Health Studies Level 3 flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Herd immunity threshold

The proportion of a population that must be immune to interrupt sustained transmission, calculated as 1 minus 1 divided by the basic reproduction number R0.

Incidence versus prevalence

Incidence is the number of new cases in a population at risk over a period. Prevalence is the total number of existing cases at a given time.

Sagittal plane

A vertical plane that divides the body into left and right portions. The midsagittal plane passes through the midline, creating equal halves.

Osteoblasts and osteoclasts

Osteoblasts are cells that build new bone matrix. Osteoclasts are cells that break down bone tissue. Their balance determines bone density.

Homeostasis

The maintenance of a stable internal environment within narrow limits despite external change, achieved through negative feedback involving sensors, control centres and effectors.

Cardiac output

The volume of blood pumped by the heart per minute, calculated as heart rate multiplied by stroke volume. Average adult resting output is about five litres per minute.

Activities of daily living

Everyday self-care tasks such as washing, dressing, feeding, toileting and mobility. Assessing them identifies the support a person needs for independent living.

Duty of care

A legal and professional obligation to act in the best interests of service users, avoid foreseeable harm, and report concerns through appropriate channels.

Energy value of macronutrients

Carbohydrate and protein supply about four kilocalories per gram, fat about nine, and alcohol about seven. These values are used in dietary calculations.

Body mass index

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Adult categories are underweight below 18.5, healthy 18.5 to 24.9, overweight 25 to 29.9, obese 30 and above.

Recovery model

A mental health approach centred on hope, identity, meaning and personal responsibility, where the person defines their own goals rather than symptom elimination alone.

Therapeutic communication

Purposeful interaction using open questions, active listening, reflection, paraphrasing and summarising to build trust and help a person explore their concerns.

Six safeguarding principles

From the Care Act 2014: empowerment, prevention, proportionality, protection, partnership and accountability. These guide all safeguarding decisions and enquiries.

Mental Capacity Act principles

Five statutory principles: presume capacity, support decision-making, respect unwise decisions, act in best interests, and choose the least restrictive option.

Sensitivity and specificity

Sensitivity is the proportion of people with the condition correctly identified by a test. Specificity is the proportion without the condition correctly identified.

Randomised controlled trial

A study where participants are randomly allocated to intervention or control groups. Randomisation balances known and unknown confounders and reduces selection bias.

Four ethical principles

Autonomy respects self-determination, beneficence promotes good, non-maleficence avoids harm, and justice demands fairness in distributing benefits and burdens.

Informed consent

Valid consent requires the person to have capacity, receive sufficient information, understand it, decide voluntarily, and retain the right to refuse.

Inverse care law

The principle that the availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the need for it in the population served.

Policy cycle

The stages of policy development: agenda setting, formulation, adoption, implementation, evaluation and revision. The cycle repeats as evidence and circumstances change.

Protected characteristics

The nine characteristics protected under the Equality Act 2010, including age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

Reasonable adjustments

Changes employers and service providers must make for disabled people, such as adapting premises, equipment, policies or communication, to remove disadvantage.

Equity versus equality

Equality means treating everyone the same. Equity means allocating resources according to need so that outcomes become fairer across groups.

Public Sector Equality Duty

A duty on public bodies to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between people with protected characteristics.

Integrated care systems

Partnerships of NHS, local authority and voluntary organisations that plan and deliver joined-up health and care services across a defined geographical area.

NHS Constitution

A document setting out the principles, values and rights underpinning the NHS, including access to services and involvement in decisions about care.

NICE guidance

Evidence-based recommendations produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, used to inform commissioning, clinical practice and quality standards.

Cultural competence

The combination of awareness of one's own cultural assumptions, knowledge of other cultures, and skills to adapt communication and care appropriately.

Intersectionality

The idea that overlapping social identities such as race, gender, class and disability combine to produce distinct experiences of advantage or disadvantage.

Positive predictive value

The proportion of people with a positive test result who actually have the condition. It depends on prevalence as well as test sensitivity and specificity.

Gibbs reflective cycle

A structured reflection with six stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. It supports learning from practice experience.

SBAR handover

A structured communication tool covering situation, background, assessment and recommendation, used to convey clinical information clearly and reduce misunderstandings.

Erikson's psychosocial stages

A lifespan theory of eight stages, each defined by a crisis such as trust versus mistrust in infancy and integrity versus despair in later life.