Lauren Kenst

Professor Rockwell

SSO 390 Health and Society

25 June 2021

COVID 19 and Health Disparities Reflection Paper

In Chapters 5 & 6 in the textbook, the author, Steve Barkan, discusses the impact of
outside factors on our health and wellbeing. Health inequalities are a relatively new topic, but
with the recent spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has never been a better time to talk
about the issue. It has come to light that there are both biological and social factors that influence
our health and wellness. These factors can include, but are not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender,
income, and age. Where you live, work, and go to school can all affect what diseases you get or
how bad they progress. All of these factors come together to make us who we are. Often it is
more than simply biology that causes us to get sick.

As argued by Link and Phelan, “some social conditions are fundamental causes of
disease” (Barkan, 2021, p. 87). Today, health and diseases are no longer seen as just the results
of our biological problems. It is now known that the environments we live and work in play a
role in our health. The framework of a fundamental cause has four parts: it can increase the
likelihood of diseases or health problems (more than just a few), it can affect the types of risk
factors for diseases, it involves access to resources that would help people avoid health risks or
limit the affects of disease, lastly its effects on health can persist over time even with intervening
mechanisms (Barkan, 2021, pp. 87-88). The environments that we live in can greatly affect our
overall health.

Sociologists have noted for decades that there are many social inequalities between social
classes, races, genders, ethnicities, sexes, or age groups. Each of these differences may have a
negative consequence for the people who rank in the lower group. Health inequalities exist in
these same groups as well. Social class is arguably the greatest producer of health inequality.
Those with money and power are able to receive treatments and medicines that those without it
cannot afford. The wealthier populations also tend to live in environments where they are set up
to live healthier and more prosperous lives. It is noted in the text that on average at birth, “poor
Americans can expect to live about 6.5 fewer years” (Barkan, 2021, p. 90).

Social class also plays a role in our health. Those with greater wealth have better access
to healthcare resources. They have better chances of being employed, easier access to
transportation, nutritious food, and basic necessities. With employment often comes access to
options for healthcare insurance, which leads to basic treatments being covered. Often diseases
are caught earlier with yearly screenings and when caught early, they are more easily treatable.
(Barkan, 2021). Those who live in poverty are not able to afford many of the luxuries that
wealthy people can. They often do not receive yearly exams like those who have health
insurance and are thus more susceptible to disease progression. People living in poverty often let
a problem get really bad before they seek treatment because they hope it will get better on its
own, or they fear the medical bills.

Lately, in our own lives we have seen up close and personal the growing gap of the health
inequalities. With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, it disproportionally effected minority
groups. Black, Hispanic, and Asian people have substantially higher rates of infection,
hospitalization, and death compared with White people (Lopez, 2021). The question for us to
discuss is, why do these groups have higher rates of infection and hospitalization and death? The
answers have to do with health disparities and inequalities in our country. Racial and ethnic
minority status are almost synonymous with lower socioeconomic status in the U.S. Even in the
U.K., minority groups have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 outbreaks (Razaj, 2021).

Historically, it has been noted that marginalized ethnic groups have had higher rates and
earlier onset of disease, more aggressive progression of disease, and poorer survival rates.
(Razaj, 2021). This is due to a number of factors like poorer living conditions, lack of trust in the
healthcare system, or lack of affordability of treatments. This generally shows that although
many want to deny the existence of systematic racism, it very much is still present in our society,
and we have turned a blind eye to it.

As for globally, the textbook uses the example of a monopoly game to demonstrate how
the world’s wealth is distributed. One fifth of the population enjoys 83% of the world’s entire
income (Barkan, 2021, p. 113). In the monopoly game in the book Player A, who represents the
richest populations, starts the game with $6,225 (83% of $7,500). Player B is left with $750, or
10% of the world’s income. Each player after that has significantly less income. This is just a
hypothetical example, but the percentages are real. If Players C, D, and E start with significant
less wealth, it is easy to guess who is likely to end up winning. Just like in life, it is easy to see
who will likely end up healthy and well, and who will end up needing assistance.

Many low- income nations today are ravaged with disease and death because the
epidemiological transition that occurred for many wealthier nations in the nineteenth century
never occurred for them (Barkan, 2021, p. 117). About half of these poor nations do not have
electricity or running water. If they lack basic needs such as water and electric, there is no doubt
that they lack access to even the most basic healthcare needs. Diseases such as cholera, malaria,
typhoid, HIV/AIDS, and several kinds of parasitic diseases spread easily in these areas with
inadequate sanitation and lack of clean water.

Previously it was thought that your genetics and biology determined your health. Now we
are able to see that the environments we live in greatly affect our health and wellness. Where we
live, work, play, or go to school are places that we could contract diseases. There are also
healthcare disparities to be seen between social classes. The wealthy are able to access better
disease prevention and treatment. Those who live in poverty may lack access to basic necessities
and fear healthcare professionals due to the cost of care. It is easy to see that our health is not as
simple as the biological code we were born with. Many factors go into making us the people we
are.
 References

Lopez L, Hart LH, Katz MH. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Related to COVID-
19. JAMA. 2021;325(8):719–720. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.26443

Razai M S, Kankam H K N, Majeed A, Esmail A, Williams D R. Mitigating ethnic disparities in

covid-19 and beyond BMJ 2021; 372 :m4921 doi:10.1136/bmj.m4921