The Impact Of Poverty On Health Outcomes

Impact of Poverty on Health Author Name University Name Abstract The purpose of this paper is to highlight impacts of poverty on human health. Poverty is often described as lack of food, water, shelter and clothing, and is likely to leave a negative impact on our lives. We can also say that poverty is a condition characterized by deprivation of primary human needs, and various people across the United States are unable to access these essential requirements. They are often left with no jobs and no foods, and may develop major or minor health complications such as blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and even cancer. Thus, we can say that financial crisis is directly linked to health complications and the governments need to address this issue on an immediate basis before it’s too late and various people either suffer from health problems or lose their lives (CMMS, 2017). Keywords: poverty, health, diseases, financial crisis. Introduction To better understand the connection between health and SES (socio-economic status), we first need to ask two important questions: What is meant by socio-economic status? What is meant by health? This research paper begins with discussions of how to determine the socio-economic status and how to get out of the uncertain situations. Socio-economic status can be defined as an individual’s status in the society based on his wealth and source of income. If a person, for example, earns over $200 per day from his business or job, then he is considered financially powerful. On the other hand, if a person earns something from $2 to $190 per day, then his socio-economic status is considered as poor, which is because he might not be able to raise his family and ensure the provision of best health and education facilities to his children. At the individual level, personal experiences of poverty are often associated with poor health, and at the population level, the society with unequal distribution of money is likely to experience worst health than the society with equal distribution of income or money (CMMS, 2017). It is to be noticed that in the United States, a large number of families live in one-bedroom apartments because they have no money to buy luxury houses and fancy cars. In such circumstances, they might not be able to save the life of their dying colleague or family member. Thus, the policymakers should take notice of this action and provide poor and needy people with free medical or healthcare facilities. A person is considered healthy when he has no long-lasting complication such as diabetes and blood pressure, is mentally and physically strong, and is capable of performing his day-to-day tasks in a better way. In contrast, a person is considered ill or unhealthy when he is unable to perform his tasks efficiently, develops some major or minor complication, feels tired and weak, and is asked to get medical treatment as soon as possible. In areas where income is not equally shared, household equivalent income is likely to provide biased measures of individual SES. With currently available data, nothing can be done to resolve this issue (Deaton, 2003). Methods Applied economy theory is used in this study, which clarifies that most children and teenagers have no personal source of income, and that they mainly depend on their fathers or mothers for pocket money. Different areas of economic surplus were identified and subsequently screened as well as analyzed where people don’t earn a lot to support education and health of their children and other family members. It means in emergency situations, they won’t be able to bring their beloved to a private clinic or a famous hospital just because they cannot afford fees. This research paper aims to evaluate the health status of 100 to 200 poor individuals from across the country. We will contact people belonging to backward areas of the United States, aged from 19 to 40, and request them to participate in our two surveys. Only responsible, sensible and active-minded people will be allowed to fill out surveys as we don’t want to compromise on authenticity and quality of information. In order to ensure the accuracy of data, we will also conduct a pilot study and at least fifteen poor, yet active-minded people will be involved in this study. Responses to two surveys and a pilot study will be recorded on both MS Word and MS Excel, and we will send invitations to all participants through emails and social media pages. If we see that more people are interested in our surveys, we may include up to ninety individuals but would make sure that all of them belong to poor families and have had faced various financial problems in their lives (Leigh, Jencks, & Smeeding, 2009). Along with the survey links, we will forward a cover letter to all participants that will briefly describe the purpose of our research. In this cover letter we will let the participants know how they should get their responses recorded, which buttons they need to press, and when will the outcome of this study presented. As part of the research, we will ask all participants to share their contact details such as email address, correct name, residential address, phone number and a government-issued ID, and we will make sure that their private data is kept saved and never shared with third parties, whatsoever the circumstances may be. In the first survey, people aging from 100 to 200 will be asked to record their responses, and in the second survey, people aging from 26 to 40 will be required to provide their responses. All of them will be instructed to provide accurate details regarding their monthly income and health complications (if any). That’s because without the accurate data, we cannot conduct further research and won’t be able to come up with proper solutions to problems (Magurran & McGill, 2011). Despite those two surveys, we will evaluate their health status by getting them involved in different therapies. We will record their heartbeat, check their health status, and evaluate whether their brain is functioning properly. Whenever needed, we will collect their laboratory tests too and mention those things in our pilot study. The pilot study will involve poor people with major or minor health complications, so that we can evaluate their health condition, check their case history, consult doctors ourselves regarding their issue and allow them to avail our cheap treatment facilities. SurveyMonkey.com is a comprehensive and popular website, which we intend to use to conduct our surveys. The information obtained during surveys gets automatically saved in its comprehensive system. They make sure that this information will never be shared with a third party, until or unless we allow them to do so. We intend to save information both offline and online, because w...