NB-25-26

What is the claim of the video?

• What is the relationship between wealth and health?
• What kind of evidence is presented?

What does comparing data maps of disease rates in the different Louisville council districts reveal? What could explain these differences?

Dr. David Williams says: “Stress helps motivate us. In our society today everybody experiences stress. The person who has no stress is a person who is dead.” Describe the body’s stress (fight- or- flight) response. How is chronic stress different? How might chronic stress increase the risk of illness and disease?

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?

• What stories from Corey Anderson’s life exemplify a high demand / low control job and stressful home situation?
• What stories from Jim Taylor’s life illustrate how wealth, power and status translate into better health?

What did the Macaque monkey research teach primatologist Carol Shively about the connections between power, subordination and health? What parallels can we draw to human society?

 Describe examples from the lm that illustrate how racism imposes an additional health burden on people of color. Give examples of both “everyday” racism (being treated unfairly) and “structural” racism (access to resources, power, status and wealth) and describe how these might affect health in different ways.

What social changes were most responsible for the 30-year increase in American life expectancy over the 20th century? What policies does the lm point to that might account for our low rank in recent years compared to other countries (29th as of December 2007)? What characterizes the policies and priorities of countries that have better health outcomes than we do?