Check this out! This is a link to a pdf of the Maine Dept of Health and Human Services District Health Profile for York County, Maine. Scroll down to page 13 and you will find a few graphs regarding income level, education level and health. Keep in mind what we discussed last week and let me know what you think. Are you surprised by the results?
http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/districts/york.pdf
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It isn't surprising that income levels can be a chronic disease indicator. The lower income population struggles with having enough money to support their daily needs, such as food, water, and transportation. Therefore, they do not have enough "extra" money to have regular check-ups to screen for these chronic diseases. The higher stress levels of low socioeconomic status will help lead to the increased blood pressure seen, and with the increased levels of smoking scene in this group. All of these factors have influence on each other, which all lead to a higher unhealthy population.
ReplyDeleteThis is not surprising. The higher education a person has the better jobs they will receive therefore have the ability to have the money to have regular doctors appointments and needed medications to help prevent chronic diseases. The lower income population will tend to have more chronic diseases not just because the inability to have the doctors appointments but also because they are going to go for the quick fixes such as the cigarettes or fast food, to fix the immediate problems. Also these people tend to have higher stresses in lives because of everyday needs such as providing safety, food and housing for their families which is not always easy, which itself puts them to be unhealthier than people that are in a higher economic bracket. More money means more "luxuries" such as things to de-stress them or things such as doctors appointments to prevent chronic diseases.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what people have said before. The people who have lower education are not as likely to get a high paying job. If their income isn't high, then they are not going to be able to pay for simple things such as health insurance and nutritional food. They are probably under greater amounts of pressure and stress in order to have a family, pay the bills, put food on the table, which in return leads to more illnesses. They choose to smoke because they feel that it destresses them, which is actually causing more sickness and higher health bills
ReplyDeleteLike what Anne said, the results are not that surprising, especially the percentage of chronic diseases based on income. With dental being the highest percentage, people may think that is not as important, physically. Yes, the wealthier are able to afford annual checkups, etc. because of their health benefits, if they are well off in their careers. It is not surprising that the lower income groups are in fair/poor health status, because they are not able to have that kind of care. What was interesting though is that the highest percentage of curren smokers are high schoolers. What ever happened to the better education about health and promotion that is seen in now elementary, middle, and high school? I feel that although nowadays we have more education, younger people are not taking advantage of how important everything relates to one another (like chronic illnesses in the long run).
ReplyDeleteAs the others said, it is not surprising to see that low income has a greater correlation with the presence of chronic disease. Those who are able to receive a higher education are more likely to have a greater, more steady income and thus, are more likely to hold jobs with health/dental insurence. According to the graphs, adults with low income and low education did not have many consistant dental visits and also had a larger number of chronic disease and high BP, conditions which may be influenced by low nutritional intake and environmental standards.
ReplyDeleteI agree, this data was not suprising to me. It makes sense that if people have a lower education level, they aren't going to get the higher paying jobs. It is shown that people in the lower class struggle with stress, and social factors that contribute to their overall health. This combined with the inability to get regular check-ups would leave people in this grouping in a vulnerable position. In all categories the people with lower income have the highest percentages of health issues. Like mentioned in class, smoking is common in the lower class because it is a stress relief. The stress combined with the risks of smoking, then create a variety of other problems for the people receiving less than 25,000 a year. It's unfortunate that all of these social factors work against the people recieving the lowest income because it only creates more stress and more problems. People who make higher incomes live with far less stress, less of a need to smoke, the ability to get regular check-ups, and therefor are much healthier physically and mentally.
