Unit 7: Film Discussion: In Sickness and In Wealth

Help me study for my Social Science class. I’m stuck and don’t understand.

Directions

Watch on Kanopy: In Sickness and In Wealth (58 min.) (Links to an external site.)

Watch the first episode “In Sickness and In Wealth” in the docuseries Unnatural Causesavailable through the library database Kanopy and answer the following questions.

1. What is the central point of the documentary?
2. What is the social problem the film addresses?
3. What did the Whitehall study reveal about the connection between health and wealth?
4. What is the wealth-health gradient?
5. How do the lives of Jim Taylor, Tondra Young, Corey Anderson and Mary Turner exemplify concepts like the wealth-health gradient and the importance of power and control?
6. What does comparing data maps of disease rates in the different Louisville council districts reveal?
7. What might explain observed differences?
8. Professor Leonard Syme defines control of destiny as the “ability to influence the events that impinge on your life.” Why is this ability an important factor for health?
9. Sociologist David Williams said, “Economic policy is health policy.” How has U.S. influenced health inequities and health outcomes?
10. What kinds of economic policies might reduce health inequities and improve the overall health of most Americans?