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Thursday, February 3, 2011
Week 5 Reading
SES, Race, and Poor Health Effects
Reading “Racial/Ethnic Variations in Women’s Health: The Social Embeddedness of Health” really reiterated how much socioeconomic status catalyzed unequal responses to healthcare among women of color. This stands in stark contrast to early responses to disparities in health (early research in the United States viewed racial differences in health outcomes as genetically determined). I also thought it was interesting how the author made sure to make clear the fact that health disparities and differences between whites and people of color must be examined while still accounting for culture and attitudes. Take the high prevalence of obesity in the Black community. As the author posits, “some evidence suggests that Blacks have more tolerant attitudes toward obesity.” However, these same attitudes may end up being correlated to negative health effects like diabetes and high blood pressure. So then question, then, becomes, how to make sure that people from across racial and cultural backgrounds receive the same treatment and are able to maintain and value a healthy lifestyle when certain cultures might no altogether believe that the factors correlating poor health (ie. a more curvy, full figure) are not negative and might be highly valued?
I was also shocked by much of the information the authors brought up with regards to education. According to reports, “Infants born to Black women in the lowest education category are 1.7 times as likely to die before their first birthday as are infants born to similarly educated White females.” I considered this fact to be the most arresting of the reading and one which indicates the fact that poor health within communities of color are more than just caused or correlated by income and poverty level. Racism and prejudice also stands in the way of minorities and people historically discriminated as a result of their racial, cultural, or ethnic background, and often leaves them with adverse health effects that continue replicating in latter generations.
SES and Health
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Week 5 Readings
I found some of the article’s claims to be very interesting, in particular the statistics about gender differences and race differences in health. The article throws out many different statistics, in particular, the one about how white women have a life expectancy at birth that is 5.2 years greater than that of their black peers. However, this statistic doesn’t take into account the socioeconomic differences and other factors that affect this statistic.
Additionally, the fact that the mortality ratio of minority to white for men is similar to the ratio for women suggests a bigger factor explaining the health disparities is race (which also has many factors that may suggest why, for instance socioeconomic status, etc.).
Overall, I thought the article did a good job talking about all the factors associated with the health disparities among different races, but could have been clearer with explaining the reasoning behind some of the statistics.
New Week 5 Reading
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Week 5
Honestly, it was a bit difficult to read this article, because it listed off so many statistics. However, I found it very informative on this topic. I found the statistics comparing insured women and uninsured women very interesting. I think it’s very sad that lack of health insurance bars so many women from preventative tests like mammographies and pap smears, and I’d be interested to learn about the health policies to increase women’s access to such preventative care. One of the things I wish this article did was to include some statistics about nonelderly men, so that we could draw comparisons.
Reading for Week 5
Interesting Article About Women and Heart Health
I came across this article about women and heart health, which was really interesting to read after last week's presentation about women and heart disease by Dr. Tremmel.
The article says:
"According to the American Heart Association, only 53 percent said they would call 911 even if they thought they were having a heart attack, which is why the federal government is starting a new campaign called Make the Call, Don't Miss A Beat."
It's pretty scary thought that someone may think that they are having a heart attack, but still not call for help. Hopefully this campaign will be successful!