“Wealth equals health.” A statement from Tony Iton in the Unnatural Casual Series “In Sickness and in Wealth.” In my opinion, this proclamation can describe much of America. I disagree with the argument that education is the most important influence on health. Several factors intertwine together to determine someone’s health, but a person’s social status and the social structure of our society are the most important. Social status and the social structure we live in are the most important factors in determining someone’s health because of the location they live in, the amount of stress they have in their lives, and sadly the color of their skin and what ethnicity they belong to. A major way that socioeconomic status can impact health is the …show more content…
location that people of low socioeconomic status live in due to their low-income level. People with a low SES normally live in very poor, dangerous neighborhoods. As the video states, these neighborhoods are the results of policies or absence of policies that have created inequality for the people that live there. An example of this in the video identified low SES neighborhoods have more liquor stores and tobacco shops than affluent neighborhoods, two places that can only hurt a person’s health. New research from the University of Western Australia has shown people who have more liquor stores in their neighborhood have higher levels of harmful drinking and worse mental health than neighborhoods without as many liquor stores. [“Health issues linked,” 2013] Low-income neighborhoods also don’t have access to water and air that is as clean as high-income neighborhoods, which both have shown to increase health in the long run. The American Lung Association states that low socioeconomic status is becoming more commonly associated with higher air pollution areas. The most common reasoning behind this is the area where these people live is close to major pollution sources like factories. [“Disparities in the Impact,” 2017] There are also many fast food options and not as many supermarket choices as neighborhoods of high SES. In the long-term view, this can lead to very poor diet choices. A study from Kansas State University states that restaurants near public housing developments and poor neighborhoods have more unhealthy food options for their customers. (Kansas State University, 2014] The study also says that the reasoning behind this is low-income areas have more fast food restaurants than table service restaurants. To make circumstances worse, unhealthy food is also cheaper than healthy food. One of the scenes in the video that really opened my eyes showed Mary, a person of low SES, purchasing groceries for her family. Mary had to buy the cheaper, yet unhealthier food option for her family. She is able to stay under her food budget doing this, however her family is getting unhealthy food that can impact their health in the long run. When you include the incentive to eat fast food on top of that, people of a low SES may find it challenging to eat a healthy diet. People who belong to a low socioeconomic status frequently deal with more stress than affluent people. “The tremendous growth and success of the stress paradigm has added considerably to the evidence for an association between social conditions and disease” [Link and Phelan, 1995] There are many ways that people of a low SES can experience stress, such as being poor and having job insecurities. Stress comes with every job, however people of low SES typically have low quality jobs that require nonstop attention and involve hectic situations on a daily basis. This has shown to add up in the long run and heightens the chances for diseases. [Link and Phelan, 1995] Individuals with a low-paying job also don’t have much control of their daily job environment. A portion of the video that truly opened my eyes was the scene where the doctor showed the results of a macaque’s artery that was impacted by chronic stress and had little control over their environment compared to an artery of a macaque that didn’t have much stress and was dominant. It was very shocking to actually see the results of stress, as the stressed macaque’s artery was very narrow in comparison to the other macaque. According to the University of Rochester Health Center, long term stress can increase blood pressure and cholesterol and may later lead to heart disease. [“Stress Can Increase,” 2017] Tying back to my first point, the area these people live in can be very dangerous and may add more stress to their lives, particularly for families with children.
Violence can be very common in low-income neighborhoods, as the National Crime Victimization Survey of 2014 found that individuals of low-income households had more than double the rate of being the victim of a violent crime compared to those of high-income households. [Truman & Langton, 2015] This can create a long-term pattern of chronic stress. Our body’s stress response is designed to handle stress at a short-term level, so living with this amount of stress daily can increase the chances of developing a disease. People of a low SES are also likely to stress about the possibility of a poverty trigger, which could send them deeper into poverty. Another big influence of stress can come from the color of skin someone has and the racial discrimination that comes with …show more content…
it. Finally, the color of your skin and the ethnicity you belong is another big factor in determining an individual’s SES, which as you know impacts their health. “According to the research, if you’re an African American, regardless of what your social status [or SES], your health outcomes are going to be worse than your white counterpart.” This was a statement from Dr. Adewale Troutman in the video, and when I first heard it I couldn’t help from feeling shocked. “Why does someone’s skin color determine how healthy they will be in their life?” I kept asking myself. Much the same as the video stated, my first thought was genetics was behind this, however that is not the case. I came to the conclusion that racial discrimination can really impact a person’s health. Racial discrimination is a major reason why people of color can experience better chances of disease.
