Defining Health, the Healthcare System, and Physical Fitness

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards reviewing the concepts of health, wellness, public health, healthcare structures in Canada, and exercise physiology from the lecture notes.

Health

A state with an emphasis on the body, defined by the presence or absence of illness or injury.

Wellness

A concept that goes beyond just physical health, characterized as "living life to the fullest."

Medical Model

A health perspective that focuses primarily on the person from a biological or diseased organ standpoint without considering broader external factors (e.g., viewing sickness as liver cancer without considering toxin exposure).

Public Health Model

Also known as the ecological model; views health as the result of interactions between individuals and their social and physical environments, defined centrally by disease prevention and health promotion.

Disease Prevention

Preventive medicine that emphasizes identifying and managing early risk indicators to prevent illness, delay onset, lessen severity, or reduce the likelihood of developing chronic conditions.

Primary Prevention

Any intervention implemented before disease or injury occurs to prevent or avoid risk factors for chronic illnesses (e.g., using sunscreen to prevent skin cancer).

Secondary Prevention

Interventions implemented early after a condition has begun and before significant impairments occur, relying on early diagnosis and prompt therapy to shorten illness duration, limit complications, reduce severity, and limit contagiousness.

Tertiary Prevention

Measures implemented after a disease has fully developed to minimize progression and avoid complications or secondary chronic conditions through rehabilitation and aggressive interventions.

Health Promotion

The process of educating people and helping them develop skills to increase control over and improve their health (e.g., influenza immunization campaigns by public health departments).

Sex

The biological and physiological characteristics that define men, women, and intersex people.

Intersex

Individuals born with physical or biological sex characteristics that do not fit the traditional definitions of male or female.

Gender

How people identify themselves regardless of their biological sexual organs.

Gender Identity

A person's internal, personal sense of maleness or femaleness, which may or may not correspond with their sex identified at birth.

Acute Illness

A health condition characterized by rapid onset, a short course, and high likelihood of being treatable (e.g., broken leg, cold, appendicitis).

Chronic Illness

A health condition characterized by slow onset, long duration, and usually lack of treatability or curability (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, cancer).

Cohort

A group of individuals born in the same year or within the same period of time.

Generation

A group of individuals born during the same time period who have experienced and reacted similarly to significant social, political, or historical events.

Life Expectancy

The number of years a person is expected to live based on their birth year, influenced by factors such as sex, gender, race, ethnicity, infant mortality rates, and place of residence.

Morbidity

The state of being diseased or sick, commonly measured as the number of cases in a specific population within a given year (typically per $100{,}000$ people).

Mortality

The state of being dead, reported as a rate calculated as: $\frac{\text{\# of deaths}}{\text{\# alive}} \times 100$.

Incidence

The number of new cases of a specific condition diagnosed within a defined population over a period.

Prevalence

The total number of pre-existing cases of a condition existing within a specific population during a specified timeframe.

Determinants of Health

The broad range of personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that influence whether individuals and populations are healthy or unhealthy.

Social Safety Net

Community-provided resources and assistance programs designed to support individuals in need (e.g., food banks, unemployment benefits).

Predisposing Factors

Prior knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes shaped by life experiences, alongside demographic traits such as gender, race, and age, that influence health behavior.

Enabling Factors

Specific skills and physical or mental abilities that facilitate or hinder behavioral change, which can act positively or negatively.

Reinforcing Factors

The presence or absence of external support, feedback, or encouragement that sustains or discourages a lifestyle change.

Socio-economic Status (SES)

A person's or household's relative social and economic position within society, measured by income, education, occupation, and wealth/resources.

Pathway Triggers

The intermediate mechanisms, experiences, or conditions (such as education, genetics, and health behaviors) through which socioeconomic status impacts health.

Universality

The Canada Health Act principle requiring that all eligible provincial residents receive coverage on equal and uniform terms and conditions.