ReplyDeleteAs others have said, I did not find these results surprising. People who have a low income will not spend what little money they have on non-urgent medical care. Most dental care, for example, people can put off. People would rather spend their money on something other than dental care because most likely they can survive just fine without dental care. The percentage of adults who were smokers and had high blood pressure was also higher in the <$25,000 group than the >$50,000 group. This is probably because both of these are related to stress and people with less money have more stress about most things in their life. It basically comes down to the fact that people who make more money have more choices as to what they spend their money on; the people who make the least money only have so much, so they have to pick and chose what they spend it on. In general, the people who do not make enough money also do not have a lot of education. This can lead to making bad decisions, as see in the second graph. More people who did not finish high school have fair/poor health than those who received education after high school.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with what everyone else has said. It unfortunately seems to be this viscious cycle where those who have less materialistic things and income need more attention and treatment. The fact that each of these categories of chronic illnesses occur in those with less than $25K should be an indicator for a bigger change. For those of us who are in health fields it's easy to say promote exercise, good nutrition, no smoking, etc. but have we looked at the effectiveness of some of our attempts to change this? Are our numbers over the years going down for these chronic illnesses? It certainly doesn't seem that way. Is anyone in these targeted groups listening? Maybe there needs to be a much more national change that addresses the root of these problems (like the way in which we treat people and how people afford treatment) rather than buffering the problems by having all the healthy people who have good jobs and income who can easily say eat better, get exercise and don't smoke! I am sure that many of these residents that do harmful things to their bodies are well aware, they just don't have the financial means to fix it anyways, so why bother...is likely their attitude. I mean, think about ourselves, who as young college students, struggle to maintain a healthy weight, not drink, not smoke, eat nutritiously.....and how often do WE actually do that... if we as future healthcare professionals struggle with these concepts, how can we expect those that are less fortunate, less educated and less motivated to practice what we are preaching. There must be a better financial system out there that can make this situation better for everyone...
ReplyDeleteI also agree with everyone else.It does not surprise me that people experiencing lower socioeconomic statuses have poor health compared to people who are wealthier and have completed a higher education. As we discussed in class people who have stressful lives and don’t make as much money tend to try and find an outlet to de-stress, and that’s probably why many of the people in this study who have a lower income tend to smoke more. The increased smoking, poor food choices, and stress are likely leading to the higher blood pressure rates. These lower income people have to skimp on many things to get by and yearly visits to the doctors and dentists is what they end up skipping out on, and they most likely have bad or no health insurance to cover the high costs of medical bills. The increased rates in diabetes are probably also due to poor food choices since the cheapest kinds of foods are usually the least nutritional. Many of these people are stuck in a continuous downward cycle, which makes it difficult to get ahead because they can’t stop working and go back to school. They just don’t have the means to properly take care of themselves like someone who has a better income and education.
ReplyDeleteAs it has clearly been stated by fellow classmates. the data presented is not at all surprising. My grandmother had seven kids and her husband left after all those kids were born. so as a single mother with seven mouths to feed, she has told me stories about grocery shopping for example, she said she'd buy things that make alot and don't cost alot but in the same respect were filling to her children so that they never went hungry. When i look with a slight critical eye at these meals it is clear they were not always the healthiest most nutritional meal but it was what she could afford. Though i haven't heard much about my grandmother's childhood i would imagine it was somewhat similar. In terms of chronic disease, it is predictable to me that lower income households would have higher rates. For example, all six of my aunts and uncles and my grandmother are all smokers, and unfortunately the trend continues with my cousins. My uncle all have high blood pressure and a pre-diabetic in nature. For my grandmother, her income had to be spread very thin to make ends meet, so expensive doctors visits etc. were often brushed under the rug. it's sad but it's a reality for many people, obviously as the charts show.
ReplyDeleteI agree both with my fellow classmates and with what we talked about in class after looking at this article. Its interesting to see the correlation of disease and economic status as well as education. It's not surprising that individuals who have less than $25k have poor health. part of the reason is that they dont have the money to have a yearly doctor's visit as well as a dental exam. And because many of these people smoke, it increases their unhealthy status. In the second graph, individuals who did not complete HS also have unhealthy habits and more health problems. many of these people probably also fall into the economic status of less than $25k. what is interesting however, is that no matter what level of education those people have, their levels of high blood pressure are fairly similar. It's kind of surprising to see that no matter what level of education you achieved, you can still have high blood pressure. almost shows that people handle stress in the same types of ways, no matter how smart you are.
