For our first blog assignment I watched "There's No Small Stuff" Being Poor in Louisville, KY. Watching Mary Turner shop for her family reminds me of myself. I am constantly bargaining in my head with thoughts like this, "okay, if I buy this meat then I won't be able to get any treats" or "we really need more fresh fruits and vegetables but they are so expensive." I completely commiserate with her plight. I, however, do not live in rural Kentucky. I also have to fee three teenagers. We cannot even make it through a full week on $200, yet she has to make this $200 (or less) last for a month, sometimes borrowing from other bill payments. When it is nearing the end of the month she cuts back feeding her family to only one meal a day.
There were many things she said in this four minute video that made me physically uncomfortable. Her statement that "everything is large" really hit home with me (unnaturalcausesdoc, 2008). Sometimes I feel that way in my own life. Thinking that Mary wakes up every morning and says to herself, "Oh God, not another day" is unfair and terribly sad (unnaturalcausesdoc, 2008). Knowing others who reside on the easter side of her county are living longer than she and her family members is another totally depressing reality. What can be done?
When she coughed during the interview I couldn't help but think she may be a smoker and could possibly be sick. In our text we read this regarding women and prescriptions, "Kaiser Family Foundation found 1 in 5 (21%) non elderly women did not fill a prescription because of the cost, compared with 13% of men (Alexander, 23). Mary is non-elderly and has admitted that she has to decide whether she wants her family to eat or to have electricity. Getting the medicine she needs would probably not happen for Mary. This is just one example in Mary's life that exemplifies the obvious link between health and poverty.
Our health care system is desperately overworked. We have the highest gross national product yet we "ran 30th in life expectancy" (unnaturalcausesdoc, 2008). One of the experts in the video "Unnatural Causes" stated we have "huge inequalities in our society" which causes the desperate state of illness in our country (unnaturalcausesdoc, 2008). I believe one way to improve American health is education in wellness and illness prevention. I wish we could incorporate this type of curriculum into all schools that illustrate simple ways to stay healthy that do not necessarily cost a lot of money to implement. Mary Turner's family does not have enough resources to alter their whole lifestyle. But arming her children with easy and free ways to keep their family healthy could have a positive ripple effect in their world and others living in poverty.
Works cited:
Alexander, Linda, LaRosa, Judith, Bader, Helaine, Garfield, Susan, Alexander, William James, (2010). New Dimentions in Women's Health. Sudbury, MA. Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Unnaturalcausesdoc. (2008, Mar 26). Unnatural Causes [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE7v5cHlHDQ.
Unnaturalcausesdoc. (2008, July 10). There's No Small Stuff [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dshh1JLO3ps.
