The Current Case Study

CBC radio host, Ana Maria Tremanti, presents in her radio show “The Current” an interesting discussion about how the lack of income can affect health. She discusses this topic with guest speakers: Gary Block, Julia Marinas and Michael Marmets. The show begins from the Good Shepherd Ministry in downtown Toronto where an interview took place between Doctor Gary Block, who is family physician at St. Michael hospital in Toronto, and a new patient, who is a refugee in Canada, has a very little income and suffers from major health issues. According to Dr. Block, this patient’s overall health situation will definitely improve once this patient gets enough income. Furthermore, Dr. Block states that poor people in the society are very likely
In fact, many researchers and doctors link the state of being poor with the health status of a person that will lead to a shorter life. According to Michael Marmets, Low income people are more likely to live a shorter life than high income people. However, this study of Dr. Marmets can be criticised for three main reasons. First of all, money does indeed help people live and enjoy a healthy life, but it is not the main determinant of life expectancy as Dr. Marmets suggested. Many wealthy people experienced serious health problems and died even though they were very rich, such as Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple who died from cancer in October 2011 at age of 56. The second point is the fact that prescribing money to low income patients will not make them healthier or happier, because prescribing money to low income patients teaches them to earn money without working and hence it is easy for them to spend it all at once without even thinking or appreciating its value. In addition, it opens the door to other people in society to give up coping with their illness knowing that they can get money and want to stay that way. The last point is to do with changing human habits. It is believed that breaking a habit is harder than moving a mountain. Therefore, giving money to low income patients may actually harm them if they used it to buy drugs or alcohol. Furthermore, money may make them get sick from eating more. For example, after the great recession doctors stated that mortalities decreased due to the fact that people could not afford to buy food which resulted in eating less, so eating less food actually increased life expectancy. In conclusion, having money does not mean living longer, it may help a person to live healthier or happier, but it should not be prescribed as medications to treat