ReplyDeleteAs mention in all the above comments, this information is not surprising because the less education you have the less money you receive and therefore, as mentioned in class, you tend to not eat well because you can not afford the healthy food. You probably have little to no health insurance and do not get regular check ups. Having and education above high school not only will usually get you better pay, but you also learn how to take care of yourself through the education. If you care enough about yourself to improve yourself and go to college, then you probably care enough about yourself to make sure you make healthy choices. Your education will teach this through most of your classes. You learn how to make life work for you. Also, the less education and money you make the more stress you are apt to have in your life and therefore usually eat a lot of junk food, smoke, drink, etc. in order to try to relieve the pressure you are feeling. Bad habits happen for many reason including but not limited to money and education. Back when my parents were growing up, they smoked because it was the thing to do and their parents approved of it. They saw nothing wrong with it. Again, back then there probably wasn't enough research done to inform them that smoking was very unhealthy, but I think we need to look at some of these issues as more than just a money or education issue. The way we are brought up and the culture we live in also determines why we do some of the things we do.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Anne said. I believe that it is not a surprise that income levels can be a strong indicator of chronic disease. I believe there is a strong correlation between income levels and education levels. The more money you make the more education you can afford and visa versa (however that goes). For that reason I believe it is not unusual to see those of a lower economic status with low education levels to have higher percentages of chronic diseases. My thought is that if a person has higher education they will also have a increased knowledge in the health field no matter their studies. If a person is educated to know simple methods of disease prevention such as regular doctor's appointments, dental visits, and over all healthy living they will lower levels of disease. I believe these higher levels of disease are partly because these individuals cannot afford the proper health care and living habits but in addition they may not know healthy living. If they understood or knew preventative measures possibly they could focus their budgets from unnecessarily things to spending that money on healthy living (whether that be healthy food or additional doctor visits).
ReplyDeleteAlong with everyone else and what we have discussed in class, it is clearly visible to see the relationship of minimal education and low income and how it plays a role in the social and educational factors. The graphs show obvious differences between the poorest level and the wealthiest level, which we have already discussed in class about the social ladder. It is easy to assume that therefore, the more money you have, the more education opportunities, which will give an individual more knownledge about health and illnesses, as well as provide them with a higher paying job that will allow them to have better access to healthcare. Although, if you view the graphs, you can see that high blood pressure maintain a high rate between all three levels, as well as pap smears. This concludes that everyone is stressed or semi-unhealthy in their own way, and is not taking care of their health and bodies. Looking at York County alone, the health and wellness is slightly better than the rest of Maine due to it being a slightly richer county. I believe the best solution is referring back to our previous topic about providing America with a public universal healthcare system providing everyone with the essential basic healthcare.
ReplyDeleteThis is not surprising at all. People who have a low education level typically have a low paying job. This makes it difficult for them to pay their bills, buy nutritional food, get a good health insurance, get dental coverage, among many other things. People in this class tend to buy cheap food, which isn't always the healthiest of foods for our bodies which can cause diabetes and /or obesity. They do not have the money or a decent job that can provide a good health insurance plan which means they hold back on getting the help they really do need because they cannot afford it. With all of this, these low class people are always stressed out, which can raise blood pressure, and cause other problems down the road. People use the excuse that smoking tends to calm them down to get some of the stress off of their shoulders but in reality, it's causing more problems for down the road. How we live our lives today, we really do determine our future and even our own deaths.
ReplyDeleteThese results are not surprising after having our discussion last week in class. I still cannot believe how focused our healthcare is on having a biomedical point of view when it so clear that social factors also effect our health. It is clearly shown that having lower income or a lower education level leads to a pattern of more illnesses and diseases, including chronic illnesses. This pattern will continue through generation and generation because these graphs show that these social structures also affect the children that are birthed and that they are predisposed to having a higher percentage of illness when born into a family of lower education, or lower incomes for example. With all this knowledge of these patterns, I do not understand why our educations do not include more about the sociological factors that affect medicine. Especially studying in a medical environment and heading into medical careers, I feel the first time I should have learned this and discussed it should not have been in my senior year of university.
