Health and Wealth Relationship Case Study

Health and Wealth Relationship Case Study

A few months ago, my little brother got in an accident while riding his bike and was seriously injured. He was rushed to the hospital, and from an X-ray, he had a rib fracture. The X-ray was expensive and required several repetitions, leaving my family with no money for the treatment and medication. The doctors said an immediate surgery had to be done to repair and replace the ribs unless the condition would become complicated. We borrowed and took extra shifts at work, but the money was still insufficient. My brother continued lying on the hospital bed in pain, and the hospital bill accumulated more than what we were gaining outside. Finally, the surgery had to be delayed by two weeks, and by this time, his rib bones had started to cause deformity on his chest wall. When the surgery was done, the results were not as good as they would have been with immediate surgery. My brother was left with a slight deformity that causes severe back pains; hence he is always on medication to control the pain. Health and wealth are significant correlative aspects of human life. The positive correlation between wealth and health is indisputable.

In the Financial Health is Public Health article, Jason states that the social determinants of health from the World Health Organization are the conditions in which people are born, live, grow, work, and age influenced by the distribution of power, money, and resources (Purnell, 2021). Also, he states that stress is the leading cause of health issues: “Money topped the list of worries….connection of financial stress to health is quite exquisite.” I agree with Rebecca’s article Wealth Secures Health, which states, “As you move up the socioeconomic status hierarchy, your health prospects continue to improve.”

Rebecca’s article emphasizes the importance of change in socioeconomic status towards improving health outcomes, “Shouldn’t we be interested in ways to change socioeconomic status in hopes of improving health outcomes?” Similarly, the article outlines how policymakers and other programs are responsible for making interventions intended to improve socioeconomic status (Clay, 2021). Most immigrant people suffer from racism, which is a cause of psychological and mental illness. Immigrants experience poor living conditions where they cannot even afford their basic needs. Generally, people making $500,000 per year live a good, healthy life, whereas those living under $ 1000,000 per year live poor lives, “Why that happens is the $1000,000 question.”

Health and wealth relate, and the poorer you are, the more vulnerable you are to health conditions (Bloom, 2000). Money is a crucial factor in maintaining good health or getting suitable medication. After the X-ray, my brother would have gotten the proper treatment and be living his life generally if we had the money. I believe health is highly dependent on wealth, and the poorer you are, the more chances of poor health you have. For instance, an individual must maintain proper nutrition and regular check-ups, which are hard for poor people to attain (Bloom, 2000). The stress for financial stability is a primary cause of poor health. Stress is a causal factor of mental illness and chronic diseases.

Core values such as equality, change, and wellness have influenced my perspective on the social issue of health and wealth. Socioeconomic inequality has adversely affected health, which would be different if all people had the same equality towards health and wealth. The country should change its perspective on poor people and create policies to make health services equal to everybody to have socioeconomic equality. I believe in change and how a positive change can impact society towards equality. Also, I am worried about the health of all the poor people. Many people suffer from heath and wealth social issues from my case story. Many people are beneath my social status, making me wonder how the poor are suffering health-wise. The well-being of every individual should be a top priority, with or without the funds for health medication.

Since the incident, I have been thinking about poor people’s welfare. I read a statement from the Financial Health is Public Health article, “If you want to lower my blood pressure, help me pay my electricity bill”, that got me thinking about how deep the health and wealth issue affects the poor. It is evident that apart from lacking funds to pay for the severe illness, the people are suffering from other conditions like stress caused by poor living conditions.  However, everybody having wealth is a complicated issue that might take a long time to change. The gap between health and wealth is comprehensive, and the relationship between the two will continue affecting the poor. Also, this relationship has threatened the mortality of poor people (Bloom, 2000). Health medication covers like insurance are only affordable to the wealthy, leading to mental stress for the poor in case of an emergency. It is easy to state that wealth automatically leads to good health and to make both equal is not a simple task.

In conclusion, health and wealth are correlative, and from the case study, health is highly dependent on wealth. The poor cannot live a decent life, leading to mental illness and high mortality. Also, the rich can get immediate attention from health insurance coverage in health services, hence guaranteeing better health. To live a healthy life, every individual should engage in a healthy meal plan and activities far from reach for poor people. All these constraints have affected the health life of poor people, but with socioeconomic equality, everybody can achieve good health regardless of the amount of wealth they have.

References

Bloom, D. E., & Canning, D. (2000). The health and wealth of nations. Science, 287(5456), 1207-1209.

Clay, R., 2021. Wealth secures health. [online] https://www.apa.org. Available at: <http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct01/wealthhealth.aspx> [Accessed 13 December 2021].

Purnell, J. (2021). What It’s Worth: Strong Financial Future. Strongfinancialfuture.org. Retrieved 13 December 2021, from http://www.strongfinancialfuture.org/essays/financial-health-is-public-health/.

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Health and Wealth Relationship Case Study

Overview

For this final project, you will continue with the social issue that you selected (language and power, freedom and security, health and wealth), and you will write an essay where you discuss your perspective. You will use the ideas and information from the summary response, and the quote log to write your case study. You will submit a first draft and a revised draft of this assignment.

Content

Describe a “real life” instance of your selected social issue in a professional or a personal setting.
Discuss your perspective on your selected social issue, including the reasons for your viewpoint.
Discuss how your core values inform or influence your perspective on your selected social issue.
Demonstrate that you are really thinking about your issue—don’t settle for easy answers, don’t pretend that conflicting evidence doesn’t exist, and don’t feel that you have to take an either-or position.
Discuss the complexities of your selected social issue. For example, do not just conclude that using academic language is always good, that government surveillance is always bad, or that wealth automatically leads to health. Think about the intricacies of these issues and how they play out in everyday life.
Organization

Include an introductory paragraph where you clearly outline a “real-life” instance of your social issue, and give a thesis statement that indicates your perspective (see Part 2: Writing Your Introduction for an example).
Include three body paragraphs where you include details, examples, and quotes from at least three of the course readings to help you develop and support your key points (see Part 3: Writing Your Body Paragraphs. for an example).
Include one body paragraph where you discuss how your core values inform or influence your perspective on your selected social issue (see Part 3: Writing Your Body Paragraphs. for an example).
End your essay with a concluding paragraph where you restate your thesis, summarize your key points, and leave the reader with the “So what?” ( see Part 4: Writing Your Conclusion for an example).