Health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease and opportunities for health that are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations. These inequities are not random but are driven by underlying structural factors—policies, laws, and societal norms—that shape our healthcare system and communities. For pharmacists, understanding these drivers is essential for providing equitable care and advocating for systemic change. This quiz will test your knowledge of these foundational public health concepts as they apply to pharmacy practice.
1. A “health disparity” is best defined as:
- A difference in health outcomes that is solely based on a patient’s genetic predispositions.
- A preventable difference in health outcomes that is closely linked with social, economic, or environmental disadvantage.
- The normal variation in health status between individuals of different ages.
- A situation where a patient disagrees with their physician’s recommendation.
Answer: A preventable difference in health outcomes that is closely linked with social, economic, or environmental disadvantage.
2. A “structural driver” of health disparities refers to:
- A patient’s individual lifestyle choices, such as diet and exercise.
- The way societies function, including policies, economic systems, and societal values that systematically disadvantage certain groups.
- The brand of medication a patient is prescribed.
- A hospital’s architectural design.
Answer: The way societies function, including policies, economic systems, and societal values that systematically disadvantage certain groups.
3. Which of the following is a classic example of a “social determinant of health”?
- A patient’s heart rate.
- The type of health insurance a patient has.
- A patient’s access to safe housing and nutritious food.
- A patient’s preferred pharmacy.
Answer: A patient’s access to safe housing and nutritious food.
4. The historical practice of “redlining” in the United States, which denied services to residents of certain neighborhoods based on their racial or ethnic makeup, is a prime example of a:
- Personal preference.
- Random occurrence.
- Structural driver that created long-lasting health disparities.
- Healthcare policy designed to improve equity.
Answer: Structural driver that created long-lasting health disparities.
5. A “pharmacy desert” refers to a community with limited access to a pharmacy. This is a structural barrier that most directly impacts a patient’s ability to:
- Obtain necessary medications.
- Receive a medical diagnosis.
- Afford health insurance.
- Follow a healthy diet.
Answer: Obtain necessary medications.
6. The ethical principle of “Justice,” as described in the Belmont Report, is most directly challenged by:
- The existence of health disparities.
- The development of new, effective medications.
- The use of informed consent in research.
- The need for pharmacists to maintain their professional competence.
Answer: The existence of health disparities.
7. A policy that ties public school funding to local property taxes can become a structural driver of health disparities by:
- Creating inequities in education, which is a key social determinant of long-term health.
- Ensuring all children have access to the same quality of education.
- Improving the health of all students.
- Lowering the cost of housing in all neighborhoods.
Answer: Creating inequities in education, which is a key social determinant of long-term health.
8. The concept of “health equity” is best described as:
- Providing every individual with the exact same healthcare resources.
- The state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health.
- A focus only on treating diseases.
- A system where healthcare is free for everyone.
Answer: The state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health.
9. How can a pharmacist’s “geriatric sensitivity” help mitigate health disparities?
- By recognizing that ageism is a structural bias and adapting care to the unique needs of older adults.
- By treating all older adults as if they are frail and confused.
- By assuming all geriatric patients have the same health goals.
- By only speaking to the patient’s caregiver.
Answer: By recognizing that ageism is a structural bias and adapting care to the unique needs of older adults.
10. A patient’s “health literacy” is their ability to obtain, process, and understand health information. Low health literacy is often a consequence of:
- A lack of personal motivation.
- Structural factors like educational inequities.
- A genetic condition.
- A preference for alternative medicine.
Answer: Structural factors like educational inequities.
11. Which of the following is a primary domain of Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) as defined by Healthy People 2030?
- Genetic and biologic factors.
- Economic Stability.
- Patient compliance.
- The number of hospitals in a state.
Answer: Economic Stability.
12. A patient who cannot afford their medication due to a high copay is facing a barrier in which SDOH domain?
- Social and Community Context
- Health Care Access and Quality
- Economic Stability
- Neighborhood and Built Environment
Answer: Economic Stability
13. A hospital policy that requires all patient education materials to be written at a high reading level can create a disparity for individuals with:
- Low health literacy.
- Excellent vision.
- A college education.
- Good health insurance.
Answer: Low health literacy.
14. A pharmacist advocates for expanding the scope of practice to allow for “test and treat” services. This policy change could reduce disparities by:
- Increasing the cost of care for everyone.
- Improving access to care for common conditions, especially for patients with transportation or time-off-work barriers.
- Limiting the number of patients a pharmacy can see.