ReplyDeleteNow knowing that these patterns occur it is not a surprise that people of lower socioeconomic statuses have a higher percentage of chronic illnesses. They do not possess the same opportunities and resources to maintain their health as well as people with higher incomes and more resources at their convenience. The lack of good health and proper wellness of people in lower classes leads them to obtain more chronic illnesses in their daily lifestyles. One example of a chronic illness that would be seen more in lower social classes is a repetitive motion body illness. By working in a mundane job that entails repetitive motions of the body, like working in a manufacturing line producing the same part of a product everyday, can lead to overuse of a certain body part and lead to an area of chronic pain and injury to the body. These are common for people of lower classes, and create a higher percentage of these types of illnesses as you get lower on the social class ladder.
After our class disscussion last week these statistic do not surprise me. These social factors like educationa and income play a big role in one's health...with out a higher level of education one is less likely to get a well paying job therefore making it harder for them to get could health care. These however are the people that seem to need good health care coverage the most. They are the ones that are more vulnerable to the chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease and cancer because of the enirvonment that they are in. It's like Erik Echholm said "in creating its way of like, each society created its way of death". Someone with a lower level of education is more likely going to smoke, more likely not to have a good paying job, as a result they're going to buy the food that is the cheapest, which is ironicly the food that is the worest for them to be consuming, puting them at a higher risk then they already were of developing high blood pressure or diabetes, which then puts them at a higher risk for heart disease and cancer.
ReplyDeleteAs others have stated before, these results do not suprise me. From the discussion in class, the higher the education that a person recieves, it shows that they have a lower risk of disease/death. Also the person with high education usually has a higher paying job and can afford healthier foods and healthcare.
ReplyDeleteThese results do not come as a surprise to me. People with a lower income are more prone to chronic disease and illness simply because they cannot afford the expensive "cures" of today’s societies. However, many people overlook the alternative ways of preventing chronic diseases, which is simply maintaining a healthier lifestyle. By exercising daily and eating a healthy, nutritious diet chronic diseases would not be as great of a risk. However many people are unaware of how exactly to do so. Which is why our society needs to focus on educating people about living healthy lifestyles and focusing our income on what is necessary to us rather than what is an immediate desire. Whether this education comes from schools, society or friends we must share information with others on healthier lifestyles to prevent chronic disease and illness
ReplyDeleteAs stated before I am really not surprised by the results seen here. The lower the education the less amount of money a person makes in general. When people make less money they do not have the extra room to live a healthy life style. When they are worried about feeding a family on a small budget they are much more likely to get a box of mac and cheese instead of fruits and vegetables thus leading to chronic diseases.
ReplyDeleteLower income levels are ideally going to affect the human health. Those individuals working jobs that provide the bear essentials to get by are going to have a difficult time attempting to pay for health insurance. If your not able to pay for a service that promotes health, your probably not going to live that lifestyle. Education levels may coincide with income levels to a degree (getting to college) and I guess play a role in disease/illness but ideally shouldn't. But again, those who go to school longer tend to come off making some good cash which in turn can pay for the health services that will ultimately prolong life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone else said. It is no surprise that a lower income of less than $25K is associated with higher rates of chronic disease. The less money brought into the home, the less money can be spent on doctor's appointments, proper nutrition, and gym memberships. Since money is so tight, many people become stressed. Smoking has been proven to help decrease stress, so people turn to that outlet. In the end, smokers spend so much money on cigarettes that they could have saved to put towards staying healthy. Health promotion fields need to really try and target these people to improve their health. We need to find affordable and inexpensive alternatives to gym memberships, more affordable health care to cover doctor's appointments, and cheap healthy nutritional options. Educating these people about the importance of check-ups and a healthy lifesyle behaviors is another large part to making an effective change in these statistics.
