Kristina’s Blog

Racial Bias Confronted in Health Care

Summary

As heard on Morning Edition, a study in Oregon presents how medical responders have been treating minority patients different than how they treat white patients. For instance, scientists have found out that “black patients in their study were 40 percent less likely to get pain medication than their white peers” (Foden-Vencil, 2019). Although outright discrimination is illegal, researchers believe that in this case black patients are neglected of care because of unconscious bias. But because of unconscious bias, a new report shows that “it may be one of factors behind race-link health disparities seen across the U.S.” (Foden-Vencil, 2019). There were many incidences where minority patients would seek medical attention and pain killers, but were denied such treatment because the medical staff believed either they didn’t need it or they’re one of those patients who ask for too much. Moreover, “research has also found African-Americans more likely to be deeply distrustful of the medical community, and that may play a role in diminished care, too” (Foden-Vencil, 2019). Such distrust from the African-Americans is understandable because health care does very little to fix the disparities that minorities face, even though they are constantly researching on it. Overall, many policies are reaching out to communities of color in order to decrease the disparities that minorities experience.

Sociological Reflection

When reading over this current event, it is safe to say that “African Americans… who have experienced the most racial discrimination in their daily lives tend to have worse physical health” (Galta, Chapter 13 Lecture, 2020). As if dealing with daily discrimination isn’t enough for minorities, now health care systems throw neglectful medical attention on top of that. According to the article, 40 percent of African-Americans were less likely to receive pain medication. Such actions prevent minority patients from a quicker recovery. With this in mind, if minorities are refused pain medication, what else are these patients lacking in? Moreover, contributing factors to health disparities for minorities are “stress, poor living conditions, lack of access to adequate health care, lack of education, and unhealthy lifestyles” (Galta, Chapter 13 Lecture, 2020). According to the article, minority patients were not aware of the roles of certain health care professionals which made it difficult to receive the help they require. In addition, poor living conditions that may result to unhealthy lifestyles makes it easier for these people to get sick or get injured. Once minorities do seek medical attention, they are denied the help or are partially taken care of, which results to an increase in stress and distrust for the health care system. Overall, many minorities, including African Americans, experience severe health disparities, and it doesn’t make it easier for them when health care professionals are being unconsciously biased.

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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/01/03/676039371/emergency-medical-responders-confront-racial-bias

World Population Reaching Billions

Summary

According to the CNN News, it took thousands of years for Earth’s population to reach 5 billion, but after the 1900’s, it took a little over 30 years for the population to become close to 8 billion. This explosive growth on population concerns the leaders of the United Nations, who then “created World Population Day in 1989 to raise awareness about the problems caused by overpopulation” (Davis & Griggs, 2019). But despite the explosive growth, some areas, such as Japan and China, have populations which are actually shrinking because of sustained lower levels of fertility. In addition, poor countries have shorter lives as “life expectancy at birth in the least developed countries lags 7.4 years behind the global average” (Davis & Griggs, 2019). Regardless of their shorter lives, poor countries tend to be overpopulated. Another pattern to look at when addressing population is that people are aging. This is because life expectancy increased and fertility rates are falling, which indicates that people are living longer and reproducing less (David & Griggs, 2019). Overall, there are trends when addressing population, but regardless of what those are, the world’s population is growing rapidly which may be a concern.

Sociological Reflection

After looking over the article, leaders of the United Nations aren’t the only ones who believe that overpopulation is a problem. Many are concerned about overpopulation because “there was fear that our “small planet” could not support massive increases in the number of people” (Galta, Chapter 15 Lecture, 2020). This concern has not died down as “many experts continue to be concerned about overpopulation, as they feel it is directly responsible for the hunger and malnutrition that plague hundreds of millions of people in poor nations” (Galta, Chapter 15 Lecture, 2020). Overpopulation does not allow the earth to keep up with plentiful resources, as there are too many people who quickly begin to use up what little resources we have. But despite the concerns many experts have on overpopulation, others believe that the world’s resources are sufficient. These experts “attribute this problem not to overpopulation and lack of food but rather to problems in distributing the sufficient amount of food that does in fact exist” (Galta, Chapter 15 Lecture, 2020). These two different views that represent overpopulation are an ongoing debate on whether or not overpopulation is a concern. It is very likely that overpopulation isn’t an issue, but rather it is the lack of proper distribution in essentials that people need to survive. Overall, overpopulation displays itself as a concern to many people around the world, but many should also be aware of other factors that also contribute to the concerns that come with overpopulation.

