L&C Social Inequality and Health

While examining the relationship between social status and health, the authors of this article (Carpiano, Link,  and Phelan) brought up several interesting points.   I was surprised to learn that one explanation for the strong association between higher social positions and health is that health has an impact on, or causes, social position.  I find this argument slightly flawed.  Though I do believe that in some circumstances health could result in some social positioning of classes, I do not think that this is a good explanation for the overall trend.  The authors discussion of the reverse effect, social position causing health, was much more palatable.  In particular, the authors’ mention of the idea that chronic stress among people of lower positions subjected them to increased vulnerability of diseases was a good point.  I also thought it was intriguing to learn that this stress often stemmed from where one stood in relation to others in his or her own perspective. 

The fundamental cause interpretation presented several good points as well.  One of the most important ideas in my opinion was that “people use their available resources to avoid or overcome risk factors for any disease, be it by obtaining access to quality health care, living in a clean safe neighborhood, or even buying a gym membership.”  In my opinion, I believe this is what accounts for most European countries’ low disease rates in comparison to America.  While health care is provided for by the government in countries such as Sweden, American’s access to a good health care system is much more limited and, thus, those who can’t afford health care don’t always receive it.  People avoid going in for checkups and taking other preventative measures against health care issues simply because they cannot afford it.  Diseases and mortality rates increase as a direct result.  This implies that the American government should take a more active role in making sure that everyone has the access to a high-quality health care system.