ReplyDeleteI am not suprised by the results of Health Profile for the York County. The first graph that shows chronic disease indicators by income could have been easily assumed. People with a lower income have a higher chance of chronic diseases. People that make less than $25,000 end up using their money in a way that can support themselves. They would tend to buy whats cheaper lik fast food and wouldn't spend what money they had on visits to the dentist. They tend to be in fair/poor health because of their lifestyle and economic standings.
ReplyDeleteThe next graph shows how education levels relate to the same chronic diseases. It was likely that we could infer these results after what we have learned about in class. Social structures have a lot to do with how a person gets by day to day. One of these social structures that affects people is educational level. Little education makes it harder for people move up in the social ladder. Therefore they are stuck in a rut in society.
Therefore social structures and cultural forces have a lot to do with how a person is affected by chronic disease.
I agree with Mr. Knight. These findings really aren't all that surprising. Unfortunately, income levels have a large impact on health and chronic diseases. Lower income resulting from less education leaves people very vulnerable health wise. Poor nutrition, higher blood pressure, and increased smoking habits all stem from this vulnerable state. It is the lower income individuals as well who are going to experience the severity of these diseases and their associated symptoms further along in their development, simply due to the absence of regular check-ups.
ReplyDeleteAs pretty much every single person has said so far, given what we have been discussing in class this data does not come as a huge suprise. The levels of income and education are usually tied together, and obviously play a huge role in social status. It make complete sense that those with lower income rates and education would experience an overall lower quality of life for the many reasons that we discussed, such as less access to health care, inability to afford good food, etc. What I think is very telling is the statistics regarding dental visits. To many of us this is a very basic check up that we take for granted and do simply as part of a routine. For these people however, their insurance most likely does not cover these visits if they have any at all. It makes sense that as a result the dentist would be viewed as a less pressing matter to them, and would be cut out of their budget so that they can address other problems.
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ReplyDeleteAs most of the people have said I also agree that these results do not come as a surprise. Like noted in class there are many factors that can affect someones health status. The amount of money that you make and the education that one has received is directly correlated to your health, illness and the different health opportunities that you have ( like dentist and doctor visits). This study in york county shows this connection very well. All the different scenarios make sense with people who have lower incomes have the least amount of chances to be healthy like others who make more than them.
ReplyDeleteI thought this article was interesting, but not too surprising. I did find the large percentage of adults above healthy weight quite high. 64.8% York and 60.2% Maine is much high than I thought. I suppose it isn't too shocking if you take into account a quarter of high school and middle school students are overweight or obese. This could be because their parents have poor habits and are instilling those habits on their children. Most likely this is due to low income so cheaper foods and lack of exercise are more likely to be their lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteThis article reminds us that there are many lifestyle factors that create the health issues Maine and the rest of the world face today. One factor for socioeconomic status and health that I found to be weighted more heavily was education. The article had many graphs that showed how the less education one has the more likely they are to have less income and therefore more stress, more likely to smoke, more likely to have a child underweight or die, less doctor visits, and lower health status.
Perhaps there is too much emphasis on finding cures and giving pills to people for hypertension and heart disease (for example), rather than changing our healthcare and educational system so people can be educated BEFORE they need to resort to those chemicals and extra costs. They need to be taught to make better day-to-day decisions and have the resources to have an annual check- up so those added costs for chronic illness that they cannot afford do not come down the road.
The relationship between the educational status and the chornic diseases does not surprise me. I think that as your knowledge level increases you have a lower level of chornic disease because you are aware of the risk factors and the types of things that may cause some of these diseases. I also think that as your enducation level increases you begin to expand into the professional workplace and environment, no a days there is not much smoking in professional environments. This change alone in the types of people in proefessional environments that are not smoking, or involved in other activites that negatively affect your health, will decrease a large number of the chornic diseases.
ReplyDeleteThese graphs do not seem surprising. With increased educational levels there is going to be increased financial resources which will allow for greater access to healthcare for those families. Statistics like this should be publicized to all people, especially those that decide school isn't cool. If these results were shown more and used as a tool instead of a drink coaster then maybe there would be a turn around.
