Week 10 - Health and Illness

Health

State of complete physical, mental, social well-being

Morbidity

Prevalence and patterns of disease in a population

Mortality

incidence and patterns of death in a population

Epidemiological Transition Timeline

Famine, infection and parasitic diseases

Epidemics of infectious and parasitic diseases

decline in epidemics, increase in degenerative disease

degenerative disease and new infectious diseases

Causes of Morality

Change by age, gender, other factors

Canadian Statistics

Lacking indigenous numbers due to shorter life expectancy

Macro-level health and illness causes

social inequalities linked to socioeconomic status, race, immigration

Micro-level health and illness causes

individual behaviours and lifestyle choices

Official causes of death

Cancer, heart disease, stroke, accidents, suicide

Social determinants of health

non-medical factors that influence health outcomes

Socioeconomic status

Single most important determinant of health globally

Higher positions in social structure is associated with better health

High Socioeconomic status and health

High status give people access to material resources which gives agency and health

Public space and transit

Healthier neighbourhoods have high walkability, access to transit, and public spaces

Food deserts

communities where there is limited access to healthy foods

Food swamps

Communities where there is an abundance of unhealthy food choices

Healthy immigrant effect

Recent immigrants tend to have better health than canadian-born people due to selection

The Salmon Effect

immigrants return to their place of origin as they age and health declines B

Black maternal health

Black women due at higher rate than white women

Due to being uninsured, lack of postnatal care, more likely to have chronic disease, and discrimination

Weathering

stress-induced wear and tear on the body from living in a society structured through systemic racism

Causes health vulnerabilities

Conflict theory and health

Analyzes the commodification of health and who benefits

Symbolic interactionalism and health

Sense of self lies at core of peoples experiences with illness and negotiate ways that illness is integrated into identities

Upstream thinking

Rather than focusing on rescuing people already drowning, why not prevent drowning upstream

Functionalism and Health

Illness is dysfunctional for society

Sick Role

Role that those who are sick take on as they cannot fulfill their normal roles

Social Selection Hypothesis

People with mental disorders may drift into lower levels of socioeconomic status or be prevented from rising out of lower levels

Social causation hypothesis

Stresses associated with having a lower SES contribute to development of mental disorders