sociology chapter 12

• Health


  A combination of mental, social, and physical wellbeing
• Health is not simply the absence of disease
• Implications of demographic changes

  • Health inequalities among social groups
  • Social context of healthy lifestyles
  • Implications of new health technologies
• Morbidity


  Refers to having a disease or a symptom of disease, or to the amount of disease within a population
• Mortality


  Refers to the number of deaths that occur in a population
• Global lifespan = 72, Canada lifespan = 82, female (Canada) = 83, male (Canada) = 79
• Epidemiological transition


  1. Famine, infections and parasitic diseases

  2. Epidemics of infections and parasitic diseases

  3. Decline in epidemics, increase in degenerative diseases

  4. Degenerative diseases and new infectious diseases
• Demographic transition


  Mortality rate drops and population grows quickly, then the birth rate drops and it evens out
• Leading causes of death (2018)

  • Cancer
  • Heart disease
  • Stroke
• Leading causes of death for men

  • Cancer
  • Heart disease
  • Accidents
• Leading causes of death for women

  • Cancer
  • Heart disease
  • Stroke
• Leading causes of death for men ages 15-24

  • Accidents
  • Suicide
  • Cancer
• Leading causes of death for men ages 65-74

  • Cancer
  • Heart disease
  • Chronic lower respiratory disease
• Personal determinants of health

  • Tobacco
  • Alcohol
  • Poor Diet/Physical activity
• Tobacco use


  The leading cause of preventable death in the world - 7 million people die each year
• Tobacco use is increasing in low- and middle-income countries while decreasing in high-income countries like Canada
• Alcohol use (and misuse)

  • Consumption is higher in higher income countries
  • Greater use and harms among males
  • Greater harms in countries with high use and poor public health resources
  • Responsible for 2% of deaths in females and 7% of deaths in males annually
  • Riskier drinking patterns among youth → 14% of deaths in ages 20-39
• In Canada in 1890s, the federal government received $7 million per year from alcohol taxation and the industry was paying more than $1 million per year in wages
• In Canada in 2019, there was $23 billion in retail alcohol sales and 8 litres of 'absolute alcohol' per capita (ages 15+)
• Poor diet


  • Canadians eat fewer servings of fruits and vegetables than in 2004
  • Increase in consumption of ultra-processed foods
  • Especially among youth, indigenous peoples, canadian-born, rural, and lower levels of education
• Accessibility and socioeconomic status are also contributing factors to poor diet
• Physical activity


  • Guidelines established by WHO for physical activity are met by only 16% of canadian adults
  • Only 23% of canadian teens meet minimum requirements
  • The least physically active group of canadians is teenage girls
• The reasons for low physical activity levels, especially in teenage girls, include beauty standards, gender stereotypes, lack of funding of girls sports
• Individual factors like diet and physical activity are influenced by bigger social factors like socioeconomic status, accessibility, etc.
• Social determinants of health

  • Socioeconomic status
  • Ethnic inequality
• Socioeconomic status is the single most determinant factor contributing to your health - the wealthier you are, the healthier you are
• Socioeconomic status affects access to material resources, personal determinants of health, and mental health
• Food deserts


  Areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious food
• Food deserts, food swamps, and food oases impact how people are able to get food
• If you are living low-income, it can be very difficult to access and afford healthy food options
• Social selection hypothesis

  Proposes that if mental disorders are not effectively treated, they may experience functional difficulties in school or work that cause them to “drift” into a lower socioeconomic status or prevent them from rising into a higher status position.
• Social causation hypothesis


  The stresses associated with having a lower socioeconomic status contribute to the development of mental disorders.
• Higher morbidity and mortality rates for those with lower socioeconomic status, including higher chance of dying of accidents
• Colonization led to coercive cultural change that impacted indigenous health and healthcare systems
• Immigrant populations are healthier than the general population when they first arrive, but the longer they stay the more unhealthy they become due to factors like lack of credential recognition, discrimination, and acquisition of less healthy Canadian lifestyle habits
• Barriers to accessing healthcare services for immigrant and minority populations include language, communication, and lack of knowledge about available services
• History of healthcare in Canada

  • New France → apothecaries, barber-surgeons
  • Canada's first medical school (1832)
  • Hospital care became publicly funded (1957)
  • Medical Care Act (1966)
• Doctors went on strike before public healthcare was enacted because they didn't want to give up their private practices
• Objectives of Medicare


  Universality - must give people the healthcare that they need province to province
• Lifestyle and eating fast foods or not having time to work out can impact health