Socioeconomic factors and its effects on heart disease prevention
Sylvia Tran
Del Lago Academy
October 20, 2018
Abstract
This project is about informing the community about cardiovascular disease. The goal is to prevent heart disease by giving information about how heart disease works and can be prevented. This was done by hosting an event for a group of middle school scholars and talking to them about heart disease. The event that we hosted was a series of sports tournaments that the scholars from Del Dios Middle School could participate in. The sports we catered to is volleyball, basketball, and soccer. After the tournaments were over, we had a group discussion about how a little bit of exercise and living a healthy lifestyle can reduce the chances of getting cardiovascular disease. Upon examination of this project, the overall impact we made on a larger scale was minuscule, as we focused on middle school scholars. However, the individual impact we had on just the group of scholars and their families was large, as we made them better informed about heart disease and how to prevent it.
Introduction
Heart disease is an underlying issue in America that affects the lives of many citizens. As my family, more specifically my grandfather, has a history of heart disease, I chose to use heart disease as my topic. Heart disease is an extremely widespread disease; according the the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death in Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It is so prevalent, in fact, that one in every four deaths in the United States is caused by heart disease (Felman, 2007). During the year 2012, in San Diego County, 23.1% of deaths are caused by diseases of the heart (Leading Causes of Death in San Diego County, 2010-2012, 2015). Thus, in San Diego County heart disease ails many and continues to be an endemic issue.
Causes and Implications of Health Concern
Socioeconomic Status
In relating to having heart disease, socioeconomic status is a prevalent factor; that being an inverse relationship. Studies have proven that the lower one’s socioeconomic status, the more probable that person will have heart disease. Socioeconomic status refers to the measure of one’s sociological and economic standing. Thus, education level and income both have a substantial effect on receiving heart disease.
The education level on an individual can impact the likelihood of that individual getting heart disease. According to a recent study in the International Journal for Equity in Health, there is a 70% greater risk of getting heart disease among individuals with non-university qualifications compared with those who earned a college degree. In order to better understand the correlation between education and heard disease team of international researchers from University College London, the University of Lausanne, and the University of Oxford analyzed 162 genetic variants already shown to be linked with years of schooling from 543,733 men and women, predominantly of European origin. From this study, it was found that the greater time spent in education, the lower the risk of heart afflictions in the future. As such, those with worse education, are more likely to get heart diseases.
Another socioeconomic factor that impacts the likelihood of getting heart disease is income. Roughly 16.5% of people at or below the federal poverty level had a 20% or higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease compared to the 9.5% of high-income individuals, from 2011 to 2014 (Castellucci, 2017). High- income Americans have found heart disease incidents decrease within the last 15 years. However, on the other hand, low-income Americans are more likely to be diagnosed, with the percentage increasing by 1.6%. (Castellucci, 2014). Due to the fact that higher quality and healthy food are more expensive, lower-income families generally find themselves eating unhealthy. As one of the most important ways to prevent cardiovascular disease is through eating healthy, low-income families are more susceptible to heart disease. Therefore, as low-income families are more likely to get heart disease, income is one of the predominant socioeconomic factors to getting a a coronary disease.
Culture and Society
In the United States, Hispanics are the largest minority group, being roughly one in six people. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of deaths in the United States, accounting for 23% deaths (Pelbreton, 2016). However, even as cardiovascular disease is the second leading cause of death in Hispanic adults, coronary heart disease mortality rate is lower in Hispanics when compared to their non-Hispanic white counterparts. However, the number of cases of Hispanics with heart disease is still a sizable amount.
Among Mexican-American adults, 31% of women and 33% of men are afflicted with cardiovascular disease or CVD (Squires, 2015). While the causes may be genetic, there are many factors that may cause CVD, such as diet and exercise. Smoking, poor diet, and lack of physical exercise are all factors that may increase one’s risk of getting CVD. Due to poor nutrition in the diet and a lack of physical activities, Hispanics are likely to get heart disease. Current data indicate that among Hispanics, 43% of women and 34% of men are obese. This compares with 33% of all women in the United States and 32% of all men (Moralis, 2013). This is a substantial contributing factor to the alarming number of the Hispanic population having heart disease.
Poor socioeconomic life qualities can also attribute to getting heart disease. On average, the socioeconomic status of Hispanics is worse than that of their non-Hispanic white counterparts. This includes personal and family income, poverty rates, educational attainment, and occupation. For example, 26 percent of Hispanic lived in poverty, compared with 7 percent of white families. The median family income for all Americans was $42,299, while on the other hand, the median income for Hispanic families was $26,178. Due to the lack of sufficient income, Hispanics are less likely to get the proper tests needed to see if they have heart disease and to treat it. In addition, the lack of income causes the Hispanic population to have below standard health insurance. Thus, the Hispanic population of the United States is less likely to receive the proper medical care.
Biological Process
Heart disease can be broken up into many different subsections. However, the specific type of heart disease that is most predominant is coronary artery disease, otherwise known as CAD.
