Chapter 1 Flashcards
System
A set of connected parts or components that function together to form a complex whole.
A good health system
delivers quality services to all people, when and where they need them.
Healthcare quote
“When you’ve seen one health care system, you’ve seen one health care system.
health care system
The sum of all the institutions and processes that support the work of diagnosis and healing.
Chinese medicine
the human body must maintain homeostasis in order to maintain a state of health, that is, an internal, bodily balance between two inseparable and opposing forces of nature: yin and yang. Yin represents the cold or passive, principle, whereas yang represents the hot, or active, principle.
Qi
vital energy
Meridians
interconnected channels in the body
materia medica
(herbology), acupuncture, bodywork(massage and manipulation), or health benefiting exercises(exercising the body-mind connection).
Western Medicine
perceives the human body as a collection of interconnected health systems-heart, circulatory, endocrine, reproductive, and so forth-each with a set of functions and normal operation processes.
Primary Prevention
intends to prevent the development of disease or injury before it occurs in individuals, and thus to reduce the incidence of disease in the population.
Examples of primary prevention
the use of automobile seat belts, condom use, skin protection from ultraviolet light, and tobacco use cessation programs
Secondary prevention
is concerned with reducing the burden of existing disease after it has developed; early detection is emphasized. Secondary prevention activities are intended to identify the existence of disease early so treatments might not be as effective when applied later can be of benefit.
Tertiary prevention
focuses on the optimum treatment of clinically apparent, clearly identified disease so as to reduce the incidence of later complications to the greatest possible degree.
Tertiary prevention involves
rehabilitation and limitation of disability
Health care is primarily concerned
with secondary and tertiary prevention: early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of conditions that can be cured or limited in their consequences (secondary prevention) and treatment of chronic diseases and other conditions to prevent exacerbation, stabilize conditions, and minimize future complications (tertiary prevention)
The health care system has the
smallest impact on primary prevention-that group of interventions that focus on stopping the development of disease and illness, and the occurrence of injury.
Evans and Stoddart argue
other than for immunization, the major focus of the health care system’s primary prevention activities is on the behavioral determinants of health, rather than the physical and social environments
Interventions particularly those addressing personal lifestyles
are offered in the form of “provider counseling” for smoking cessations, seatbelt use, or dietary modification.
Poverty, race, and ethnicity often limit access to healthcare and therefore
the ability of the physicians to diagnose and treat health problems effectively.
It can be argued that those people who use
the health care system have as great an influence on the system as those who provide health care.
The demographic characteristics
of any population have a huge impact on health and therefore on health care.
Health behaviors are among the determinants of health.
They include nutrition; physical activity, tobacco, alcohol, and other substance use; safety practices such as using seatbelts, and other behaviors.
Good nutrition, physical activity, and a healthy body weight are essential parts of a person’s overall health and well being.
Together these can help decrease a person’s risk of developing serious health conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. A healthful diet, regular physical activity, and achieving and maintaining a healthy weight also are paramount to managing health conditions so they do not worsen over time. Most Americans, however, do not eat a healthful diet and are not physically active at levels needed to maintain proper health.
If we focus on obesity as one leg of this tripod
nutrition, physical activity, and healthy weight- the variation by demographic characteristics is evident. There are substantial differences in the prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents by poverty and among adults by race and ethnicity. Obesity is highly related to both demographic factors with obesity being more prevalent among poor children and adolescents and among non-White adults