Documentary Response - in Sickness and in Wealth

Documentary Response - In Sickness and In Wealth Based on the information provided in the text, determinates of health are directly related to the socioeconomic status. Access to health care often depends on one’s position in the socioeconomic stratification. Depending on your achieved or social status you have different opportunities for life chances. The probability of having health insurance and access to health care are factors directly relating to your life chances and the likelihood of having good health. The luxuries of access to health care requires doctors and medical facilities, money for transportation and treatment, access to childcare and release time from other tasks are often not afforded to people in the poorest countries of the world. Many never see a doctor in their lifetime. In constant, the more affluent eat better food, less exposed to polluted water and unhygienic conditions. They are able to pay for medical care and drugs when they do have ailing health and can even live twice as long. The chance of having a long and health life is the privilege of the elite. Studies of mortality rate and income, the impact of social conditions on life expectancy (Geocommons, 2009, Swivel 2007) clearly supports the assertion that health, illness and death rates are closely tied to socioeconomic stratification.
Specific examples can be found in the documentary.
In chapter three, Nicholas Christakis states that the fact that if you have more money, you’re going to be healthier. The narrator also states, “In America, the wealth and health gradient looks like this: Over 70% of affluent American report very good excellent health – almost twice as many as poor Americans. No surprise. But in the middle levels, good health decreases significantly. This translates into a reverse slope for chronic disease. Diabetes: Low-income Americans have twice the rate. A similar pattern holds for stroke, heart disease, eventually contributing to