CAD is caused by excessive buildup of plaque in the walls of the arteries. The plaque is made up of an accumulation of cholesterol and other substances in the artery (Mayo Clinic, 2013). Due to plaque buildup, the inside of the arteries closes up, which makes it difficult for blood to go through the artery. This process of plaque blocking up the arteries is known as, atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis can occur over several years and can be prevented by living a healthy lifestyle. In addition, the buildup of plaque can rupture, in which a blood clot would form and block blood from being moved through the heart.
Lack of blood flow to the heart will cause pain or discomfort in the chest, as the heart needs blood to function. Over time, CAD may cause other, more harmful diseases or issues, such as heart failure, or a stroke. CAD weakens the heart significantly over time, and a weak heart is more susceptible to more dangerous afflictions.
Access to Treatment
Treatment for heart disease includes implementing lifestyle changes, taking medication, and having surgery. However, forms of treatment such as surgery are costly and many with cardiovascular disease cannot afford such medical care. Based on the status of people’s health insurance and lack of culturally competent health care, individuals have differing access to health care.
Health insurance greatly affects the access an individuals access to health care. Adults who are uninsured are three times more likely to not visit their doctor or visit another healthcare professional. Thus, as uninsured adults are less likely to recognize the symptoms of heart disease. Without any consistent interaction with a doctor or health care professional, those without health insurance are unlikely to understand the causes of cardiovascular disease and whether they have symptoms. In addition, it is probable that those without proper health insurance are less likely to receive recommended screening tests such as blood pressure checks, cholesterol checks and, blood sugar screenings; all of which are advantageous when looking for signs of heart disease.
In addition to insurance, the competency of the healthcare within a specific area is also a key factor do how differing access to coronary disease within individuals. Due to lack of resources, properly trained staff, and the economic status of an area, there may be a poor healthcare system. Without one of any of the four s’s, healthcare quality in different areas vary. Those in areas with a more inept medical system will incur less, or worse quality medical care, when compared to others.
Awareness
Heart disease is an already well-known disease, with a month -February- dedicated to spreading awareness about heart disease. On February 2nd every year, people from around the world spread awareness by wearing red, However, even with all the efforts of those around the globe, there is still stigma surrounding heart disease and what it does. Many believe that heart disease merely pertains to heart attacks. However, that is incorrect; heart disease may so lead to heart attacks, but heart disease is not a heart attack in itself. Spreading facts about cardiovascular disease will separate what is true and what is not in order to better inform the public.
In order. to spread more awareness about heart disease and all of its potential dangers, putting a variety of infomercials on television and the radio would be effective. The radio reaches the largest amount of people, as people driving or in cars listen to music or the radio. Another was to spread awareness is by writing articles online. Having an article written ensures that if one was looking for information, there would be an article. Using various methods to spread awareness is key in order to guarantee the information is being spread to the most amount of people.
Preventive Care
Just as any other disease, there is a multitude of ways that one can actively work to prevent cardiovascular disease. There are three main actions that can be focused on to prevent heart disease, smoking, a healthy diet, and an active lifestyle.
While it is well known that smoking causes lung disease, fewer people are also aware that smoking causes heart disease as well (Mayo Clinic, 2016). Smoking affects nearly every part of the body and is extremely dangerous. The chemicals in tobacco smoke harm blood cells and artery walls. They damage the function of the heart and structure and function of your blood vessel, which increases the probability of getting a heart disease. With the damaged arteries and heart walls from the tobacco, plaque builds up faster and the potential for heart disease is created.
Similarly, to smoking, having a poor diet and living an inactive lifestyle also increases the risk of getting cardiovascular disease. Eating unhealthy and being inactive raises cholesterol levels. With higher cholesterol levels, the amount of plaque the heart makes increases, as plaque is leftover cholesterol (Mayo Clinic, 2016). Thus, it is imperative to eat a healthy diet and be active. A healthy diet pertains to nutrient-rich food with minerals, protein, whole grains and other nutrients but are lower in calories. Eating foods with the previously mentioned requirements will help control weight, blood sugar, and cholesterol. In order to be active, the “American Heart Association” recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity each week (American Heart Association, 2012). By following all of the requirements mentioned, one's risk of getting cardiovascular disease is considerably lower.
Description of Action
For my group and my action plan, we decided that the best way to help prevent heart disease in our community is it inform the youth of how to prevent heart disease. In order to do that, we went to Del Dios Middle School and held an event after their classes ended to inform them on what they can do to prevent cardiovascular disease.
In order to achieve our action plan, we first had to find our target group of kids to talk to. For the sake of time, we went to a program already existing within the school called X-track. After talking to the head of X-track and getting permission to come to their school and host an event for their kids, we collectively decided what we would talk about and how to best teach the youth.