ReplyDeleteI do not find it surprising that lower income levels and educational levels coincide with an increase in chronic disease. Those who are less educated tend to generate less of an income. Through less education, there is less access to information about health care and disease prevention. With a decreased income there is obviously less access to sufficient health care and resources that help to ensure good health, such as proper nutrition. A lower socioeconomic status is a severe disadvantage and is directly related to a decrease in health. Improved health education and access to health care is vital to improving these statistics.
ReplyDeleteI definitely do not find the statistics to be very surprising. From what we have discussed in class, there is a strong correlation between health, education and income. Those individuals who have received very little education have a much harder time finding well-paying jobs that provide good health insurance. Their education level limits them to a low-income and limited available health care coverage (if any at all). With a low-income, it is very difficult to buy healthy foods which helps to explain the increasing trend of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic health diseases. People who are in a lower social class tend to experience higher levels of stress which can explain why more people of this class are smokers and have high blood pressure. They are not as concerned with their health and may not be aware of the changes they can make to live a healthier life and may not have access to the tools and sources that wealthier individuals have. They are unable to afford frequent health screenings and in turn their health status is on the decline and chronic disease will continue to increase primarily amongst the lower class population.
ReplyDeleteObviously the statistics are not surprising at all. The more education you have generally means the more money you have. The more money you have most likely gives you a longer and healthier life. You can have the best of what life has to offer because you have the education, the money, or both. It’s not surprising to see the less money you have, the more problems you have. I think whoever said “money can’t buy happiness” never really had money. The stats show that money can help your life in many ways. I don’t agree when people say that because you don’t have the proper schooling “you’re not educated”. Common sense is common sense. People of all classes should know what common sense is. When you reach a certain age, I think we all need to be our own advocate and stop depending on other people. Low class people generally have access to Medicaid; they just need to use it the right way. And if they used what they have access to the right way, I think a lot of the numbers on that page would go down.
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised by these graphs. I would expect the people with higher incomes to have a better source of health care and live a life style that would help them avoid chronic disease. Likewise, I feel that the people that have lower incomes would be expected to live cheaper life styles that maybe have a less focus on health and more of a focus on cutting corners and saving pennies wherever possible.
ReplyDeleteAs everyone has already stated, I am not suprised by this graphs either. Before class last Wednesday I may not have made all the same connections as I did today when looking at these graphs. It definitely makes sense that the lower someones income level is the harder it would be have maintain well balanced diet to keep themselves healthy
ReplyDeleteAs other people have pointed out, this date makes sense to me. As demonstrated by the class where starbursts were distributed, those who didn't have much money didn't have enough for healthcare or health insurance. They were more likely to skip a doctors appointment or a dentist appointment because they couldn't take any time off of work, or just because they couldn't afford it. Stress levels are very high as money is a constant concern, and many hours need to be worked just to make ends meet. There isn't time or money for relaxing and de-stressing which can have negative impacts on a persons health.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the rest of the class. It is not in the least bit surprising that individuals coming from a low socioeconomic status would have the poorest of health conditions. Individuals without higher education, in addition to having a low income, are less likely to focus on their health. Many of these people either are not aware of the factors that lead to poor health, or they may be cognizant of the issues, however do not have the means to change their bad habits. Some individuals are forced to continually work so they have a means for survival. As they are always on the go, they neglect their health issues. They don’t see doctors as frequently for checkups, if they need medication they overlook the problem because they can’t afford it, and eventually they wear themselves out. People who have a higher education are more aware of how to seek help when they need it; not to mention, they have the funds to get the help. As well, people with a higher income have more freedom when seeking medical attention. They may go to a private doctor who specializes in a specific area while an individual of a low SES may have a list of doctors who their insurance provider will cover. Overall, the higher the SES is, the more likely an individual will have access to preventative literature, as well as,the healthcare itself.
