Discussion Questions (General)

1. What are the benefits and the problems of the WHO’s definition of health as including physical, mental, and social well-being, and not simply the absence of disease?
2. Can you provide some examples of people whose physical health is compromised or unaffected by mental health problems, and vice versa?
3. Describe the relation between socioeconomic status and mortality.
4. Describe the relation between ethnicity and mortality.
5. Are physical and mental health similarly related to socioeconomic and ethnic status? What is the one exception to this pattern?
6. How is the health of children and adolescents affected if the parents are in lower-SES or ethnic minority groups?
7. Why is adolescence a pivotal period for health behavior?
8. Why are high education level and health literacy so closely associated with maintaining good health?
9. Name four pathways that explain how social status may influence an individual’s health. Give an example for each.
10. How might you try to prevent poor health by changing characteristics of each pathway to make it more health promoting?
11. Is there any evidence for or against the idea that being a target of racism is stressful, resulting in poor health?
12. What is culturally competent care? How does it improve a person’s health?
13. Why have cognitive-behavioral techniques and motivational interviewing become important strategies for effecting changes in health behaviors?
14. How have lifestyle behaviors such as diet and exercise been targeted for change among minority communities?
15. Could changes in lifestyle behaviors such as diet, exercise, and alcohol consumption improve mental health? Why?