Together, my group and I came to the conclusion that the best way to teach scholars in middle school how to prevent heart disease is to have them take action and then hold a circle in order to debrief. We chose a circle because we did not want the scholars to feel isolated from us and wanted them to be able to step in and talk as well. While we debrief we handed them out healthy snacks such as fruits and granola. In addition, we created pamphlets, so not only may the scholars take them home to read, but their parents may look at it as well. On the pamphlet there is information about heart disease, as well as healthy food alternatives and websites they can go to in order to get more information.
The event that we held at Del Dios Middle School was a series of sports games. The games volleyball, basketball, and soccer were being played by the scholars in order to show them that staying active is as easy and fun as playing a game with your friends. We felt that this was the best way to show the scholars of X-track that staying active is easy and can be fun. In addition, we felt it would be more enjoyable for the scholars if they were able to play games so they may experience being active, rather then us lecturing at them.
Evidence of Action
The picture above depicts a game of basketball played by the scholars, as well as some members of our team. By playing games and sports with the scholars from Del Dios Middle School, we showed them how easy it is to be active. By showing them how easy it is to be active today to prevent heart disease in the future, we have taught them ways that they can live a healthy lifestyle.
In the picture above our team is shown leading the circle and giving a quick debrief on heart disease. In this specific moment depicted on the picture, the scholars are answering questions to a short quiz about heart disease that our group gave them. By answering the question correctly on the quiz, the scholars from Del Dios Middle School proved that they learned something from our event, and will now with their newly found knowledge, live healthier lives and reduce their risk of heart disease.
The pictures shown above are the brochures that we handed out to the scholars of Del Dios Middle School. They took the brochures home at the end of the day. The brochures have information about how to prevent heart disease, what heart disease is, some websites to visit to get more information, and some more information about us, as a group. By taking the brochure home, they can show it to their parents and teach their parents more about heart disease. In addition, their parents can visit one of the website we have on the brochure and learn healthy alternatives to food that they may make for their family. Therefore, their families will eat healthier as well and their chances of getting cardiovascular disease will decrease.
As a contribution to my group project I did the preliminary work for the group. The day before the group went to Del Dios I met up with the head of the X Track program, Edgar. We met up and talked about the general plan of action and what further steps would need to be done. Together, we better supported our action and set up for the next day.
Reflection of Impact
Individuals have the ability to incite social change and inspire others. Individuals influencing other people’s lives starts from the moment one is born into the world. From parents to teachers to friends, there are always people who will affect individuals and the choices they make. As a collective society who works together in order to thrive, and a social species, people are always interacting and learning from one another. This concept was used throughout our assignment as we worked together to create our action plan of going to a middle school, Del Dios to host a series of sports tournaments. By working with another team on this assignment we got to look at many different views and each person contributed from their perspective, which made the end result run smoother. Individuals can inspire action and social change by collaborating to create a better outcome; I feel I did this to impact my community by working with another group and using all the different perspectives and ideas to create the best possible result.
By coming together as individuals with different opinions and perspectives and working together toward a common belief, we can inspire social change, as well as others to do so as well. While it is possible for a singular individual to cause social change and inspire others on a larger scale alone, such as what Paul Farmer did, uniting to achieve a common goal will be more efficient. This is represented in our project during the very start. As we came up with a basic plan for an idea, the other group doing the same topic as ours (Heart Disease prevention) approached us and offered to combine into one larger group, as our action plans were very similar. By working with another group, we were able to expand on our original action plan and make it much better. A specific example of this is when the other group suggested that we host multiple sports tournaments and that there should be different sports to target different demographics. This greatly improved our action plan and caused the scholars from Del Dios Middle School to enjoy themselves more and pay better attention to our group discussion about heart disease. Thus, by sharing ideas and allowing others to build on said ideas individuals can cause social change and inspire action.
Even while our action plan was successful and our target group learned everything they needed to learn, I still feel that on a larger scale we were not able to bring that much change. This is largely due to the numbers at the event. At the whole event in total, there were about 100 scholars who got brochures to take home with them. However, the group that we took to play sports and do the group discussion with was a mere 35-40 scholars out of the 100. While the scholars who went to the discussion and played sports with us learned a lot and were able to take the most away from the experience. Even those who just got brochures have something to look at and can show their parents. However, 100 scholars is not very many, especially in a large community. Thus, I feel that even though we did impact the health experiences of some of Del Dios Middle School scholars, that group of scholars is not large enough to impact the community.
By taking everyone in my group’s ideas to create a positive outcome in the community, my group and I embodied how individuals collaborating together can inspire action and social change. As a whole, I feel that our action plan was successful. We were able to impact the health experiences of a handful of scholars and their families and make sure they are better informed about heart disease and how to prevent it. By working together and cooperating my group and I were able to ensure that a portion of the youth in our community understands the importance of living a healthy life. Even though it was just a small portion if the community that we impacted, I still felt overall we accomplished our goal of presenting information about cardiovascular disease, so others may prevent heart disease by making healthy choices.
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