Racial discrimination can lead to depression as well as added stress to people’s lives, which you know can lead to higher chances of diseases. Unequal social conditions, such as nutrition and medical care can play a big role in the health of people of color. As the textbook states, white patients are more likely than their counterparts to receive knee placement or coronary bypass surgery, as well as a better chance to obtain a cardiac catheterization. These two examples of unintentional discrimination can immensely diminish the health of minority groups in the long run. [Henslin, 2016] Due to the structure of our society, racial discrimination can be a key determinant of someone’s SES, which as you now know plays a big factor in determining someone’s health. According to U.S. Poverty Statistics, African Americans and Hispanics have twice the poverty rate of non-Hispanic whites. [U.S. Poverty Statistics, 2016] While this stat is very shocking, I feel that is more important to dive into why our society is this
way. Both individual and institutional discrimination can impact a person’s SES and their health. An individual of a minority group can experience institutional racism through health care, as the textbook states that during childbirth, African American mothers are three times as likely to die as white mothers, and their babies are twice as likely to die during their first few years of life. [Henslin, 2016] Individual discrimination can also impact SES, as people of a minority group are less likely to get hired and will receive a lower income on average compared to their white counterpart. In the long-term view, this can certainly hurt the income of people of color, which again as you know can diminish their health. I do feel that education does play a role in the health of Americans, just not as important as a person’s socioeconomic status. I felt that S. Leonard Syme did a great job of explaining how I feel at the 23:00 mark in the video, where he said all the factors that determine health are, “all intertwined.” Someone with a good education may have a better chance of being healthier than someone who doesn’t, however I can think of many unhealthy people with an education or are overweight due to improper diet decisions. These decisions can’t be blamed on their education level, because there are many reasons that influence their choices. Also, I feel that is essential to note that education and income usually go hand-in-hand. The U.S. Poverty Statistics found that only 5% of adults with a college degree are in poverty, while 31% of adults with no high school education are stuck in poverty. [U.S. Poverty Statistics, 2016] I feel that the articles didn’t necessarily agree with each other exactly, however they both agree that there are multiple factors that need to be taken into consideration to determine someone’s health. The way that low SES live in our society is becoming increasingly more of a problem in my opinion. There are many factors that come together to determine someone’s health and their life expectancy, with education being one of them. However, I believe that socioeconomic status and the social structure we live in play a bigger role in determining someone’s health than education does because of the area that low SES people live in, the amount of stress it puts on people, and sadly the color of your skin due to the structure of the society.
I chose not to use any of the prompts provided, but instead connect the article to what I learned in my sociology class lass quarter. In class we watched part one of film series of Unnatural causes, titled Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making us Sick "In Sickness and in Wealth". While reading the article this reminded me about the cases studied in the film to see whether wealth inequality contributes to making people sick. In the film they focused on the social determinants of health, wealth and education. In both the article and part one of the film Unnatural Causes they focused on three different individuals and how their health are affected by they choices they make and the access they have to care.
Wilkinson, R. G., & Marmot, M. G. (2003). Social determinants of health: The solid facts.
Cohn, Jay N., The Use of Race and Ethnicity in Medicine: Lessons from the African-American Heart Failure Trial, J.L. Med. & Ethics, Race and Ethnicity, Fall 2006, p 552-554.
Though social problems affect a wide variety of people from all races, classes, and cultures; minorities, specifically African Americans, encounter social problems on a multi-dimensional basis. Poverty, employment rates, discrimination, and other social problems strike African Americans in such a way that it is nearly impossible to separate them; each individual has different background, socially and physically, that would determine in which order his or her social problems need to be solved. Impoverished blacks in the inner city may have difficulty finding or keeping jobs, while others may have jobs, but face troubles with work discrimination that prevent them from moving upward .Underemployment, workplace inequalities, and unbalanced medical attention are three closely related social problems that, if ameliorated together, could increase upward mobility, decrease poverty levels, and tighten the lifespan gaps for not only blacks, but also other minority groups. The purpose of this paper is to show what effects these three problems have for blacks.
The video “In Sickness and In Wealth” is about how healthy your body is connected to your means of health. In this video it views the life of four individuals with different lifestyles and different levels of income. In this video it displays the life of a CEO, lab supervisor, janitor and unemployed mother, all from Louisville, Kentucky. It explained how their social class affect their standard of living as well as their health. In this video demonstrate how social class shapes access to control, resources and opportunity, resulting in a health-wealth incline.
The disparities in the healthcare system contribute to the overall health status disparities that affect ethnic and racial minorities. The sources of ethnic and racial healthcare disparities include cultural barriers, geography differences, or healthcare provider stereotyping. In addition, difficulties in communication between health care providers and patients, lack of access to healthcare providers, and lack of access to adequate health care coverage
If we were to apply a longitude exposure study over the span of 42 years from the time an inner-city child is born, we may conclude that life experiences resulting from potential malnutrition, underprivileged environments, and overall lack of health education are the leading contributors to adult African American deaths. Studies show that 8 of the 10 leading causes in the deaths of African Americans are medical disease, which with proper education and care may have been prevented and/or addressed earlier in their life to diagnose and treat. The fact is Heart Disease is the leading cause of deaths for African Americans. When compared to other ethnicities, some form of heart disease causes 24.5% of African American deaths. These numbers are astounding considering Blacks make up approximately only 14.2% of the total U.S. population. The contributing factor is lack of knowledge and family medical screening. Understanding the history of your genial line specific to your race and ...
