Global Health Final Exam question and
correct answers
definition of health matter - correct answer ✔✔everyone is affected; impacts how a nation allocated
resources; determines goal of an intervention when health is absent
WHO definition of health - correct answer ✔✔Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
criticisms of WHO definition of health - correct answer ✔✔"state" rather than process; anything could
be considered as health/no boundaries; who's responsibility; ignores physical and social environment
illness - correct answer ✔✔subjective feeling of distress that accompanies disease; social meaning of
condition
disease - correct answer ✔✔objective conditions; presence of pathology or abnormality in part of the
body; symptoms may or may not be present
physical disabilities in US - correct answer ✔✔"differently abled"; receive special education resources;
entitled to accommodations in public places; protected from discrimination in hiring; medicaid benefits;
careers, marriages , kids, etc
disabilities in other parts of world - correct answer ✔✔e.g cleft palate sufferers: shunned, denied
education, no access to surgical correction, undernourished from difficulties in eating, barred from jobs,
moms who gave birth to them can be forced out of house
mental disabilities in US - correct answer ✔✔140,000 seriously mentally ill go homeless
timeline of cultural meaning of obesity - correct answer ✔✔obese is wealthy/ luxury to be lazy => lazy
=> uniformed about nutrition/heart health => diseased and need medical intervention=> unable to
access nutrition/fitness resources => poor, lacks resources, subject to "structural violence"
,assumptions of biomedical model - correct answer ✔✔illness is caused by disease; biological
mechanisms are sufficient to explain disease; body functions independent of mind; universal experience
of health everywhere; ridding body of disease will bring back health; field of medicine is neutral
race - correct answer ✔✔why do black women with breast caner have higher mortality rates than their
white counter parts?
virchow's recommendations to prussian government - correct answer ✔✔recommendations regarding
typhus epidemic; political reform and self-government including a local coordination of relief efforts;
education, liberty, and prosperity; economic reform; agricultural reforms (development of cooperatives);
building of roads; acceptance of polish as an official language (most citizens spoke it but gov made
schools and physicians use german); separation of church and state
determinants of health - correct answer ✔✔biological(immunological, genetic, injury-related);
behavioral; social; cultural; environmental; political; economic
direct/indirect effects of health - correct answer ✔✔family dynamics/support, housing, poverty, food
security, job opportunities, freedom from discrimination/racism, rights/regulations/rule of law, economic
prosperity, good government
construction worker fell to his death - correct answer ✔✔family dynamics/support: wife works nights,
baby feedings
housing: noisy apartment building with thin walls
poverty: must commute from low-rent area
food security: low-nutrition convenience foods
job opportunities: undocumented worker
discrimination/racism: unable to protest poor working conditions
laws/regulations: construction company lax on safety; graft
economics: economic downturn
governance: non-redistributive, non-intact welfare state
,social determinants of health - correct answer ✔✔behavior and access to social and economic resources
are foundation and determinants of health; social characteristics in which living tales place; factors
related to interactions among people and communities
structural determinants of health - correct answer ✔✔in addition to access to resources, control and
ownership over resources is ultimate factor in determining health of individuals and communities;
"societal"; political, economic, social, and cultural structures that shape health and health patters;
"causes of the causes"
social determinants = - correct answer ✔✔structural + daily circumstances; comprehensive conditions of
daily life which affect health = power structures: control and ownership of resources + living conditions,
circumstances availability of resources, interactions
social determinants include - correct answer ✔✔distribution of power, income, goods, and services
circumstances of peoples lives include access to health care, schools, and education; conditions of work
and leisure; state of housing and environment
health inequities - correct answer ✔✔avoidable disparities in health that orbit key determinants that are
systematically observes between two groups of people with different levels of underlying social privilege;
ex: wealth, power, or advantage
inequality - correct answer ✔✔not equal (strictly mathematical)
inequity - correct answer ✔✔implies injustice, lack of fairness