Word count: 445

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/11/world/world-population-day-trnd/index.html

The Hope of Reducing Health Costs

Summary

According to the Kaiser Health News, many health care leaders realized that their dream of “improving health and lowering costs for the sickest and most expensive patients in America” is harder than they imagined (Gorenstein & Walker, 2020). Some researchers have attempted to pair hospitalized patients with nurses and social workers in order to “stop the costly cycle of readmission” (Gorenstein & Walker, 2020). Despite their attempt, the study provided no effect, which upsets Dr. Brenner, but he is aware that science doesn’t always work the way we want it to. Brenner’s hope was to “pair these [patients] with front-line care workers who would shepherd them to the social and medical services they needed” (Gorenstein & Walker, 2020). Early evidence of this study was promising, as it was leaning towards better care and lower costs. After looking into it, the reason why this study wasn’t successful was because resources were often short of supply. Despite the unsuccessful study, there was one patient in which benefited from the help. This patient’s story led to a trend where “hospitals and many state Medicaid agencies have begun spending millions to meet patients’ social needs” (Gorenstein & Walker, 2020). Overall, lowering costs and improving health is possible, but it will require conducting lots of research and studies.

Sociological Reflection

As mentioned in the article, reducing costs of health care and providing better services has always been the goal. According to class lecture, “expenditures for health care, health research, and other health items and services have risen sharply in recent decades…and now costs the nation more than $2.6 trillion annually” (Galta, Chapter 13 Lecture, 2020). Many Americans are familiar with the highly expensive costs from receiving medical care, which tends to be a problem when they either can’t afford or decide that their issue isn’t worth going to the hospital for. In addition, “the lack of health insurance has deadly consequences because they are less likely to receive preventative health care and care for various conditions and illnesses” (Galta, Chapter 13 Lecture, 2020). When individuals don’t receive preventative health care, this results in worsening their condition and may lead to many consequences, such as missing too many days of work, a less effective immune system, and conditions that may be life threatening. Many choose that some health problems might be serious than others, which is a concern because people shouldn’t feel like they have to decide on what is more worthy to take care of when it comes to their health. Overall, the expensive cost of health care concerns many individuals when they seek medical attention. Figuring out a way to reduce the cost may lead to a healthier society.

Word count: 446

https://khn.org/news/lower-health-care-costs-by-helping-the-sickest-a-much-touted-idea-disappoints/

HIV Prevention Shows Promise

Summary

According to the U.S News, the White House is planning on stopping the epidemic of HIV in America. This goal may be accomplished as researchers in New York point out that black men in Brooklyn barber shops “attend a safe-sex focused educational session” which “helped curbed risky behavior by many of those men in the months that followed” (Williams, 2019). For the study, barbers were recruited by the “Brothers Talking with Brothers” program in which they discuss with their clients about better health. In these communities, many of the participating businesses were in the range for high risk of HIV. This is because many of the clients mentioned having “recent sexual activity without a condom and having at least two sexual partners the past six months” (Williams, 2019). During the program, half of the participants learned about reducing the risk of HIV infection, and the other half received information about prostate cancer. Six months later, the results were “64% of more than 320 men who participated in the HIV education program reported no condomless vaginal or anal sex” (Williams, 2019). This indicates that the results are promising, “particularly since researchers ran up against a pervasive barrier to HIV education and prevention in low-income black communities” (Williams, 2019). Overall, the black barbers were enthusiastic to contribute to this study which has benefited the community by better educating them about reducing HIV infections, as well as receiving information about prostate cancer.

Sociological Reflection

As mentioned in the article, these black participants come from low-income black communities, which tend to not receive the best educational programs, especially when it comes to sex education. Many of these participants were not aware of the high risks of HIV infection that they were exposed to, which could be because only 21 states “mandate sex education and HIV education” (Galta, Chapter 9 Lecture, 2020). In addition, only “20 states require that if provided, sex and/or HIV education must be medically, factually, or technically accurate” (Galta, Chapter 9 Lecture, 2020). Knowing how little states actually require sex and HIV education raises concerns because there are consequences of unprotected sex. Low-income communities suffer most from this lack of education because of their high risks for AIDS and HIV. In addition, medical costs are high as these costs for “treating young people with sexually transmitted infections was $6.5 billion annually, excluding costs associated with HIV/AIDS” (Galta, Chapter 9 Lecture, 2020). Reducing the risk of HIV can decrease the costs that go into medically treating these infections, which can then be put into the funding for sex education and similar programs, such as the one used in the article.

