The Effects of Education on Health and the Economy (Summary)

My research topic is on the effects of education on health and the economy. My sources, a general interest periodical, a scholarly journal, an internet source, and a source of my choosing all deal with this topic, and have specific focuses. Research and many studies have shown education to be a great influential and unique predictor of the outcome of peoples’ health. Lower levels of education are related to poor health and higher levels of education are related to better health. Mortality rates for certain diseases, the amount of people who smoke cigarettes, the rates at which excess body weight have increased, the death rate from motor vehicle crashes, and low birth rate and infant mortality are all related to the amount of education a person has received. For example, the number of people who smoked cigarettes significantly declined between 1974 and 1955. By 1955, however people who did not complete high school were more than two times more likely to smoke than those who at least completed college (Marnot, pars. 1,2,4).

This association between education and health has been observed throughout many time periods and many different countries for a wide variety of health measures. In 1999, the mortality rate of high school dropouts ages twenty five to sixty four was more than twice as large as the mortality rate as those with some college. The health returns to education can outweigh the financial returns. Estimates suggest that a year of education increases earnings by approximately ten percent or eighty thousand dollars over the course of a lifetime. Data from the National Longitudinal Mortality Study shows that one additional year of education increases life expectancy by 0.6 years without any discounting (Cutler and Adriana, p. 1). Also, the magazine article that I found shows that the effect of lower education levels was stronger than that of income for both depression, and obesity. The study showed that lower family income accounted for twenty six percent of depression and thirty two percent of obesity among teens. However, lower parental education accounted for forty percent of depression and thirty nine percent of obesity. (Goodman, pars.6-7)

It has also been shown that education could greatly improve not only health but the economy. In an analysis of the effects of education on health care costs, researchers estimated that Oklahoma would save one hundred thirty million dollars in lifetime health costs if every student in the class of 2005-2006 graduated from high school. Those in poor health are less likely to find high paying jobs with good health benefits, and have more difficulty attaining healthcare (Pearson, pars. 3,17).

Besides facts, my first source includes an interview on the pathways through which education would exert an effect on health. My second source was presented at the National Poverty Center and I believe it is my most valuable source. This is because it includes theories and evidence. It also debates and questions the theories, and includes surveys, figures, tables, graphs, statistics and findings from many different broad studies. My third source from a magazine article gives numbers mostly relating to only a specific topic health affected, depression and obesity. The last was found through a database and gives numbers relating education to health and the improvement of the economy.

Quote Paraphrase

Kerri McLean
9/29/08

He didn’t bristle, but his tone had an edge: “I feel ambivalent about selling my services in a world where some can’t buy them. You can feel ambivalent about that, because you should feel ambivalent. Comma.” (Kidder, 24)

In the book Mountains Beyond Mountains, I felt this quote was particularly interesting and had much significance, especially in the kind of world we live in now. I feel like this quote has two different perspectives to analyze it from, a doctor’s point of view and a patient’s point of view. What Farmer is saying is that he feels unsure or hesitant about having people pay for medical help when many in the world cannot afford to pay for it. I am personally torn about this statement and will explain further about I feel this way.
On one hand, I find it disturbing to know how many people in this world are denied the healthcare that they seriously need because of either lack of health insurance or because they simply do not have the money for it. According to Jenelle Castelli, author of “Open Heart Surgery,” the cost of open heart surgery can add up to sixty thousand dollars in the United States. Now for someone has nothing to their name, how can you expect them to pay sixty thousand dollars for something they direly need? I think what Farmer is doing is amazing. He is giving treatment to those who need it at practically no cost, and I think if there were more people in the world like Farmer, our world would be that much better. There are so many cases of people suffering and dying because they do not have the money to pay for medical care.
Now looking at this from a doctor’s point of view is where my discrepancy comes into play. Myself, going into the field of physical therapy helps me to relate to the doctors. I am going through seven years of hard schooling, which is nothing compared to what other types of doctors go through. Not to sound selfish, but I could not imagine going through all this work and coming out with nothing in the end to provide a comfortable lifestyle for my family and myself. Just saying that makes me cringe after reading Mountains Beyond Mountains and Altman’s article. I’ve further seen how unfortunate other people in the world are and I’m sitting here saying that I want to live a comfortable lifestyle.
The last part of this quote is “Comma.” Farmer used the word “Comma” at the end of sentences because it stood for the word he really meant to say after the comma, which was “asshole (Kidder, 24).” Farmer directed “Comma” at third parties who were comfortable with the existing distribution of money and medicine in the world. I am definitely not comfortable with the distribution of money and medicine in the world. I do not think that it is necessary for people to have more money than they even know what to do with while others are suffering to get by. Even though I feel this way, I still feel as if I would be put into Farmer’s category because I want a comfortable lifestyle. I am very unsure about how to take what Farmer is saying because I totally agree with him in the fact that no one should be denied the healthcare that they need. On the other hand, I do not think that people should be criticized for not spending every waking hour devoting themselves to medical help and have to physically exhaust themselves. I do however admire Farmer’s work and think that if people would just become a little more like Farmer, the world be that much better and slowly transform.

Response to blog

The U.S. Physical Therapy Inc. is a publicly held company which operates approximately three hundred outpatient physical and/or occupational therapy clinics in forty two states. Besides owning and operating clinics, the company has physical therapy facilities for third parties, such as physician groups. The author says that the fact that this same company promotes referral for profit practice settings seems to go against their Association's position regarding the same.