Final Exam Study Guide

Sociology 457

You will answer FIVE of nine essay questions, each worth 20 points.

1. Physician-patient relations (one question)

1. Role of doctor as gate keeper vs. double agent
2. Influence of managed care on physician-patient interactions
3. Problem of information withholding before and after advent of managed care.

2. Social psychology & health psychology (one question)

1. Nature of influence of social relationships on health
2. Influence of stress on health: What are the effects, and how do they occur?
3. Subjective appraisal of stress vs. objective stress
4. Role and importance of social support

3. Cultural influences (one question)

1. Cultural differences in the vulnerability to stressors
2. Cultural differences in the manifestation of mental health
3. Role of culture in the interpretation of health-related experiences

4. U.S. Health care system (two questions)

1. General characteristics, e.g., pluralist, degree of public/private sector involvement
2. Recent development (pre-managed care period to present day managed care period)
3. Performance, e.g., in terms of public health, efficiency, technological progress, access etc.
4. Various funding sources in U.S. health care system
5. Knowledge of the roles of health care providers (physicians), individuals/patients, intermediaries (health insurance, managed care organizations), and the state.
6. Advantages and disadvantages of managed care/HMOs
7. Use idea of competing group interests (conflict theory) in understanding development of health care system
8. Where and how are market forces at work in the U.S. health care system?

5. Comparative health care systems (two questions)

1. Be able to outline for different ideal-typic model of health care systems (mutual-aid model, state model, professional model, corporatist model)
2. Be able to describe the role of health care providers (physicians), individuals/patients, intermediaries (health insurance, managed care organizations), and state in each of the ideal typic models.
3. Be able to compare the role, e.g., of health care providers (physicians), individuals/patients etc. in each of the four models
4. Be able to analyze the U.S. health care system with regard to how it draws on each of the above ideal-typic models
5. Basics of Canadian system and British system
6. Possible criteria for the evaluation of the performance of a health care system
7. Discussion of advantages and disadvantages of strong state involvement in the health care system

6. Alternative medicine (AM) (one question)

1. Characteristics of AM in comparison to mainstream medicine
2. Factors influencing acceptability of AM on the part of patients/individuals, health insurance & HMOs, medical profession and the state
3. Strengths and weaknesses of self-help groups

7. Medical technology (one question)

1. Is more medical technology always better for health and/or quality of life?
2. What kinds of ethical problems does increasingly sophisticated technology pose for the health care system?
3. What dangers/problems come with the identification of genes for specific disease/disorders?
4. What kind of group interests and group goals are relevant for medical technology