Word count: 439

https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2019-06-21/barber-backed-sex-talks-a-tool-to-curb-hiv-study-suggests

Fatal Knife Attack in London

Summary

According to Lizzie Dearden, London has experienced their seventh fatal knife attack as a man has been stabbed to death in Newham. The victim was around the age of 29 and was “found injured following reports of a fight in Silvertown” (Dearden, 2019). The paramedics were called around 2 in the morning, but when they arrived the victim died at the scene. One man has been captured and arrested for this as ongoing investigations proceed. As previously stated, this wasn’t the first knife attack that London has witnessed. This is shown as “the east London stabbing was the latest in a string of knife murders across the capital in the last week, including three in little over four hours on Thursday” (Dearden, 2019). Many of these murders involved killing random people on the street, as well as barging in to their homes and stabbing the victims to death. In order to keep up with the murders, the Metropolitan Police “has set up a squad attempting to use social media posts to predict outbreaks of violence and gang crime” (Dearden, 2019). Due to using social media, Cressida Dick “claimed violent crime was falling following an increase in the use of stop and search” (Dearden, 2019). Overall, the knife murders in London have created new ways for the Metropolitan Police to spot outbreaks of violence in order to reduce crime.

Sociological Reflection

Reflecting back on this current event, the public concern of the knife murders that were going on in London may be higher than it should be based on what is being displayed by the news media. This is because “if the television news and newspapers suddenly have several stories about a few sensational crimes, public concern about crime may jump, even though crime in general has not risen at all” (“Social Problems”, 2015, p. 337). According to the article, 2019 was the bloodiest year in London since 2008, meaning that crime hasn’t been significantly increasing throughout the years, and that it only happens over periods of time. In addition, the news media may “create the false impression that a ‘crime wave’ is occurring when the crime rate may even be declining” (“Social Problems”, 2015, p. 337). Covering the stories about the knife murders and discussing how often these murders have happened in the last week may create panic to the citizens because of the sudden rise in crime when that may not be the case. Lastly, the news media also like to devote their stories to homicides when it comes to crimes, even though homicides are not as common as other types of crime. In general, the news media that covers these stories about the knife murders that took place in London may create false fear and increase the public concern of crime, despite the fact that the crime rate itself may be decreasing.

Word count: 475

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/newham-stabbing-london-man-dead-suspect-arrest-latest-a9255966.html

Ageism & How to Overcome it

Summary

Paula Span, author of the article “Ageism: A ‘Prevalent and Insidious’ Health Threat”, has noticed many advertisements and campaigns that attempt to be humorous, but instead it stereotypes and negatively impacts the elderly. For example, an ad for a food delivery service read, “When you want a whole cake to yourself because you’re turning 30, which is basically 50, which is basically dead” (Span, 2019). Although this company apologized for their attempted humor, they were not aware that they have presented ageism. Despite how awful ageism is, what these companies do doesn’t come close to the real negative impacts that occurs when the elderly are being discriminated against. Such biased viewpoints may “lead to poorer mental and physical health” which affects the elderly, as well as how certain policies are viewed (Span, 2019). For this reason, the World Health Organization has four teams around the world that are “collecting and assessing the available evidence on ageism – its causes and health consequences, how to combat it, and how to best measure it” (Span, 2019). Research done by these four groups have determined that anti-ageism programs and interventions that are most sufficient are those that are “created between the young and the old that… could lessen prejudice”, as well as “teaching facts about aging as a way to challenge stereotypes and myths” (Span, 2019). Overall, ageism negatively impacts elderly individuals, but with programs and interventions they can overcome it.

Sociological Reflection

Based on the description about ageism in this article, it supports the sociological understanding of aging in which ageism against older Americans doesn’t come from chronological age “but rather in the stereotypes about them and in the lack of adequate social programs” (Galta, Chapter 6 Lecture, 2020). Many younger individuals stereotype and discriminate the elderly, due to their lack of understanding on the process of aging, which targets older people with health problems and abuse. Although there are methods of “successful aging”, older people who are independently working on improving their life to positively impact their lives will not be nearly as beneficial for older people when many younger generations portray ageism. A greater positive impact for the lives of the elderly among us is to “focus on providing them with more numerous and more extensive social programming of many kinds” and “reducing the stereotypes and prejudicial attitudes that many Americans hold of older people” (Galta, Chapter 6 Lecture, 2020). Moreover, solutions that can benefit the elderly are an expansion of Social Security, an expansion of Medicare, and more flexible work hours and job-sharing arrangements. Other solutions include “increased pay and volunteer opportunities for older adults to help take care of young children and adolescents” (Galta, Chapter 6 Lecture, 2020). Overall, being aware of the factors that lead to ageism and how to overcome it helps positively impact the lives of older people and it better informs younger people on how to interact with the elderly.