constrained choices - correct answer ✔✔history/life trajectory; agency; self-efficacy
"hunger-obesity paradox" constrained choices - correct answer ✔✔mass production, subsidization, and
marketing of food; most affordable food is calorie-dense and nutrient-poor (fast and convenience foods);
obesity/type II diabetes/ nutrient deficiencies
constrained choices: income, education, prestige/status/social marginalization, physical danger/violence;
philosophy development depends on capitalism, promotion of private industry --> food policy, calorie-
dense, nutrient poor food, diet related health problems
, income as a constrained choice - correct answer ✔✔extreme poverty: < US $1/day; social standing - lack
of empowerment, security, dignity, etc; material deprivation = lack of clean water, sanitation, shelter,
food, etc.; effect on health: malnutrition, stress, infection, lack of preventative health care, injury, violent
victimization, unsafe housing; structural determinants: colonial legacy, oppressive aid structures, lack of
redistributive philosophy
education as a constrained choice - correct answer ✔✔little opportunity: fees, gender inequality,
unfavorable learning conditions as school and home; effect on health: unemployment or low - paying
jobs => poverty, unsafe jobs, inability to organize/advocate for self, stress, poor health related decision
making = safety, nutrition, lifestyle risks, care-seeking; structural determinants: lack of revenue to fund
public services, lack of mandates
social marginalization as a constrained choice - correct answer ✔✔low social statue, lack of civic
participation; social exclusion, lack of social capital; effect on health: stress, poor mental health,
violence, little support, low self-efficacy; structural determinants: lack of state protections for certain
groups, reinforcement of cultural stigmas and discrimination, historical legacies
physical dangers as a constrained choice - correct answer ✔✔unsafe transportation or workplace
condition, environmental contamination, violence; effect on health: higher mortality rates in low-income
countries, greater stress/disadvantage for survivors of family; structural determinants: lack of regulation,
governance, prioritization of profit-makng
airline travel inequities - correct answer ✔✔first class is refreshed, economy is haggard; economy class
was bitter and frustrated, or cramped and uncomfortable
half of world's population - correct answer ✔✔owns 1% of world's wealth
capatilism - correct answer ✔✔means of production are privately owned; production operate on for-
profit basis; inputs/outputs/mechanisms of production are governed by "free market"; dominates globe
US - correct answer ✔✔established through revolutionary war in late 1700s; 3rd largest country and
most populated; no official language
correct answers
definition of health matter - correct answer ✔✔everyone is affected; impacts how a nation allocated
resources; determines goal of an intervention when health is absent
WHO definition of health - correct answer ✔✔Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
criticisms of WHO definition of health - correct answer ✔✔"state" rather than process; anything could
be considered as health/no boundaries; who's responsibility; ignores physical and social environment
illness - correct answer ✔✔subjective feeling of distress that accompanies disease; social meaning of
condition
disease - correct answer ✔✔objective conditions; presence of pathology or abnormality in part of the
body; symptoms may or may not be present
physical disabilities in US - correct answer ✔✔"differently abled"; receive special education resources;
entitled to accommodations in public places; protected from discrimination in hiring; medicaid benefits;
careers, marriages , kids, etc
disabilities in other parts of world - correct answer ✔✔e.g cleft palate sufferers: shunned, denied
education, no access to surgical correction, undernourished from difficulties in eating, barred from jobs,
moms who gave birth to them can be forced out of house
mental disabilities in US - correct answer ✔✔140,000 seriously mentally ill go homeless
timeline of cultural meaning of obesity - correct answer ✔✔obese is wealthy/ luxury to be lazy => lazy
=> uniformed about nutrition/heart health => diseased and need medical intervention=> unable to
access nutrition/fitness resources => poor, lacks resources, subject to "structural violence"
,assumptions of biomedical model - correct answer ✔✔illness is caused by disease; biological
mechanisms are sufficient to explain disease; body functions independent of mind; universal experience
of health everywhere; ridding body of disease will bring back health; field of medicine is neutral
race - correct answer ✔✔why do black women with breast caner have higher mortality rates than their
white counter parts?
