chapter 10 health care problems of physical and mental illness

Chapter 10

Health Care

Problems of Physical and Mental Illness

Health and Life Expectancy

• Health: state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being.– A social issue as well as a biological issue

• Life expectancy: estimate of the average lifetime of people born in a specific year

• Life expectancy varies by gender, race, social class and overall health

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© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Infant Mortality

• Number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births– Good indication of societies preventive

medical care

• IMR higher in US than other high-income nations

• Rates vary significantly by race

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© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Disease

• Acute diseases– Illnesses that strike suddenly and cause

incapacitation or death

• Chronic diseases– Long-term, develop gradually, or are present

from birth (arthritis, diabetes, heart disease)– Caused by biological & environmental factors

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Disability

• A restricted or total lack of ability to perform certain activities as a result of: – Physical limitations/interplay of limitations,

social responses, and the social environment– Today people survive with disability that

would have died before– Longer life expectancy- more chronic disease

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AIDS Crisis

• Number of cases is rising annually

• Males account for nearly ¾ of all cases

• Half of those infected are African American

• Higher rates for those age 25-44

• Treatment is complex and costly, currently no cure

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Mental Health

• Considered a social problem because it affects a large number of people

• Difficult to define and identify mental disorders– American Psychiatric Association’s (1994) – DSM-IV

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© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Race, Class, Gender and Mental Illness

• No significant differences in diagnosable mental illness between: – African Americans and whites – Racism does impact the psychological well-

being of both African Americans and whites

• Social class is related to mental illness

• Gender differences in Mental Illness

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Health Care Crisis

• The Affordable Care Act

• Health Care Organization, Rising Costs, and Unequal Access

• Private Health Insurance– HMO– Managed care

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Health Care Crisis

• Public Health Insurance– Medicare– Medicaid

• The Uninsured– Race-ethnicity and age are important

variables in examining the uninsured rate

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© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Race, Class, Gender and Healthcare

• Less preventive care/optimal management of chronic diseases received by:– People of color across class lines– Low-income whites

• Much Gender inequality in health care:– Most of doctors in U.S. are men today

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Race, Class, Gender and Healthcare

– Women have been underrepresented in the medical profession

– Medical training, practice, and research are male-centered

– Women receive differential treatment for certain kinds of medical problems

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Explanations of Healthcare Problems

• Functionalist:– Illness is dysfunctional for society, keeps

people from fulfilling their roles.– Problems in U.S. health care are due to

macro-level changes • e.g., high-tech medicine, over-specialization of

doctors

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Explanations of Healthcare Problems

• Conflict:– Health problems are rooted in capitalism and

in the medical-industrial complex– Race-, class-, and gender-based inequities

cause health problems– Inequality in U.S. health care will be

perpetuated by 3 things:

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Explanations of Healthcare Problems

• High health care costs due to advanced services and expensive medicine and technology

• Abuse of existing systems by health care professionals:

– Overcharge, unnecessary services, services not received

• Aging population will put a strain on Medicare and Medicaid

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Explanations of Healthcare Problems

• Symbolic Interactionist– Communication problems between doctors

and patients create problems– People need to become more involved in

health care issues and reform– People who have information and resources

could work on preventative care at home

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