Word count: 486

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/health/ageism-elderly-health.html

South African Venue Declines Wedding

Summary

In Adebayo’s article for the CNN News, it is discussed how a South African wedding venue owned by Christians has refused to host a wedding for a lesbian couple. Both Megan Watling and Sasha-Lee Heekes wanted to schedule a date for their wedding, but instead the couple received an email stating, “the venue does not accommodate between couples of the same gender” (Adebayo, 2020). The young couple did not expect this response as it is 2020 and were “overwhelmed with anger” by it as well. Because the owners of the venue were Christian, they claimed they weren’t homophobic, but because of their religion, they believed one man and one woman should get married to one another. Watling and Heekes don’t believe that their God “would stand for said hate and bigotry” and that they “deserve to be treated with dignity and respect” (Adebayo, 2020). To take matters into their own hands, the couple filed a complaint to the South Africa Human Rights Commission who will take further notice on this issue. In like manner, this is not the first time that this wedding venue declined service to same-sex couples, as there was another incident with a lesbian couple in 2017. When being criticized, the owners of the venue repeatedly state that their policy is based on how their Christian belief only permits heterosexual relationships and marriages (Adebayo, 2020). Overall, the lesbian couple’s experience demonstrates struggles that same-sex couples face.

Sociological Reflection

Based on public attitudes about sexual orientation, it makes sense as to why the Christian owners of the wedding venue were opposed to providing service to same-sex couples and would only accept heterosexual couples. This is because “religious people are considerably more heterosexist than less religious people” (Galta, Chapter 5 Lecture, 2020). But despite their beliefs that only heterosexual couples should be married, their religion does not need to restrict them from providing for same-sex couples. The owners aren’t able to comprehend that they are still able to provide service for those who are homosexual and it won’t interfere with their faith. This being said, this is why “65% of LGBT individuals experience discrimination in their daily lives” (Galta, Chapter 5 Lecture, 2020). Due to the lesbian couple’s sexual orientation, the owners of the wedding venue were unjustly treating the young couple just because they were both female. Inequality among same-sex couples is also demonstrated because the owners have denied service for the lesbian couple, but if it were a heterosexual couple then they would have gladly accepted them. In addition, the owner’s belief that they will serve heterosexual couples due to their religion presents heterosexual privilege. Overall, it is a serious matter that the LGBT community are discriminated for who they are, but such discrimination can be reduced by not treating homosexuals differently than how we would treat heterosexuals.

Word count: 472

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/20/africa/south-africa-lesbian-couple-wedding-venue/index.html

Time’s Up Defense Fund

Summary

Not long ago, a young woman by the name of Barbara Johnson shared her personal experience with sexual harassment. Working at McDonald’s, Johnson began to feel uncomfortable when one of her co-workers spoke to her unprofessionally about her body, as well as his fantasies on how she can pleasure him. Not wanting to tolerate his harassment, Johnson has decided to “keep a low profile” by dressing with loose fitting clothes and discussing with the general manager that her shifts needed to be changed (CBS, 2020). Despite her attempts to stop this, the harassment was getting worse, which led her to quit her job. Shortly after this incident, the Time’s Up Movement began to grow and their defense funds has provided Johnson support by teaming her up with a lawyer (CBS, 2020). With this in mind, it has benefited Johnson by backing her up in court and helping her pay for the fees that involved an attorney, as well as the court. Although she has filed a claim against McDonald’s for being sexually harassed, the fast food restaurant did not mention anything to her, but rather they called Johnson’s experience as a “deeply important conversation for safe and respectable workplaces” (CBS, 2020). This was used to let other employees be aware of possible sexual harassment in a workplace, and that they would commit to fixing the situation. Looking at the bigger picture, the defense fund hopes that within five years their work can pay off by seeing changes to the laws that better handle sexual harassment.

Sociological Reflection

There are many reasons why women are sexually harassed, and due to cultural reasons, women are still seen as “sexual objects that exist for men’s pleasure” (Galta, Chapter 4 Lecture, 2020). In Johnson’s case, she wasn’t seen as a fellow co-worker, instead she was seen as an object that the shift manager believed he was able to take advantage of for his sexual interest. Furthermore, the structural reason on sexual harassment is that “typically the men doing the harassment are in a position of power over the women they harass” (Galta, Chapter 4 Lecture, 2020). The shift manager that was harassing Barbara Johnson was in a higher position at work, therefore assuming that he has more dominance over her and is able to do what he desires. Given Johnson’s experience, sexual harassment should be acted upon, and luckily the Time’s Up Movement has provided young women the support they need to get back on their feet. Their defense fund responds by “including a legal defense fund for lower income women, for those have been sexually harassed” so these women can stand up and feel confident and protected while they make things right and share their stories to help others (Galta, Chapter 4 Lecture, 2020). In the end, while sexual harassment occurs in workplaces, there are resources, such as the Time’s Up Movement, that can support the victims that come across sexual harassment.