Studies have analyzed how African Americans deal with an enormous amount of disease, injury, death, and disability compared to other ethnic group, and whites, Utilization of health services by African Americans is less frequent than other ethnic groups in the country. This non utilization of services contributes to health disparities amongst African Americans in the United States. Current and past studies have shown that because of discrimination, medical mistrust, racial/ethnic background, and poor communication African Americans tend to not seek medical care unless they are in dire need or forced to seek professional care. African Americans would rather self –medicate than to trust a doctor who might show some type of discriminatory
Large disparities exist between minorities and the rest of Americans in major areas of health. Even though the overall health of the nation is improving, minorities suffer from certain diseases up to five times more than the rest of the nation. President Clinton has committed the nation to eliminating the disparities in six areas of health by the Year 2010, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will be jumping in on this huge battle. The six areas are: Infant Mortality, Cancer Screening and Management, Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, HIV Infection and AIDS, and Child and Adult Immunizations.
Williams, D. R., & Jackson, P. (2014, April 1). Health Affairs. Social Sources Of Racial Disparities In Health. Retrieved April 29, 2014, from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/24/2/325.short
According to the institute of Medicine (IOM), racism is a problem in the health care system, that is, the difference between the quality of health care received by minorities and non-minorities is due to racism. IOM is a nonprofit organization that advises the federal government and the public on science policy. It released a report that on average, minorities receive a lower quality of care, even when factors such as income and type of health insurance are accounted for. The report by IOM states that racial stereotypes and prejudice are the cause of the health care disparities. The article by IOM points ...
Nordqvist, Christian stated some facts about health, “ health can be defined as a physical, mental, and social well being, and a resource for living a full life. It refers not only to the absence of disease, but the ability to recover and bounce back from illness. Factors for good health include genetics, the environment, relationship, and education.”(page2). Health can be defined in many factors, but they all relate to a person's status and where their class in the economy. If one is wealthy, he or she can have access to healthcare that provides treatment to any of their health issues. But for the people who have low income, they can not afford health insurance and have a higher risk of becoming ill because they don’t have the resources to live a full healthy life. Most of those individuals have mental health issues because they often stress about living and surviving everyday with so little income. Christian Nordiqvist also said, “According to the WHO, the higher a person's socioeconomic status (SES), the more likely they are to enjoy good health, a good education, a well-paid job, afford good healthcare when their health is threatened” (pg.2). Christian is correct because the wealthier a person is, the higher chance of being in good health because he or she has the privilege of good health
Despite the substantial developments in diagnostic and treatment processes, there is convincing evidence that ethnic and racial minorities normally access and receive low quality services compared to the majority communities (Lum, 2011). As such, minority groups have higher mortality and morbidity rates arising from both preventable and treatable diseases judged against the majority groups. Elimination of both racial and ethnic disparities is mainly politically sensitive, but plays an important role in the equitable access of services, including the health care ones without discrimination. In addition, accountability, accessibility, and availability of equitable health care services are crucial for the continually growing
People of color face inequality and intersectionality in healthcare whether through insurance coverage, access, social economics, and quality of care. This leads to our health care system having disparities. It remains a big challenge today as 41% of people living in the United States are people of color (kff.org). People of color aren't getting the same care as someone who's white. Racial and ethnic minorities received lower care. Race also plays a role if someone will be uninsured or not. Another problem with health care is social economics which causes some race to have better care than others. There have been little improvements to address these issues. Today our society is becoming more diverse not less. In 2015 minorities represented
In the past, research has shown that the black-American community’s exposure to social inequality and discrimination has had a negative impact on their mental health. To summarize this general theory, Dr. Kwame McKenzie states, “In the USA, interpersonal discrimination has been associated with increased rates of hypertension, depression and stress” (Chakraborty). Despite the several social and technological advances that the United States has made over the past few decades, we have not necessarily freed ourselves from the constraints of racism. In a 2009 study evaluating the rates of perceived discrimination among blacks, 60.9% claimed to have experienced day-to-day racism (Keyes). Past studies have used these statistics to prove that this perceived discrimination is a stressor that can cause a variety of mental illnesses, ranging from anxiety, to depression, to phobia. However, a recent paradigm shift has occurred, changing the way researchers are looking at black-American psychology.