Epidemiology

The study of the distribution of disease within a population. epigenetic effect The combined effect of genes and environments on a trait or disease. eugenics The theory that the population should be “improved” through selective breeding and birth control. evidence-based medicine The use of medical therapies whose efficacy has been confirmed by large, randomized, controlled clinical studies. See also control. family leave programs Programs that allow individuals to take time off from work without risking their jobs to care for family members. Some programs offer paid leave; others offer only unpaid leave. fee-for-service The practice of paying doctors for each health care service they provide rather than paying them a salary. fee-for-service insurance Insurance that reimburses patients for all or part of the costs of the health care services they have purchased. feeling norms Socially defined expectations regarding the range, intensity, and duration of appropriate feelings and regarding how individuals should express those feelings in a given situation. feeling work Efforts made by individuals to avoid being labeled mentally ill by making their emotions match social expectations. Individuals can (1) change or reinterpret the situation that is causing their unacceptable feelings; (2) change their emotions physiologically through drugs, meditation, biofeedback, or other methods; (3) change their behavior, acting as if they feel more appropriate emotions than is actually the case; or (4) reinterpret their feelings, telling themselves, for example, that they are only tired rather than worried. feminization of aging The fact that women make up a larger proportion of the elderly than of younger age groups; the steady rise in the proportion of the population who are female at each successive age. fetal rights The growing body of legal, medical, and public opinion holding that fetuses have rights separate from and sometimes contrary to those of their mothers. financially progressive Describes any system in which poorer persons pay a smaller proportion of their income for a given good or service than do wealthier persons. financially regressive Describes any system in which poorer persons pay a larger proportion of their income for a given good or service than do wealthier persons. Flexner Report A report on the status of American medical education produced in 1910 by Abraham Flexner for the Carnegie Foundation. This report identified serious deficiencies in medical education and helped to produce substantial improvements in that system. for-profit, private hospitals Hospitals run with the primary goal of producing a profit each year for shareholders. formulary Official list of drugs that doctors in a managed care organization can prescribe without special authorization. See also managed care. functionalism View of society as a harmonious whole held together by socialization, mutual consent, and mutual interests.