Deck 31: Poverty and Homelessness

Question 1

Federal income guidelines are used primarily:

A) To determine financial eligibility for government assistance programs
B) For statistical purposes
C) To identify those with inadequate resources for basic needs
D) To provide guidelines for reform of social programs

Answer 1

To determine financial eligibility for government assistance programs

Question 2

Which of the following programs requires recipients to find jobs and/or enroll in job training programs?

A) Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
B) Medicaid
C) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
D) Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

Answer 2

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)

Question 3

Several variables such as personal beliefs, societal values, and cultural norms influence nurse's perceptions of homelessness. Nurses who work with homeless clients:

A) Should change their views on homelessness before encountering persons from this group
B) Need to understand the concepts of homelessness from a conceptual perspective
C) Will need special training in where to locate homeless people
D) Should have mental health background to adequately work with this group

Answer 3

Need to understand the concepts of homelessness from a conceptual perspective

Question 4

Which of the following was considered undeserving poor during the industrial revolution?

A) Widowed women
B) Orphaned children
C) Mentally ill
D) Injured laborers

Question 5

Persons and families whose income is above the federal income guidelines but insufficient to meet living expenses are often called:

A) In persistent poverty
B) Near poor
C) Impoverished
D) Neighborhood poverty

Question 6

Ideas about the world that an individual believes to be true are called:

A) Knowledge
B) Cultural attitudes
C) Personal beliefs
D) Media discourses

Question 7

Deinstitutionalization of chronically mentally ill individuals from public psychiatric hospitals increased the number of homeless persons. The original goal of deinstitutionalization was to:

A) Reduce state costs of caring for the chronically mentally ill
B) Replace large state psychiatric hospitals with community-based treatment programs
C) Modernize psychiatric hospitals
D) Allow mentally ill persons to live on their own to test their life skills

Question 8

Which of the following actions can the nurse take to break down the barriers between the nurse and people who live in poverty?

A) Maintain a strict professional demeanor
B) Call the client by name
C) Keep client appointments as scheduled
D) Smile and be friendly to clients

Question 9

The causes of poverty are complex and interrelated. Which of the following factors affect the growing number of poor persons in the United States?

A) Increased earnings
B) Changes in the labor force
C) Better education and job skills
D) Adequate welfare benefits

Question 10

Nurses might evaluate their beliefs, values, and knowledge about poverty by being placed in which of the following situations?

A) A client asking for a small amount of money at a clinic
B) Setting up a homeless shelter
C) Making a home visit to a home that is unkempt
D) Reading about poverty in a textbook

Question 11

Which of the following is issued by the U.S. Census Bureau?

A) Poverty thresholds
B) Consumer Price Index (CPI)
C) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
D) Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

Question 12

Nonsupporting custodial parents are required to provide financial support to their children by federal law. Financial responsibility is based on an assumption that the noncustodial parent is working full-time. Which of the following is often true about low-income parents?

A) Many parents were never married and have intermittent work histories.
B) Most noncustodial parents do not want to support their children.
C) Noncustodial parents are deadbeats.
D) Support for children is covered by welfare; therefore, noncustodial parents are not obligated to pay child support.

Question 13

Poverty refers to having insufficient financial resources to meet basic living expenses. Meanings of poverty differ across cultures. Which of the following is true?

A) All cultures view poverty as a pitiful existence.
B) Most cultures want to improve the plight of the poor.
C) Dangerous environments are present in all cultures.
D) Western cultures view poverty negatively, while other cultures often respect the poor.

Question 14

Nurses encounter poor persons, families, and populations in a variety of settings. To provide effective care nurses should:

A) Move to the area where people are living to understand their plight
B) Understand the concept of poverty on many levels
C) Take a trip abroad to see how poverty exists in other countries
D) Become fully immersed in the concept of poverty for at least a year

Question 15

Which of the following groups has the highest rate of poverty?

A) Children
B) Teenagers
C) Women
D) Elderly

Question 16

Which of the following is true of the Elizabethan Poor Laws?