ReplyDeleteWhen the poorest people have the least amount of access to health care it would follow that they also have the least access to education and quality living conditions. People who have a greater understanding of the impact on health and their lifestyle are those with a higher education. Like the starburst exercise in class it was the individuals with the least who needed the most health care and who had no means to access it. This is our Biomedical America and especially looking at these charts and I am more convinced that as a future health care provider I would like to advocate and participate to make these statistics change so that I would be surprised to see that those in need of medical attention were really getting it.
ReplyDeleteThe information given in the graph does not surprise me. It seems obvious that those with more money would be making better life decisions (i.e. the smoking) and have better health care. The blood pressure statistic is the only one that would surprise me - one would think that those who have a higher income may have more mentally taxing jobs, however it their graph may be lower because they have prescription plans that are able to cover medication for it.
ReplyDeleteas most of the previous statements, i am not surprised by the results. as we had discuseed during class tim, as people become more and more educated, they begin showing a tren of an increased pay rate per job and they can afford more luxurious lifestyles than the less fortunate. and, above all other things, the more education that a person tends to have will result in having a decreased likelihood of health and disease problems.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that really shocked me about this document was the access to care section. It was a little troubling to see how many patients per doctor there were in York County...the highest patient-doctor ratio in Maine. Each doctor is responsible for 1269 patients. If that doctor works an average of 41.3 hours a week and there are 52 weeks in a year, that means the doctor works 2147.6 hours in a year. That means that every person wouldn't even have two hours a year with their doctor! That's two hours for a years worth of physicals and sick visits and flu shots and so on. No wonder the medical system we currently use focuses more on taking care of the sick than preventing illness in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIn association with the rest of my classmates, I too, am not surprised at all by the statistical results of these studies in York county. It has become known logic that the higher the level of education one pursues, results in better paying jobs offering substantial amenities such as health care options, insurance and just overall better living standards. Consequently, someone with a lower level of education leads to a lower income. As such, with a lower income, it is harder to achieve basic health care without difficulty. As discussed in class, it is easy to comprehend how someone of lower income would rather spend their little money on a pack of cigarettes or a trip to the liquor store, rather than investing in a more healthier life purchase. The lower income individuals struggle to acquire enough money just to provide themselves with basic needs, such as food and water. Therefore, we it comes to a doctor or dentist visit, the lower income individual is going to choose the more satisfying and economically feasible option instead. Without annual check-ups for these people, the more likely they are to develop a chronic disease, as illustrated in the graphs. Income should not have to dictate the alienation of people from a lower class, especially in terms of health care. It's hard to believe that our country is still very biomedically oriented in the sense that it is clear that social factors do indeed provide great impact on our health. If we as a nation continue in this way, we are setting ourselves up for an even more disease-stricken society, where patients will seriously outweigh medical professionals.
ReplyDeleteThere is an obvious correlation between how much someone makes and their health. The more money someone has enables them to be healthier and obtain better foods. As a college student I've come to realize that I do not eat well due to money issue. This is a huge problem as it will affect my health.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with my classmates, the graphs in this report reflecting York, Maine, do not suprise me. Our society shows that the more education you have, the greater income you will be able to obtain, and with this income you will be able to have the freedom to get regular checkups, and go to the doctors more regularly in order to insure your good health. With the greater income you will also be able to lead healthier lives overall, with better food and better hygiene. Since we know this to be true, the next step is looking for a solution.
ReplyDeleteAs previously stated by almost the rest of the class, the graphs are what I would have expected. Going back to what was discussed in class about how if people become more educated and start understanding that in order to make the most of your life you need to be able to take that step and make yourself a better person. This increase is going to start a trend that will allow more people to get the better jobs with higher pay and give themselves the lifestyle that they wish that they could live. This increase in education resulting in better and higher paying jobs will also help decrease the chances that people will be dying due to diseases or health related issues. This will be due to the extra little education that is outside their norm that they will learn on a day to day basis.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the graphs. As it has been stated in class and here in the blog the lower your income level the higher your stress which is a major factor when it comes to health. With these stresses about money you cant afford to take time off of work to go get help so a lot of people dont get the appropriate healthcare they need.
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