HHE 270 - Chapter 1 Self, Family, and Community

Upstream approaches to health

Upstream approaches focus on preventing health problems at the structural, environmental, and societal levels rather than solely treating individuals after illness occurs. They emphasize the outer layers of the socioecological model (such as public policy, economic opportunities, built environments, and social support) to foster conditions where healthy choices are accessible to everyone.

Health literacy

• The ability to find, understand, and use health information and services to inform health decisions and actions.

• Includes evaluating health information, understanding medical instructions, navigating the health-care system, and making informed decisions.

Healthy People 2030 — goals and objectives

• A federal/state/territorial/community initiative that sets health objectives.

• Goals include helping people live healthy, thriving lives free from preventable disease, disability, injury, and premature death; achieving health equity and eliminating disparities; improving health literacy; creating healthy social, physical, and economic environments; and promoting healthy development and behaviors.

Social Determinants of Health — what are they, examples

• Conditions in the places where people are born, grow, live, work, learn, play, worship, and age that affect health.

• Examples include income, education and literacy, employment, discrimination, working conditions, housing, transportation, social support, and access to health care.

Health Belief Model — what is it, examples

• A model explaining health behavior through perceived susceptibility, perceived seriousness, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy.

• Textbook example: a person with a family history of smoking-related disease may perceive susceptibility; concern about early death reflects seriousness; quitting reduces risk (benefit); friends who smoke can be a barrier.

Stages of Change Model — describe each stage

• Precontemplation: not intending to change.

• Contemplation: considering change.

• Preparation: planning to change and preparing to act, including a plan/start date.

• Action: actively making the behavior change.

• Maintenance: sustaining the change; the textbook describes this as at least six months.

• Termination: no temptation to return to the old behavior and complete confidence in maintaining the change.

• Change is a process rather than a single event.

Nature vs. Nurture — how do they interact?

• Nature refers to genetic inheritance; nurture refers to environment and lifestyle.

• Health is produced by the interaction of genetic and environmental/lifestyle factors. Most conditions are multifactorial rather than caused by one factor alone.

DNA — what is it, bases, base pairing

• DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid and has a double-helix structure.

• The four bases are adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T).

• Base pairing: A pairs with T; G pairs with C.

Chromosomes — how many, what are they?

• Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, 46 total.

• One chromosome of each pair comes from each parent.

• The sex chromosomes are described as XX or XY

Genes — what are they?

• Genes are specific sequences of DNA bases that carry a message or instruction.

• Chromosomes contain hundreds or thousands of genes.

• Protein-coding genes provide templates/instructions for proteins.

Genome — what is it?

The genome is the complete set of a person's DNA.

Differentiated vs. Stem Cells — what are they?

• Differentiated cells are specialized cells, such as liver, bone, heart, muscle, lung, brain, and stomach cells.

• Stem cells are unspecialized cells found in embryos and adult tissues.

• Differentiation occurs as genes are turned on or off. Differentiated cells cannot become other cell types.

Mutations — what are they, examples

• A mutation is a change in a gene/DNA sequence.

• Changes can involve a base being omitted, incorrectly inserted, deleted, duplicated, or reversed.

• The effect depends on where the mutation occurs.

• Examples given include sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis, breast/ovarian cancer, red-green color blindness, Down syndrome, and Klinefelter syndrome.

Family Tree — what is it, what information can you include?

• A family health/genetic tree (genogram/genetic pedigree) visually organizes family health and genetic history and can reveal patterns and possible risks.

• It can include parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts/uncles; birth/death information; diseases or injuries; age at diagnosis; disabilities; operations; allergies; reproductive issues; mental health; and behavioral issues.

• Three basic steps: map the family structure, record relevant information, and explore relationships/patterns.

What is the British Royal family’s importance to inheritance?

The British Royal Family is used as an example of genetic inheritance, specifically hemophilia appearing in certain descendants.