- Making healthcare more complex.
Answer: Improving access to care for common conditions, especially for patients with transportation or time-off-work barriers.
15. The lack of reliable public transportation in a neighborhood is a structural barrier that falls under which SDOH domain?
- Education Access and Quality
- Neighborhood and Built Environment
- Economic Stability
- Health Care Access and Quality
Answer: Neighborhood and Built Environment
16. An example of a pharmacist addressing the “Social and Community Context” domain of SDOH is:
- Recommending a lower-cost generic medication.
- Adjusting a dose based on a patient’s renal function.
- Connecting an isolated older adult with a local senior center.
- Counseling a patient on how to use an inhaler.
Answer: Connecting an isolated older adult with a local senior center.
17. “Implicit bias” in healthcare refers to:
- The conscious and intentional discrimination against a patient.
- The attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding and actions in an unconscious manner.
- A hospital’s official policy of treating all patients equally.
- A patient’s preference for a specific doctor.
Answer: The attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding and actions in an unconscious manner.
18. How can a lack of health insurance, a policy-driven factor, create health disparities?
- It can lead to delayed diagnosis and treatment, resulting in poorer health outcomes.
- It ensures that everyone receives the same quality of care.
- It has no effect on a person’s health.
- It encourages people to use the emergency department for primary care.
Answer: It can lead to delayed diagnosis and treatment, resulting in poorer health outcomes.
19. A pharmacist providing care to a patient and their caregiver must be sensitive to the fact that:
- Caregivers are always well-rested and have no stress.
- The caregiver’s own health and well-being are part of the patient’s social support system.
- The caregiver’s opinion is always more important than the patient’s.
- Caregivers do not need any information or support.
Answer: The caregiver’s own health and well-being are part of the patient’s social support system.
20. A pharmacist can advocate for health equity at the practice level by:
- Ensuring the pharmacy is physically accessible to people with disabilities.
- Offering translation services for patients with limited English proficiency.
- Using patient-centered communication for all patients.
- All of the above.
Answer: All of the above.
21. A “food desert,” an area with limited access to affordable and nutritious food, is a structural factor that can directly contribute to:
- Higher rates of chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension.
- Improved cardiovascular health.
- Lower rates of obesity.
- Equal health outcomes for all residents.
Answer: Higher rates of chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension.
22. The pharmacist’s role as the most accessible healthcare provider makes them uniquely positioned to:
- Identify and help mitigate the impact of social determinants of health on their patients.
- Diagnose all medical conditions.
- Ignore the social factors that affect health.
- Prescribe any medication without a physician’s order.
Answer: Identify and help mitigate the impact of social determinants of health on their patients.
23. The distribution of environmental hazards, like pollution-emitting factories, in low-income and minority communities is an example of:
- A fair and equitable urban planning policy.
- Environmental racism, a structural driver of health disparities.
- A natural and random occurrence.
- A public health success story.
Answer: Environmental racism, a structural driver of health disparities.
24. A pharmacist’s advocacy for “provider status” is fundamentally an effort to change a ________ that currently limits patient access to their clinical services.
- Healthcare policy
- Clinical guideline
- Pharmacy workflow
- Dispensing law
Answer: Healthcare policy
25. When a pharmacist uses “person-first” language (e.g., “a person with diabetes” vs. “a diabetic”), they are:
- Using a communication technique that respectfully acknowledges the person before their diagnosis.
- Being less accurate in their description.
- Wasting time with politically correct language.
- Making the patient feel defined by their disease.
Answer: Using a communication technique that respectfully acknowledges the person before their diagnosis.
26. The “digital divide” can worsen health disparities by:
- Limiting access to telehealth services and online health information for those without reliable internet or digital literacy.
- Making telehealth available to everyone equally.
- Ensuring that all patient portals are easy to use.
- Providing all older adults with free smartphones.
Answer: Limiting access to telehealth services and online health information for those without reliable internet or digital literacy.
27. A lack of cultural competence in a healthcare provider can be a driver of disparities by:
- Ensuring all patients feel respected and understood.
- Leading to miscommunication and a breakdown in the therapeutic relationship.
- Improving medication adherence.
- It is not a factor in health disparities.
Answer: Leading to miscommunication and a breakdown in the therapeutic relationship.
28. Why is it important for a pharmacist to understand the “money trail” of the US healthcare system?
- To understand how financial incentives and reimbursement policies can create or reduce disparities.
- To help patients invest in pharmaceutical stocks.
