Week 4 Reflection

As Elena stated, I find it confusing that the United States spends the most on health care and yet receives the least from it. I guess it lends itself to the idea that the United States does not do enough for preventative medication. We do have higher life expectancy for age 80—if we are able to reach that age. In order to have more people to reach 80, the United States needs to pour more resources into the preventative measures. We look to solutions to the problems rather than ways to avoid the problem in the first place. I also found the article to be very interesting in stating that poverty does not mean you are unhealthy. We often draw correlations and cause a direct relationship between factors. However, as the article stated, much more must be taken into account when accessing health care among socioeconomic class. I also thought that the TB study was really interesting. It makes a lot of sense since standard of living has a direct effect on how to prevent disease. With more money, people can buy better foods and have more options to live a healthier lifestyle. Lack of money does not necessarily cause illness. There are many factors such as buying healthy food, access to exercise, and access to regular medical check ups. If a rich person did not make the best use of their money for their health, then they are just as risk as a person who is unable to afford the luxuries of a healthy lifestyle. At the same time, a lower income person can make decisions to take of their health with more initiative not necessarily more money.