A) Established in the eighteenth century
B) Originated in Spain
C) Communities worked together to assist the poor
D) Poor travelers were shipped back to their original community

Question 17

The public health nurse is taking care of a poor family, whose parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents also have been poor. This is called:

A) Near poor
B) Persistent poor
C) Impoverished
D) Neighborhood poverty

Question 18

Which of the following elderly groups is at significantly greater risk for chronic and nutritionally related disease due to the effects of poverty?

A) Caucasian
B) Hispanic
C) Asian
D) African American

Question 19

Which of the following is a barrier that may prevent nurses from fully engaging in relationships with people who come from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds?

A) Fears and misconceptions of nurses related to poverty
B) A lack of tangible and emotional resources to overcome the barriers
C) Lack of knowledge about people who live in poverty
D) Perception that the poor don't need to be poor

Question 20

Poverty directly affects health and well-being. Which of the following is true? Persons living in poverty have:

A) Longer life expectancy
B) Simple health problems
C) Higher rates of chronic illness
D) Fewer hospitalizations

Question 21

It is difficult to know the exact number of homeless persons in any community. Some of the reasons include which of the following? Select all that apply.

A) Homeless people refuse to provide demographical information.
B) Many homeless people refuse to be interviewed or hide the fact that they are homeless.
C) It is difficult to generalize from one location to another.
D) Some persons experience short intervals of homelessness.

Question 22

The community health nurse would consider a person in which of the following situations in crisis poverty?

A) Episodic homelessness
B) Physical disability
C) Mental disability
D) Drug abuse

Question 23

Subsidized housing for vulnerable population groups is defined as:

A) Low income
B) Supportive
C) Emergency
D) Adequate

Question 24

Which of the following would be categorized under both primary and tertiary prevention?

A) Emergency shelter housing
B) Physical/mental health services
C) Targeted case management
D) Needle exchange program

Question 25

Poor neighborhoods are more likely to have which of the following?

A) Fewer minority groups
B) Exposure to environmental hazards
C) More available health care
D) Lower rates of crime and substance abuse

Question 26

Affordable housing that is available to all persons is defined as:

A) Low income
B) Supportive
C) Emergency
D) Adequate

Question 27

An example of secondary prevention when working with the homeless is:

A) Employer incentives
B) Safe sex education
C) Comprehensive case management
D) Soup kitchens

Question 28

Shelters for persons who are already homeless are defined as:

A) Low income
B) Supportive
C) Emergency
D) Adequate

Question 29

Counting the number of persons who are homeless at a particular point in time is called:

A) Census
B) Point prevalence
C) Community assessment
D) Local survey

Question 30

An example of primary prevention when working with the homeless is:

A) Emergency housing
B) Drug and alcohol treatment
C) Effective job training program
D) Comprehensive case management

Question 31

The community health nurse would consider a person in which of the following situations in persistent poverty?

A) Severe mental illness
B) Transient homelessness
C) Victim of domestic violence
D) Temporary housing

Question 32

Which of the following is true of homelessness?

A) Homeless are not found in rural areas
B) Gentrification can lead to homelessness
C) Deinstitutionalization led to a small number of homeless
D) Community-based clinics provide much needed health care

Question 33

Which of the following statements regarding the effects of homelessness on health is accurate?

A) Peripheral vascular disease and hypertension are lessened by the lifestyle of the homeless.
B) The incidence and virulence of infections are decreasing among the homeless.
C) Trauma is a significant cause of death and disability.
D) Crowded living conditions result in decreased risk for exposure to infections.

Question 34

Cultural attitudes are beliefs and perspectives a society values. Perspectives regarding thoughts and attitudes are often portrayed in the media. Which of the following might influence society's beliefs about poor persons? Select all that apply.

A) Poor persons are often cast as lazy, shiftless folk.
B) Visions of poor people receiving food at soup kitchens.
C) Criminals portrayed as poor, desperate persons.
D) Homeless people sleeping on park benches.
E) None of the above

Question 35

When compared to the general population, the seroprevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the homeless is estimated to be:

A) The same
B) At least double
C)5 times more
D) 3 times more