- It is not important for a pharmacist to understand this.
- To learn how to maximize their personal income.
Answer: To understand how financial incentives and reimbursement policies can create or reduce disparities.
29. A pharmacist who leads an initiative to provide free blood pressure screenings at a community center in an underserved neighborhood is:
- Engaging in public health advocacy to reduce disparities.
- Wasting pharmacy resources.
- Practicing outside their scope.
- Creating a new health disparity.
Answer: Engaging in public health advocacy to reduce disparities.
30. The disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on minority communities was a stark example of:
- How underlying structural disparities in housing, employment, and healthcare access can lead to worse outcomes in a public health crisis.
- A random event with no connection to social factors.
- A failure of individual responsibility.
- A problem that was solved quickly and easily.
Answer: How underlying structural disparities in housing, employment, and healthcare access can lead to worse outcomes in a public health crisis.
31. The concept of “intersectionality” in health disparities refers to:
- The way that different forms of discrimination (e.g., based on race, gender, and class) can overlap and create unique health disadvantages.
- A type of highway interchange near a hospital.
- The point where two medications interact.
- The idea that all forms of disadvantage are separate and do not influence each other.
Answer: The way that different forms of discrimination (e.g., based on race, gender, and class) can overlap and create unique health disadvantages.
32. A pharmacist practicing in an Indian Health Service (IHS) facility is working within a system designed to address:
- The health needs of all Americans equally.
- The specific and often disparate health outcomes of American Indian and Alaska Native populations.
- The care of military veterans.
- The pharmaceutical needs of a single hospital.
Answer: The specific and often disparate health outcomes of American Indian and Alaska Native populations.
33. What is the role of evidence evaluation in addressing health disparities?
- To recognize that clinical trials often lack diversity, and their results may not be generalizable to all populations.
- To assume that evidence applies equally to everyone.
- To ignore all evidence from clinical trials.
- To only use evidence from studies conducted before 1990.
Answer: To recognize that clinical trials often lack diversity, and their results may not be generalizable to all populations.
34. The pharmacist’s role in a “medical-legal partnership” would involve:
- Providing legal advice to patients.
- Identifying health problems that are caused or exacerbated by legal needs (e.g., poor housing conditions) and referring patients to legal aid.
- Suing doctors for malpractice.
- Defending the pharmacy against lawsuits.
Answer: Identifying health problems that are caused or exacerbated by legal needs (e.g., poor housing conditions) and referring patients to legal aid.
35. A policy that funds trauma centers based on population density can inadvertently create a disparity by:
- Leaving rural and less populated areas without adequate access to emergency trauma care.
- Ensuring all citizens have equal access to trauma care.
- Placing trauma centers only in wealthy neighborhoods.
- Overfunding all hospitals equally.
Answer: Leaving rural and less populated areas without adequate access to trauma care.
36. A trauma-informed approach to care, which is crucial for addressing health disparities, recognizes that:
- A patient’s past experiences with trauma can impact their health and engagement with the healthcare system.
- Trauma is not a relevant factor in a patient’s health.
- All patients have experienced the same types of trauma.
- Only physical trauma affects health.
Answer: A patient’s past experiences with trauma can impact their health and engagement with a healthcare system.
37. How can polypharmacy in the elderly be considered a health disparity issue?
- Because it is a sign of excellent healthcare.
- Because the risk of adverse drug events from polypharmacy may fall more heavily on older adults with poor access to a pharmacist for medication management.
- All older adults are on the same number of medications.
- Polypharmacy is not a health disparity issue.
Answer: Because the risk of adverse drug events from polypharmacy may fall more heavily on older adults with poor access to a pharmacist for medication management.
38. The “Leadership Interview Assignment” can shed light on health disparities by:
- Allowing students to hear how current pharmacy leaders are working to address systemic issues in their practice.
- Focusing only on the financial success of the leader.
- Being a requirement for graduation.
- Helping students to practice their interviewing skills.
Answer: Allowing students to hear how current pharmacy leaders are working to address systemic issues in their practice.
39. A pharmacist can advocate against structural disparities at the state level by:
- Supporting their state pharmacy association’s legislative efforts.
- Contacting their state representative about a bill that impacts health equity.
- Providing testimony at a Board of Pharmacy hearing.
- All of the above.
Answer: All of the above.
40. The ultimate goal of addressing structural drivers of health disparities is to:
- Create a system where every individual has the opportunity to achieve their full health potential.
- Ensure all pharmacists are paid the same salary.
