The Real 'Socioeconomic Gap' in Healthcare: Part Two

Green Space Solutions! Finally! Sorry, for the delay...lots of exciting things going on in life...soon to be updated here, since they most likely will affect some of the content of this blog...in a very good way!

So, as pointed out in Part One of this series, when comparing people of similar socioeconomic status, numerous studies have show that those who live in or have access to green space are in better health, have longer life expectancy and are socially, emotionally and physically healthier, than their concrete bound peers. The question then becomes, how do we improve access to green space to lower socioeconomic classes. A valid assumption can be made that a large percentage of lower income citizens are located in urban or developed suburban environments (of course, this is not true for all, but can be used as a foundation to work upon, especially when considering populations of big cities.)

This being the case we have two basic ways to expose these people to more green space

-Bring the green space to them.

-Bring them to the green space.

So lets start with what we already have. Being the fiscal conservative that I am, I say...hey, we have all of these wonderful national parks, trails, lakes, rivers, etc., etc., etc, that in many places are under utilized...how can we make it easier for urbanites to enjoy them?

Enter an innovative program starting up operations in California, called ‘Transit to Trails’. Transit to Trails takes inner city youth and their families to mountain, beach, and Los Angeles River trips. The project not only helps them get out of the city and enjoy the natural atmosphere around them, it also provides educational information about the water, land, wildlife, and cultural history of the area. Some trips even take a one-two punch and help teach the kids about the importance of physical activity and healthy eating for life-long health.

Many of these children live less than an hour from these natural green spaces, but have never been there. They either have working parents that have no time to take them or funds to send them, lack access to cars, or simply do not know enough about the areas to plan trips. Transit to Trails is a multi-agency effort and utilizes the public transportation system.

Although, it is wonderful to utilize the green spaces we already have, it is also helpful for these citizens to be able to enjoy the green spaces on a daily basis. Enter ‘urban renewal’. Sure there are already many city parks (thanks to the New Deal), but study after study have shown in the areas where green space exposure is needed the most, people avoid these parks out of fear. Crime prevention solutions are above my level of expertise, however, effort undoubtedly needs to be put into brainstorming solutions.

Another, urban green space project that is gaining popularity, and one of my personal favorites, is the ‘community garden’. Lots of information about community gardens from American Community Garden Association.

A few examples of cities that have instituted great community gardening programs:

-Los Angeles

-New York

And just to further encourage my point, HERE is an article that specifically addresses health benefits of community gardens!

Of course there are many more options for bringing more green space into citizen's lives, these are just a few programs, which I know about and love. I would love to hear from readers, who know of other measures cities have taken to encourage exploration and development of urban green space. The benefits of all these programs are enormous on a social, mental, physical and environmental level.

The Real 'Socioeconomic Gap' in Healthcare: Part One

Many activists blindly blame ‘socioeconomic’ factors, as the main cause in the healthcare difference between rich and poor. They talk alot about closing the ‘gap’ between different economic levels, but spend far too little time actually thinking about what factors are involved in creating this gap.

Yes, it is undeniable that there is a positive correlation between income levels and health status (this is true for most conditions, not all, which is an important factor to remember as well), but holding money in your hand is not just a ticket to good health. It is the environments and living situations that differ between socioeconomic status levels that cause the health disparities, not the money itself.

So what if we focused on those environmental differences and tried to change those first? That would truly be ‘preventative’ medicine. The term ‘preventative medicine’ is thrown around like a healthcare messiah, but sadly, often translates into ‘pre-screening’ tests. Random testing does not define preventative medicine at all, but rather answers the Jeopardy question “How do you waste the most money in the least amount of time?”.......

Preventative medicine at its core involves enabling lifestyle changes which foster good health. So what would those lifestyle changes include? How about access to quality foods. It is horrendous that we live in a nation where junk food costs less than fruits and veggies. Fruit and vegetable people, honestly, you plant them in the ground, they grown, you pick them...but sadly, it is true, it is expensive to eat well.

According to a study done by the University of Washington, researchers found when they compared the prices of 370 foods sold at supermarkets, junk foods not only cost less than fruits and vegetables, but prices were also less likely to rise as a result of inflation.

Upon reporting the results of the study, lead author Adam Drewnowski remarked:

“If you have $3 to feed yourself, your choices gravitate toward foods which give you the most calories per dollar. Not only are the empty calories cheaper, but the healthy foods are becoming more and more expensive. Vegetables and fruits are rapidly becoming luxury goods.”

Now that is a tragedy for healthcare that needs to be fixed, not the fact that poor people don’t have insurance.

Another recent study on mortality rates in the UK revealed that low-income families living in green areas were almost as healthy as their affluent neighbors. University of Glasgow researcher Richard Mitchell commented; "We found that the health gap between the rich and poor is much lower in areas with the greenest environments."

Mitchell and his team compared the health and well-being of people across a range of incomes to the amount of green space in their area. They found people of lower socioeconomic levels who lived in green areas were less likely to die than those in more industrialized areas. Specifically, lower income people in green areas had a reduced rate of heart disease than those of the same income level living in more developed suburbs.

Mitchell concluded, "The implications of this study are clear: environments that promote good health might be crucial in the fight to reduce health inequalities".

So we have two key factors isolated here:

-Access to affordable, nutritious food

-Access to green space

Some innovative cities are already working to help narrow this environmental gap. More on the proposed solutions in part dos.....

Super Majorities with Bummer Priorities

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.

-Ronald Reagan

One of my favorite movies is ‘Dave’ with Kevin Kline. This movie is fabulously refreshing, not just because Kline is a goofy, comic, lovable hero, or because it has a feel good theme that leaves you with a sense of cheesy euphoria at the end. This movie is great because in its Hollywood way, it succinctly details one of the sad truths about Washington. All too often, while our elected officials are busy tearing each other down, campaigning for their next election and secretly hiding funding for a full service spa for chickens in defense bills (gotta keep their farming constituents happy after all), the real policy making is lost in the shuffle.

Let’s take a look at the many amazing accomplishments of the President’s current super majority in Congress. I would list them all, but.....um...other than a fairly un-stimulating economic stimulus bill, there is just not much to list. The thing about a ‘super majority’ is that it is ‘super’ for a reason (otherwise they would call it a ‘bummer majority’, which really doesn’t have the same ring to it). The tremendous voting power of their majority status should allow them to easily further their legislative priorities. Unfortunately between the in-fighting, political name calling and other acts of completely lunacy (please see my previous post for some great examples of aforementioned ‘lunacy’) not much is being accomplished.

Not that our democratic friends are the only ones to unproductively wither away their majority status. Republicans have had the same problem, and too often ‘super’ majorities waste their time with ‘bummer’ priorities.

The movie Dave, points out the way simple solutions often are overlooked, as politicians become wrapped up in the details of politics. This is common in many bureaucracies, and too often, the goal is forgotten along the way. Of course law making is a difficult process, but by prostituting themselves out to whatever interest group or constituency promises to bring them the most political capital at the moment, our elected officials are forced to add so many different ingredients to the batter the cake is unable rise.