Social Determinants of Health: Documentary “Unnatural Causes” Essay

Social Aspects of Contemporary Healthcare

The paper provides an overview of Unnatural Causes documentaries as well as evaluates the Health Leeds initiative that was launched by Rebecca Onie so that to improve the quality of the U.S. healthcare sector.

According to the outcomes of the complex analysis that targeted four Louisville districts, the citizens demonstrate contrastive rates of health prevention performance, which is highly dependent on the factor of financial income. Moreover, it is claimed that the well-being of American patients relies on the issues of gender, race, and social diversity.

Thus, due to the experts’ estimations, the citizens of particular parts may die five or even ten times sooner than their counterparts. It is illustrated by the poor education standards and inferiority statuses of the residents of Mary’s districts. In contrast to them, the citizens of Jim’s area live on average, 80 years due to their financial prosperity and social inclusion (Unnatural Causes of Health: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?). The disparity finds its reflection in the delivery of health care services, for it is acknowledged that people who live in poor conditions can not access medication and often abandoned by the state.

Health Determinants vs. Treatment Outcomes

In her speech on the significance of social determinants as the guiding healthcare factors, Rebecca Onie recounts the typical patterns of American medical expenditure schemes. Specifically, the expert is concerned with the inefficiency of governmental cost distribution. She claims that the biggest allocations are directed to the treatment techniques and pills, while it is necessary to spend them on the basic needs of marginalized American families. In other words, Onie claims that some U.S. communities are raised on the ground of poverty and social exclusion. When the members of such social groups seek help, the authority ignores their needs, for the deprived citizens have no money to pay for medical services. As a result, the quality of public health goes down, and the American community faces a consistent mortality increase (What if Our Healthcare System Kept Us Healthy?). In this way, the activist shows that social determinants and health quality are interrelated. The rates of public health quality straightly depend on the factors of life conditioning.

Waiting Rooms Renovation

The naming of a waiting room defines its nature. In modern America, one can meet around three million people that find themselves in such rooms every day. It is claimed that citizens tend to spend too much time for mere waiting, instead of receiving high-quality clinical assistance. Indeed, it is hard to imagine how challenging the process of sitting on a stool appears when one has a terrible headache.

In her speech, Onie presents a consistent solution to excessive waiting that was developed by Health Leeds. According to her, it is possible to extend the healthcare workforce by employing typical American students. Since clinic professionals are physically unable to provide treatment to all patients on the spot, the modern youth can become a leading force for coordination, monitoring, and distribution within the renovated waiting rooms (What if Our Healthcare System Kept Us Healthy?).

Health Leeds Vision: Eliminating Disparity

The primary idea that lies behind the Health Leeds profile is a patient-directed orientation. It is acknowledged that contemporary medicine is primarily concerned with the diagnosis and medication prescriptions. Due to the Health Leeds’ regulation, the approach is entirely wrong since a big part of patients does not benefit from it. In fact, the American community is comprised of miscellaneous social ranks and ethnic groups. Therefore, the representatives of marginalized communities can not afford to buy any medicine. The principal mission of Health Leeds is to treat a patient in terms of living conditions in the first place. Mainly, it is crucial to find out whether the client possesses enough food and clothing or whether he can afford transportation. In these terms, the notion of a prescription may be renovated and include not only medicine but the essential surviving means as well. This approach has a powerful impact on the general treatment of poverty in the U.S. society, which accounts for the improvement of health care quality throughout the country.

The Wealth Health Gradient Implications

The series of Unnatural Causes documentaries reflect the idea of measuring the wealth health gradient as the means of rating the accessibility of medical services. Thus, it is stated that in contrast to Great Britain, the U.S. public health does not provide a chance for recovery to every citizen of the country. According to the general gradient, approximately 70 % of the U.S. wealthy population possesses excellent health. In the case with poor citizens, the rating barely reaches 35 %. The most common problems that are faced by the representatives of the U.S. low-rank social groups are heart disease and diabetes (Unnatural Causes of Health: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?). Therefore, one can deduce that social status disparities and marginalization within the American communities, inflict the poor quality of public health.

Comparative Analysis of Multilevel Medicine Approaches

The documentaries describe the representatives of four contrastive districts that vary in material statuses and social positioning. The first analysis concerns Jim Taylor, who belongs to the wealthy community. The affluence provides him with a chance for survival, for this person can afford any necessary medication, no matter what its price is. The second figure, Tondra Young, belongs to the middle-class society. The woman claims that she feels quite comfortable in her social role. The primary factor that stimulates her prosperity is education since it can increase her material state in a few years after graduation. Apparently, Tondra Young receives professional medical care without any or with quite a few financial problems. Corey Anderson, a member of the third district, lost his fortune through his business deficiency. Consequently, his family was deprived of homeownership. It is claimed that the citizens, who do not possess material property, can not receive a high-quality treatment since they lose the central platform of their financial prosperity. Finally, Mary Turner is a representative of a district, which is marked by extreme poverty. She has neither the property nor school education. Consequently, the woman can not afford even basic medication. Thus, the comparison shows the way in which financial prosperity rules the quality of public health.

The Analysis of Louisville Maps of Disease Rates

The disease rate maps that illustrate the state of public health in various Louisville districts show the disparities in the level of medical treatment. Thus, the population of the West End faces excessive financial problems. Therefore, the district accounts for the highest rates of heart disease occurrence as well as child morbidity. In contrast to it, the maps reveal that the East areas refer to the wealthy regions. Therefore, the citizens of these parts are provided with high-quality treatment, and the rates of disease are considerably lower here (Unnatural Causes of Health: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?).

Works Cited

Onie, Rebecca. “What if Our Healthcare System Kept Us Healthy?” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 1012. Web.

Unnatural Causes of Health: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? Ex. Prod. Larry Adelman. California: PBS. 2008. DVD.