Day 2 exam in Aging and Health
Answer three of the following five questions.
1. (a) Describe general global trends in morbidity and mortality during the twentieth century. (b) What are the major social dimensions of differentials in morbidity and mortality that characterize developed nations, with particular reference to the United States? (c) Are racial and ethnic differentials in morbidity and mortality narrowing? What explanations have been offered for the persistence of racial and ethnic differentials in morbidity and mortality?
2. (a) Explain the concept of “the compression of morbidity.” What innovations in the general quality of life and health care might lead one to hold out hope that morbidity can be compressed? (b) Based on your review of the evidence has mortality been significantly compressed for particular subgroups of the population? (c) What are the major competing theories to compression? In your opinion, do any of these fit better with observed patterns of morbidity than the compression theory?
3. The holy grail of gerontology and geriatrics is to foster “healthful” or “successful” aging. (a) In general terms what might the concept of “healthful aging” refer to and what might be its major dimensions? (b) One of the major foci of aging research has been on the assessment of functional status. In general terms what does the concept of “function” refer to and how has it been operationalized? (c) Briefly describe the various general approaches to measuring functional status. Are any superior to the others or do they simply measure different aspects of functioning?
4. A growing body of research focuses on comparative cultural and social aspects of physical and mental health and aging. (a) Give some examples of comparative assessments of health among different cultural groups, social classes, or nations. (b) Discuss issues of comparability, both at the linguistic and conceptual (phenomenological) levels. What practices are employed to increase the level of comparability? (c) In your opinion what sorts of cross-cultural comparisons are defensible and which might be less so. For example, can one confidently assume that measures such as the CES-D or similar scales reflect the same underlying phenomenon in the U.S. and other nations and that rates of depression based on translated instruments can be directly compared?
5. Several studies have demonstrated a positive effect of health insurance coverage on health and illness outcomes, yet many Americans do not have access to public or private health coverage. (a) What are the major sources of health care coverage in the U.S. and how does access to coverage differ by subgroup? (b) What factors account for the low levels of health care utilization among Hispanics? Is the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) likely to help certain Hispanics obtain coverage? (c) Discuss the role of gender, immigration status, and citizenship on access to health coverage in the U.S.