SPH-H 172 Introduction to Global Public Health: Exam 2 Study Guide

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering social determinants, economic and educational factors, culture, environmental health, air pollution, and WASH from the SPH-H 172 Exam 2 Study Guide.

Social determinants of health

The personal factors, community conditions, and nonmedical factors in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, as well as the wider systems shaping life, that enable or hinder access to health.

Disparities

Preventable differences in the health burden of diseases, injury, violence, or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations.

Inequity

An unfair, avoidable, and systemic difference or injustice in outcomes, opportunities, resources, or treatment between different groups of people.

Health literacy

The ability to access, understand, and apply health information, which influences daily health choices, medication comprehension, disease management, and navigation of the healthcare system.

Income

The amount of take-home pay earned by household members in a week, year, or other specified time period.

Wealth

The accumulated worth of a household's resources, consisting of all assets held at a given point including savings, property, investments, and equipment.

Extreme poverty

Surviving on less income than an international poverty line, characterized by living on less than $\$2$ a day.

Relative poverty

Lacking the minimum income needed to participate in society, which can still be significant in places with little extreme poverty.

Direct costs of illness

Direct expenditures on health services and medical care that can cause individuals and families to dispose of assets and fall into poverty.

Indirect costs of illness

Secondary financial impacts resulting from illness, such as a decrease in earnings and expenses for transportation.

Social and community context

The relationships, norms, institutions, identities, and social environments that shape people's everyday lives and influence their health behaviors and perceptions.

Disease

A biomedical, diagnosable condition referring to abnormalities of the structure and function of body organs and systems.

Stigma

A powerful social process characterized by labeling, stereotyping, and separation that leads to status loss, discrimination, and negative health consequences.

Taboo

A subject that is intentionally avoided or not dealt with because it is socially unaccepted or associated with strong feelings of shame and modesty in a given culture.

Cultural competence

The ability to understand and acknowledge cultural differences in healthcare and public health practice.

Cultural humility

An ongoing practice that asks practitioners to appreciate cultural differences by recognizing what they do not know, examining their own assumptions, asking questions, and working collaboratively.

Environmental health

Public health efforts concerned with preventing disease, death, and disability by reducing exposures to adverse environmental conditions (physical, chemical, and microbiological) and promoting behavior change.

Natural environment

Aspects of the biological and physical world that are not created by humans, including air, water, climate, ecosystems, and weather.

Built environment

All physical structures and spaces constructed or modified by humans.

Household air pollution

The presence of harmful chemicals or other substances in the air inside or near buildings at concentrations above safety thresholds, often resulting from burning solid fuels for cooking and heating.

Particulate matter

Substances that are small enough to remain suspended in the air for long periods of time and travel deep into the lungs.

WASH

An acronym standing for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene.

Sanitation

The safe disposal of human waste.

Hygiene

Conditions and practices that help maintain health and prevent the spread of disease, including handwashing, washing the body, food hygiene, and menstrual hygiene management.