Word Count: 490

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/times-up-legal-defense-fund-has-linked-4000-alleged-sexual-harassment-victims-with-attorneys/

Sikh Temple VS White Nationalism

Summary

According to the CNN News, after the Sikh temple had just recently opened up in California, stones by the entrance of the temple got vandalized the day after by spray-painted swastikas and the words “white power” on it. Shortly after, a neighbor saw the graffiti and covered it up with a tarp, as well as reporting the vandalism. When the graffiti was removed, Sacramento Valley’s executive order on American-Islamic Relations, Basim Elkarra, stated that “we must all stand up against hate in our communities” (Asmelash & Chan, 2020). This was said because even though people were attempting to support the Sikh community, there were individuals who were still racist and believed in white superiority. Moreover, such hate crime should not be targeted towards a place of worship. According to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, there was no evidence or possible suspects on who could have committed this crime. In addition, there were no signs that labeled the temple as Sikh, so the police assume that the person who vandalized this property most likely believed it was a Jewish temple (Asmelash & Chan, 2020). Regardless of what the person thought this place represented, this act of vandalism demonstrates racism, hate crime, and white nationalism, which is something no community or religion should ever go through.

Sociological Reflection

As mentioned above, the racism that was demonstrated through the act of vandalizing this temple of worship classifies itself as white nationalism. According to class lecture, white nationalism is the “belief that the nation should reflect a white identity” which still goes on in life today (Galta, Chapter 3 Lecture, 2020). In this case, the individual who vandalized may have assumed that the temple was Jewish, so they made it clear that their belief in white power was far more remarkable than the religion that is being practiced in the temple. Such racism demonstrates that their set of beliefs claims that “white power” is more superior than over the racial and ethnic group of the Sikh community. There is also reason to believe that white nationalism exists because of the history that Europeans have been known to “divide and conquer”, thus having the assumption that because of their successions they have power that is far more dominant than any other race (Galta, Chapter 3 Lecture, 2020). Moreover, white people have also developed a successful country, while destroying others, so it’s no wonder why white individuals believe that they are able to discriminate others because of ones race. On the other hand, while they discriminate other minorities often and see nothing wrong with it, white people become defensive and call it “reverse racism” when they are being pointed out. Regardless of the endless attempts that are made to put an end to racism and discrimination, it still emerges.

Word count: 464

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/14/us/sikh-temple-vandalism-trnd/index.htm

Poverty Among the Elderly

Summary

In Andrew Soergel’s article for the U.S. News, he focuses on how Northeastern senior citizens are struggling to make ends meet in order to support themselves financially, and even more so when living alone. With this being said, seniors are more likely to go into poverty because they don’t have enough resources to2 cover what they need in their daily lives. For instance, a study operated by researchers in the University of Massachusetts have stated that Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts have the largest percentages of seniors of at least 65 years old who cannot pay for the basic needs required to support themselves (Soergel, 2019). Massachusetts alone has 60% of seniors living by themselves and 30% of seniors living with another that are considered as economically unstable (Soergel, 2019). Without help from the government support programs, seniors are increasingly going into poverty. In like manner, when elderly adults have poor income it results in not being able to be independent, to receive the proper healthcare they need, and the desire of living out their days in a place they can call home. Many seniors are leaning towards poverty because they sit right above the poverty line, which makes them unqualified for government support. While that is the case, Social Security payments are the best things going financially for most seniors, while other solutions are being created.

Sociological Reflection

As many people may have noticed, seniors are more vulnerable towards poverty and are less likely to be able to provide for themselves financially as younger adults are capable of. As discussed in class, elders have a hard time taking care of themselves due to the low income rates they receive, leaving 9 percent of people over the age of 65 in poverty (Galta, Chapter 2 Lecture, 2020). In addition, it is even more challenging for a senior to support themselves while living by themselves. Think about the following for a moment. Living expenses can be pricey for some of those young adults who live on their own, regardless of how hard they work at their jobs. Now this is young adults we are talking about here. Now imagine a senior trying to cover the expenses for their basic needs. Most seniors retire, so they don’t earn nearly as much as they have before in order to support themselves. This being said, some might think that seniors should be taken care of with programs to help support them, but according to the article, assisting seniors are not a priority. Even though that may be the case, there are little things such as Social Security payments that can help our fellow seniors while bigger solutions are being created.

Word Count: 447

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2019-11-22/most-massachusetts-seniors-face-economic-insecurity