Modules 5–8: Social Determinants, Behavioral Interventions, Infectious & Chronic Diseases

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering social determinants of health, behavioral frameworks, infectious disease transmission, and chronic/genetic conditions.

Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL)

A multidimensional concept that encompasses aspects of physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as social functioning, used to measure the effects of chronic conditions and disabilities.

Health Disparity

Preventable or modifiable differences in factors related to health and health outcomes across different population groups.

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)

The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age that shape overall health, well-being, and health disparities.

Socioeconomic Gradient

The observed relationship between health outcomes and socioeconomic status, typically measured by an individual's income, occupation, or highest level of education.

Structural Determinants

Policies, cultural norms, economic systems, and power dynamics that create and perpetuate inequalities, underpinning the distribution of resources, opportunities, and access to essential health factors.

Whitehall Study

A study of British civil servants over a $10$-year period across four employment grades that demonstrated higher employment status was directly associated with a lower risk of dying.

Health in All Policies

A collaborative approach to improving public health by embedding health as a value in governmental decision-making, incorporating health equity into public policy as the default, and fostering cross-sector partnerships.

Allostatic Load

The cumulative physiological wear and tear on the body resulting from repeated or chronic exposure to stress and adverse life events, causing persistent activation of adaptive stress response systems.

Lifecourse Perspective

A framework that uses a timeline across life stages to examine the interplay of biological, behavioral, psychosocial, and environmental factors on illness, accumulated risk, and premature death.

Critical Period

A specific biological window in the lifecourse model (such as the perinatal period, ages $0\text{--}14$) during which exposures can have irreversible impacts on long-term health and illness development.

Sensitive Period

A developmental stage in the lifecourse model (such as adolescence, ages $15\text{--}24$) where environmental and behavioral exposures have a particularly heightened influence on accumulating disease risk.

Health Belief Model

A psychological model of behavior change stating that actions are determined by perceived personal vulnerability to a threat, perceived threat severity, and perceived barriers versus effectiveness of the intervention.

Self-Efficacy

The sense of having control over one's life, developed through personal experiences of success, observation of peer models, and encouragement.

Transtheoretical Model

A behavioral model outlining change through $5$ distinct stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.

Ecological Model of Health Behavior

A multi-level framework examining how health-related behaviors are supported and maintained across five levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, community, and public policy.

Health Behavior Framework

A multidimensional model mapping how individual variables, healthcare provider/system factors, and community environments influence intentions, barriers, supports, and long-term behaviors.

Revised Intervention Model

A comprehensive public health approach that intervenes upstream on systemic inequities, adverse childhood experiences, and environmental conditions rather than solely targeting individual lifestyle choices.

Risk Perception

The psychological appraisal of danger by the general public, often shaped by subjective factors like dread, personal control, and familiarity rather than calculated statistical probabilities.

Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY)

A population measure of overall disease burden representing the number of years lost due to ill health, disability, or premature death.

Food Insecurity

A social determinant of health characterized by limited or uncertain access to adequate, nutritious food for healthy living, often occurring in food deserts.

Food Swamp

An area characterized by a high relative density of fast-food outlets and junk food retailers compared to healthy food options.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

A weight-to-height ratio defined as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared ($\text{kg/m}^2$), classifying overweight as $25\text{--}29.9$, obesity as $\ge 30$, and severe obesity as $\ge 40$.

Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR)

A clinical measure of body fat distribution indicating increased health risks when exceeding $1.0$ in men or $0.8$ in women.

Sin Tax

A targeted tax levied on products harmful to oneself and others—such as sugar-sweetened beverages and tobacco—to raise prices and discourage consumption.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Traumatic events occurring during childhood and adolescence that correlate with negative long-term physical health, depression, PTSD, suicidality, and psychosis in adulthood.

Serious Mental Illness (SMI)

A diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder causing severe functional impairment, including psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, severe major depression, PTSD, and borderline personality disorder.

Prolonged Exposure (PE) Therapy

A psychotherapy method designed to help patients safely confront trauma-related memories, thoughts, and situations through imagery or writing.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

A therapeutic approach where a patient recounts traumatic events to identify and redirect inaccurate, disruptive, or harmful beliefs regarding the trauma.

Koch's Postulates

A set of four scientific criteria established in the 19th century to verify that a specific microbe is the causative agent of an infectious disease.

Chain of Infection

The transmission model consisting of four sequential links: pathogen, reservoir, mode of transmission, and susceptible host.

Reservoir

The host organism or environmental site where a pathogen naturally lives, survives, and multiplies.

Carrier State

A clinical state wherein an infected individual shows no symptoms yet can harbor and transmit the infectious pathogen to others.

Virulence

The relative capacity or ability of a pathogen to overcome body defenses and induce severe disease or damage in a host.

Herd Immunity

Indirect protection from an infectious disease that occurs when a sufficiently high proportion of a population is immune, restricting pathogen spread.

Suppression Strategy

A public health containment approach aiming to stop or reverse epidemic transmission through strict nonpharmaceutical interventions, such as lockdowns, school closures, and mandatory mask policies.

Mitigation Strategy

A pandemic management approach focused on reducing disease severity and protecting vulnerable groups while keeping society functional, aiming to flatten the curve without complete suppression.

Exposome

The measure of the totality of environmental exposures an individual experiences across their lifespan and how those exposures interact with genetics to influence health.

Metabolic Syndrome

A cluster of biochemical and physiological abnormalities, including abdominal obesity, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and elevated fasting glucose.

Autosomal Dominant Disorder

A genetic disease where the inheritance of a single defective copy of a gene on a non-sex chromosome is sufficient to express the disorder (e.g., Huntington's disease, Marfan syndrome).

Autosomal Recessive Disorder

A genetic condition that only manifests when an individual inherits two copies of the mutated gene (e.g., sickle-cell disease, Tay-Sachs, cystic fibrosis).

X-Linked Disorder

A genetic disorder caused by a mutation located on the X chromosome, predominantly expressing clinically in males (e.g., hemophilia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy).

Amniocentesis

A prenatal diagnostic procedure involving the insertion of a needle into the uterus to sample amniotic fluid and examine fetal cells for genetic abnormalities.

Carrier Screening

Genetic testing offered to individuals with relevant family history or ethnic predispositions to identify whether they carry one copy of a recessive gene mutation for a genetic disease.

Atherosclerosis

A chronic inflammatory condition of the cardiovascular system characterized by plaque buildup and hardening of the arterial walls.