Comprehensiveness

The Canada Health Act principle mandating that provincial plans must cover all medically necessary health services provided by hospitals and physicians.

Accessibility

The Canada Health Act principle ensuring that eligible residents have reasonable access to insured hospital and physician care without financial or other barriers.

Public Administration

The Canada Health Act principle requiring that provincial healthcare insurance plans be operated on a non-profit basis by a public authority accountable to the provincial government.

Portability

The Canada Health Act principle entitling residents to continued coverage when moving between Canadian provinces.

Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)

An independent organization responsible for funding and providing health research and national healthcare data in Canada.

Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP)

Ontario's public health insurance plan, originating from the 1956 Hospital Services Commission of Ontario Act and officially implemented on January 1, 1959.

Primary Care (Hospital)

Basic hospital care, urgent care, and ambulatory medical services, possessing the widest scope of care.

Secondary Care (Hospital)

Specialized hospital services requiring a referral from a primary care physician, where the specialist is not the patient's first point of contact.

Tertiary Care (Hospital)

Advanced medical investigation and treatment requiring highly specialized clinical skills, sophisticated medical technology, and intensive support services.

Quaternary Care

An ultra-specialized extension of tertiary care that often involves experimental treatments or uncommon surgical/diagnostic procedures (e.g., CDC facilities in the USA).

Complex Continuing Care (CCC)

Chronic care hospital services that provide medically complex, specialized services and active physician assessment over extended stays, requiring patient co-payments for room and board.

Triage

An emergency department intake process involving rapid physical assessment, vital sign measurement, brief history intake, first aid, and assignment of a CTAS severity level.

Emergency Department Overcrowding

A systematic hospital issue where patient demand exceeds the facility's capacity to deliver quality emergency care within acceptable time frames.

Retirement Care Homes

Privately owned, self-funded residential facilities providing light assistance for individuals who wish to preserve personal independence.

Long-Term Care (LTC) Home

A home-like residential facility providing 24-hour supervision, skilled onsite nursing, and personal care for individuals unable to live independently.

Bill 7 (More Beds, Better Care Act, 2022)

Ontario legislation authorizing acute care hospitals to transfer Alternate Level of Care (ALC) patients into available long-term care beds.

Alternate Level of Care (ALC) Patients

Hospital inpatients occupying acute care beds who no longer require acute medical resources, colloquially designated as "bed blockers."

Physical Activity (PA)

Any bodily movement that expends energy, summarized as "what you do" (e.g., walking, sport, housework).

Physical Fitness (PF)

The physiological ability to execute physical tasks efficiently and safely, summarized as "how well your body can do it."

Cardiorespiratory Endurance

The ability of the heart and lungs to process and transport oxygen to working muscle cells over sustained periods of activity.

Aerobic Activities

Low-intensity, long-duration physical activities during which the body metabolizes inspired oxygen to meet metabolic demands.

Anaerobic Activities

High-intensity, short-duration exercises in which muscles generate energy independently of immediate oxygen delivery.

Oxygen Debt

A state in which the quantity of oxygen supplied is insufficient to meet the metabolic demands of vigorous physical exercise.

RICE

A management protocol for acute soft tissue exercise injuries comprising Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.

Androstenedione

An anabolic androgenic steroid banned by athletic organizations that stimulates testosterone synthesis, builds lean muscle, and hastens injury recovery.

Creatine

A naturally occurring amino acid produced in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas that restores muscular ATP and elevates dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels.

Stacking

The simultaneous administration of two or more distinct anabolic steroids (e.g., combining oral and intramuscular formulations).

Cycling

An administration regimen characterized by alternating periods of active steroid usage and scheduled cessation.

Pyramiding

A steroid dosing regimen where frequency, dose, or variety is progressively increased before being tapered off.

Roid Rage

Episodes of severe irritability, anger, and explosive aggressive behavior triggered by the pharmacological impact of anabolic steroid misuse.