- Eliminate all differences in health between people.
- Make healthcare more complex and expensive.
Answer: Create a system where every individual has the opportunity to achieve their full health potential.
41. How does a lack of paid sick leave, an employment policy, contribute to health disparities?
- It forces hourly workers to choose between their health and their income, often leading to delayed care and increased spread of communicable diseases.
- It encourages employees to take better care of themselves to avoid getting sick.
- It has no effect on health outcomes.
- It affects all workers equally.
Answer: It forces hourly workers to choose between their health and their income, often leading to delayed care and increased spread of communicable diseases.
42. A pharmacist who uses a professional medical interpreter for a patient with limited English proficiency is:
- Taking an unnecessary step that slows down workflow.
- Mitigating a common structural barrier to equitable care.
- Violating HIPAA by involving a third party.
- Providing a service that is not reimbursable.
Answer: Mitigating a common structural barrier to equitable care.
43. The “Food is Medicine” movement, which pharmacists can support, addresses health disparities by:
- Recognizing the link between nutrition, chronic disease, and food insecurity.
- Prescribing medication for all nutritional deficiencies.
- Suggesting that all patients should grow their own food.
- Focusing only on the caloric content of food.
Answer: Recognizing the link between nutrition, chronic disease, and food insecurity.
44. A pharmacist’s role in managing “Gerotechnology” can address disparities by:
- Ensuring that new health technologies are accessible and usable for older adults, preventing a “digital divide” from worsening health gaps.
- Recommending only the most expensive technologies.
- Assuming all older adults are proficient with technology.
- Focusing only on the challenges of technology.
Answer: Ensuring that new health technologies are accessible and usable for older adults, preventing a “digital divide” from worsening health gaps.
45. A “Trust in the Healthcare System” module highlights a key factor in health disparities, as:
- All patient populations have equal levels of trust in the healthcare system.
- Historical and ongoing experiences of discrimination can lead to mistrust, creating a barrier to seeking care for some populations.
- Trust is not a factor in a patient’s decision to seek care.
- The pharmacist’s role is to demand trust from their patients.
Answer: Historical and ongoing experiences of discrimination can lead to mistrust, creating a barrier to seeking care for some populations.
46. How does the “social gradient” in health describe a structural phenomenon?
- It shows that health outcomes generally improve at each step up the socioeconomic ladder, indicating a systemic link between social status and health.
- It proves that wealth has no connection to health.
- It is a measure of a country’s overall happiness.
- It is a tool for diagnosing rare diseases.
Answer: It shows that health outcomes generally improve at each step up the socioeconomic ladder, indicating a systemic link between social status and health.
47. A hospital policy that requires all patients to have a government-issued photo ID to receive services can create a disparity for:
- Wealthy individuals.
- Individuals experiencing homelessness or undocumented immigrants.
- Patients with private health insurance.
- All patients equally.
Answer: Individuals experiencing homelessness or undocumented immigrants.
48. A forward-thinking pharmacy practice addresses health disparities by:
- Proactively screening for social needs and connecting patients with community resources.
- Ignoring a patient’s social situation and focusing only on the prescription.
- Assuming all patients have the same resources and support systems.
- Locating the pharmacy only in affluent neighborhoods.
Answer: Proactively screening for social needs and connecting patients with community resources.
49. An understanding of health policy is critical for a pharmacist seeking to address disparities because:
- Policies often create and sustain the very inequities that harm patients.
- It is not relevant; pharmacists should only focus on clinical care.
- All health policies are designed to be perfectly equitable.
- It allows the pharmacist to find legal ways to ignore certain regulations.
Answer: Policies often create and sustain the very inequities that harm patients.
50. The concept of “forging ahead” in pharmacy practice is intrinsically linked to addressing health disparities because:
- Advancing practice means creating innovative care models that reach and serve all populations equitably.
- The future of pharmacy will have no disparities.
- It focuses on making services more exclusive and expensive.
- It is only about adopting new technology.
Answer: Advancing practice means creating innovative care models that reach and serve all populations equitably.
I am a Registered Pharmacist under the Pharmacy Act, 1948, and the founder of PharmacyFreak.com. I hold a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from Rungta College of Pharmaceutical Science and Research. With a strong academic foundation and practical knowledge, I am committed to providing accurate, easy-to-understand content to support pharmacy students and professionals. My aim is to make complex pharmaceutical concepts accessible and useful for real-world application.
Mail- Sachin@pharmacyfreak.com