In the series Unnatural Causes, the episode In Sickness and in Wealth takes place in Louisville, Kentucky. The episode begins by saying how America has a lot of wealth and health care, but our overall wealth is ranked very low from other countries. Many people are sick, infant mortality is high and health care availability is not 100% to blame. The determinants of health come from economic status, income, education and social determinant of health. In some areas of the state that are close to each other there are some that are dying 5 to 10 years earlier than others, and the map showed, how in different sicknesses, this could be seen as well in other maps, the patterns are the same for cancer and hearth disease.
This episode reflects on three different people from different economic status. The first is Jim Taylor, a father, grandfather and C.E.O., he lives in district 16. He states that he is almost 60 and is pretty healthy, he still keeps active and has a very high income. He live in a safe neighborhood where he can exercise and live calm.
Tondra Young lives in district 24, she is 37, and a lab supervisor. She is financially comfortable, she was better than her mom and goes to school. In comparison to Jim’s district, of an average age of 79.3 years, Tondra’s is 75.3 years, four years less.
Corey Anderson lives in council district 21, with his wife and children. Both Corey and his wife work full time and have an income of $48,000. Corey being 37 years old, has already been diagnosed with hyper tension and about 1/3 of the resident of this district are the same. In this neighborhood, life expectancy is 73.4 years, two years less than in Tondra’s and six years than Jim’s. In this area there are a lot of fat food places, small businesses, liquor stores. The show says that these differences are not natural but rather man made from policies or lack of policies. There are many things lacking in this area that other districts have that help them have better health and a higher average age.
Every time I watch this it still amazes me, how it one small area people’s health is so different, and they come from differences that are hard to change. As we have seen in class, income, education really effect each individual’s health in a big way. Each example that they show in this video shows how some small changes have a huge impact on the health of certain people. Have you noticed these changes in your own cities?
Alejandra's Blog 
Hi Alejandra,
I liked the fact that you pointed out the social determinants and determinants of health.
I agree that the U.S. does have a lot of wealth but is probably ranked poorly in other areas.
I also think that social class, income, and education affects health in a big way because of the readings we did in class.
I wonder what areas are the U.S. ranked poorly? Education? Health care availability?
Sincerely,
Vân Nguyen
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Hello Alejandra,
I liked that you choose a video from the csueastbay Kanopy entertainment library. I had no idea that we had this service free of charge for students. It’s like Netflix but better in terms of variety of educational films and shows. I think the video ties in well with last weeks article readings. We learned that social class position determines access to resources and life opportunities that ultimately impact how people live and how people die. People with higher income and educational attainment are more likely to value preventive care, such as healthy eating and regular exercise. The habits that we pick up at a young age have lasting effects on our upkeep of health and prevention of diseases. What are some ways people from poor socio-economic backgrounds can counteract the disadvantage of lack of access to exercise ?
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This actually sounds really interesting and when I was reading it, I for some reason was thinking about the movie Hunger Games and how they lived in different districts. That movie and this series kind of have relations with that. I like how you used this example, because it shows how different socioeconomic classes offer different things. For example, you mentioned that in District 21, a poorer class, they have many fast food places. Whereas in nicer areas, they offer better food selections and quality restaurants. I agree that income, status, and education play a big role in an individual’s life because it determines how they will live. To answer your question, I do see little changes in different cities or communities. Of course in nicer areas, they offer more healther food selections while in poor areas you always see Jack n the Box, McDonalds, and Taco Bell.
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Excellent, I enjoyed how you were able to relate this episode to health and wealth , considering the fact that we have been talking about health in the last few articles we’ve read. I also acknowledged the fact that you were able to apply the determinants of health come from economic status, income,education and social determinant of health. I do agree that income status does play a big role. I don’t really see much change in my city , but I have seen change in other cities I’ve gone to visit! Great job!!!!
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