virchow's recommendations to prussian government - correct answer ✔✔recommendations regarding
typhus epidemic; political reform and self-government including a local coordination of relief efforts;
education, liberty, and prosperity; economic reform; agricultural reforms (development of cooperatives);
building of roads; acceptance of polish as an official language (most citizens spoke it but gov made
schools and physicians use german); separation of church and state
determinants of health - correct answer ✔✔biological(immunological, genetic, injury-related);
behavioral; social; cultural; environmental; political; economic
direct/indirect effects of health - correct answer ✔✔family dynamics/support, housing, poverty, food
security, job opportunities, freedom from discrimination/racism, rights/regulations/rule of law, economic
prosperity, good government
construction worker fell to his death - correct answer ✔✔family dynamics/support: wife works nights,
baby feedings
housing: noisy apartment building with thin walls
poverty: must commute from low-rent area
food security: low-nutrition convenience foods
job opportunities: undocumented worker
discrimination/racism: unable to protest poor working conditions
laws/regulations: construction company lax on safety; graft
economics: economic downturn
governance: non-redistributive, non-intact welfare state
,social determinants of health - correct answer ✔✔behavior and access to social and economic resources
are foundation and determinants of health; social characteristics in which living tales place; factors
related to interactions among people and communities
structural determinants of health - correct answer ✔✔in addition to access to resources, control and
ownership over resources is ultimate factor in determining health of individuals and communities;
"societal"; political, economic, social, and cultural structures that shape health and health patters;
"causes of the causes"
social determinants = - correct answer ✔✔structural + daily circumstances; comprehensive conditions of
daily life which affect health = power structures: control and ownership of resources + living conditions,
circumstances availability of resources, interactions
social determinants include - correct answer ✔✔distribution of power, income, goods, and services
circumstances of peoples lives include access to health care, schools, and education; conditions of work
and leisure; state of housing and environment
health inequities - correct answer ✔✔avoidable disparities in health that orbit key determinants that are
systematically observes between two groups of people with different levels of underlying social privilege;
ex: wealth, power, or advantage
inequality - correct answer ✔✔not equal (strictly mathematical)
inequity - correct answer ✔✔implies injustice, lack of fairness
constrained choices - correct answer ✔✔history/life trajectory; agency; self-efficacy
"hunger-obesity paradox" constrained choices - correct answer ✔✔mass production, subsidization, and
marketing of food; most affordable food is calorie-dense and nutrient-poor (fast and convenience foods);
obesity/type II diabetes/ nutrient deficiencies
constrained choices: income, education, prestige/status/social marginalization, physical danger/violence;
philosophy development depends on capitalism, promotion of private industry --> food policy, calorie-
dense, nutrient poor food, diet related health problems
, income as a constrained choice - correct answer ✔✔extreme poverty: < US $1/day; social standing - lack
of empowerment, security, dignity, etc; material deprivation = lack of clean water, sanitation, shelter,
food, etc.; effect on health: malnutrition, stress, infection, lack of preventative health care, injury, violent
victimization, unsafe housing; structural determinants: colonial legacy, oppressive aid structures, lack of
redistributive philosophy
education as a constrained choice - correct answer ✔✔little opportunity: fees, gender inequality,
unfavorable learning conditions as school and home; effect on health: unemployment or low - paying
jobs => poverty, unsafe jobs, inability to organize/advocate for self, stress, poor health related decision
making = safety, nutrition, lifestyle risks, care-seeking; structural determinants: lack of revenue to fund
public services, lack of mandates
social marginalization as a constrained choice - correct answer ✔✔low social statue, lack of civic
participation; social exclusion, lack of social capital; effect on health: stress, poor mental health,
violence, little support, low self-efficacy; structural determinants: lack of state protections for certain
groups, reinforcement of cultural stigmas and discrimination, historical legacies
physical dangers as a constrained choice - correct answer ✔✔unsafe transportation or workplace
condition, environmental contamination, violence; effect on health: higher mortality rates in low-income
countries, greater stress/disadvantage for survivors of family; structural determinants: lack of regulation,
governance, prioritization of profit-makng
airline travel inequities - correct answer ✔✔first class is refreshed, economy is haggard; economy class
was bitter and frustrated, or cramped and uncomfortable
half of world's population - correct answer ✔✔owns 1% of world's wealth
capatilism - correct answer ✔✔means of production are privately owned; production operate on for-
profit basis; inputs/outputs/mechanisms of production are governed by "free market"; dominates globe
US - correct answer ✔✔established through revolutionary war in late 1700s; 3rd largest country and
most populated; no official language
