of physical signs of disease; Rather, it is a sense of overall well-being and equilibrium
Older adults' satisfaction with medical care is most closely linked to:
How well health professionals listen, how concerned and attentive they are, and how actively they include patients in decision making.
Paternalism
Idea that patients are like children and care providers are like parents
Cultural adaptability involves:
Inquisitiveness
Divergence
Involves acting differently from the other person, as in whispering when the other shouts
Emotional Contagion
Involves actually feeling emotions similar to the other person's
One advantage of the mechanic-scientist role:
It reduces emotional drain on health professionals
One limitation of the biomedical model:
It's inability to account for conditions that can not be physically verified
Pokkurishinu
Japanese metaphor for the ideal death
Fatalistic
Likely to regard events as God's will or the natural order of things
Three themes which emerge in the narratives of older adults reflecting on the death of loved ones:
Loss, feelings, and coping
Informational Support
Might involve performing an Internet data search, sharing personal experiences, passing along news clips, and so on
Culture-Centered Approach
More collaborative endeavor situated within a specific community
Three types of oversupport
Overhelping, Overinforming, and Overempathizing
Two types of action-facilitating support:
Performing tasks and providing informatoin
Intersectionality Theory
Proposes that a person's social position emerges within the interface of micro-level personal identities and macro-level sociocultural patterns
Stigma
Refers to social rejection in which a person is treated as dishonorable or is ignored altogether
Role
Set of expectations that apply to people performing various functions within a culture
Supportive Communication can:
Speed healing, reduce loneliness, reduce symptoms and stress, and build self-esteem
Ethnic Concordance
The perception of cultural similarities between oneself and another person
Othered
Treated as if you don't belong
Euthanasia
When a physician or family member intentionally kills the patient to end their suffering
Theory of Health as Expanded Consciousness
a health crisis is not necessarily negative or undesirable
Empathic Concern
an intellectual appreciation of someone's feelings
Crisis
an occurrence that exceeds a person's normal coping ability
Hospice
an organization that provides support and care for dying individuals and their families
Organic Model
based on the assumption that health can be understood in terms of the presence (or absence) of physical indicators
Social Support
behaviors that, whether directly or indirectly, communicate to an individual that she or he is valued and cared for by others
Nurturing
building self-esteem, acknowledging and expressing emotions, and providing companionship
Advanced-Care directives
describe what medical care a person wishes to receive or not receive if they are unable to communicate
Dialectics
describes the ongoing tension of meaning between coexisting but contradictory constructs such as hopeless and hopeful
Emotional Support
efforts to acknowledge and understand what another person is feeling
Transcendent Experiences
episodes in which people come to perceive an overarching meaning, or supra-meaning, within experiences that might otherwise seem senseless or unthinkable
Oversupport
excessive and unnecessary help
Faith Healers
expected to channel the curative power of the Holy Spirit, which they pass to believers through ceremonies known as the laying on of hands
Physician-Assisted Suicide
instances in which, at the request of a terminally ill person, a doctor provides the means for that person to end his or her own life
Culturally Sensitive Approach
involves an awareness of cultural characteristics
Esteem Support
involves efforts to make another person feel valued and competent
Reflective Negotiation Model
involves two enacted commitments and an end goal
Support Groups
made up of people with similar concerns who meet regularly to discuss their feelings and experiences
Problematic Integration
occurs when expectations and evaluations are at odds, uncertain, changing, or impossible to fulfill
Convergence
occurs when partners use similar gestures, tone of voice, vocabulary, and so on
Instrumental Support
tasks and favors
Biophilia Hypothesis
that people have an inherent affinity for nature and often derive a sense of well-being from contact with it
Empathy
the ability to understand and share the feelings of another
Ethnocentrism
the attitude that one's own culture is superior to others
External Locus of Control
the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate.
Internal Locus of Control
the perception that you control your own fate
Coping
the process of managing stressful situations
Normalcy
the sense that things are comfortable, predictable, and familiar