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