Education

We’ve only just begun.
Education is number 1!

Education:  A Neglected Social Determinant of Health
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7326385/

Identifying and Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness from Pre-school to Post-Secondary Ages |  The State of Homeless Students in the United States
https://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/supporting-homeless-students/index.html

Food Insecurity for Household in the U.S.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2022/february/food-insecurity-for-households-with-children-rose-in-2020-disrupting-decade-long-decline/

In a world of cheaply made bargains, the social and commercial determinants of health are not jargon! Thank you for taking the time to listen.  ciao, for now.   

drmichelabull.com

Transcript

Episode 4 Social Determinants of Health

By Michela Bull, DHSc

Welcome, friend!

Ralph Waldo Emerson called health the first wealth.  

Life is complex and health, 

therefore, is ever-changing 

It doesn’t always rise up 

to meet us on the road

It can throw us off 

in steady pulses,

and on unexpected occasion.

From time immemorial 

beyond this podcast’s searing serial 

Health has always been, 

and will always be 

a universal leveler. 

So, let’s share some health wealth 

and review Social Determinants of Health! 

The determinants are linked 

By interconnected domains:

Economic Stability, 

Education Access and Quality, 

Health Care Access and Quality, 

Neighborhood and the Built Environment, 

and finally, 

Social and Community.

Each domain contains interrelated topics within

And each, and every one is connected to Health.

Now let’s begin…

Today, we’re going to discuss Education

Teachers, without equivocation

are Education’s most zealous of preachers!

Access to quality Education 

is a key health determinant 

That’s not a lie, or a spin

Education is vital 

In fact, it’s crucial

over a lifetime

to help keep health optimal 

Is Education something only the youth needs?

No, au contraire! 

The evidence repeatedly shows

It should never be shed or spared!

Education is what we all need 

to help ensure that our families 

as well as our local and global communities 

remain healthy and succeed

The decades long decline 

of education in the US is audible

To so many, unfortunately 

Education’s purpose

has become questionable 

Maligned with inaccurate diatribes 

reflecting a cascade of adjectives 

and terse testimonials:

Education has become unaffordable, impractical,  

We must ban and burn a bunch of books!

Oh my, are we still so gullible?!

Despite a recent global pandemic 

in certain places 

Education was indefatigable 

As well as responsible

for a large portion of the societal

Schools have been forced 

to become so much more 

To each, and every child,

and the family she adores

Worldwide, 

educational restrictions on children, 

particularly for girls 

as well as for women,

remain formidable,

and while knowledge is paramount 

competency in health is what counts.

Health competency can’t exist without health literacy 

Health literacy requires literacy 

Familial literacy, 

local and global literacy

Because reading is how human beings learn things

but in many places around the world 

including the U. S.

Negative health indicators, 

such as lack of access to quality education 

are continuous…. 

Early health and literacy challenges 

are not automatically screened 

for the routine, 

or ones rarely seen

So, in terms of preventive educational strategies ,

the gaps are wide and extreme.

Uh, and don’t even get me started 

on all the schools that are crumbling 

amidst functionally obsolete buildings 

obligated to operate as 

learning spaces excelling

The truth is, 

we don’t have adequate facilities 

to educate the current generation 

That’s just one of the obscene ways

Society stifles its own abilities 

So before organizing the next book burning

Check if the schools have enough custodians,

or if it’s the teachers who keep 

the bathroom and 

classroom cleaning rolling…

You’d be surprised….

Society builds prisons 

and Multi-level-Plexus

for people’s parked cars

Meanwhile, it stuffs its children

in archaic chambers

without enough square footage,

or even windows…

Electrical outlets without power

Plumbing without running water

Filthy flooring of all types

that takes the daily tolling

Always having to be prepared 

to handle a crisis on campus 

that may be unfolding…

To what end is society devoting?

With such spillover burden 

How much time can schools 

carve out each day for schooling?

Dear Listeners, 

I’m going to pause 

for nothing more 

than a brief acoustical reprieve….

In early Education,

too many adolescents

and young adults, 

drop out and don’t return,

regrettably.

The outcome gleans,

generations of life-long learners 

that could be healthier,

potentially.

Researchers have shown

the lower the standards in Education

the greater the detrimental impact 

whether it be a family, a village, or a nation.

The negative cycle continues,

because lack of access,  

especially to early education

holds up healthy development, 

and increases rates of incarceration.

As the population ages, 

Contributing health disparities 

with origination in Education

will increase without relief, 

and lead to further 

social discrimination

unless the science is accepted

and there’s universal belief…

Let’ talk about 2 of Education’s friends:  

Housing and Food 

as mentioned before,

Among the social determinants of health 

there’s relationships and interlude!

Housing and Food are linked,

therefore, the antonyms of

Homelessness and Food Insecurity are, too-

Globally, children of all ages experience 

acute and chronic homelessness

Without a permanent address 

parents can’t register children for school 

and if a child is homeless, 

it can mean a family is on the street

without enough food to eat. 

Heavily burdened 

with a cloak of obstacles,

adequate nutrition can rapidly retreat

from developing bodies and brains

needing to thrive and compete.

In the heat of homelessness 

which one of us wouldn’t be daunted

by the experiences of socio-economic defeat?

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell wrote,

Our school education ignores, in a thousand ways,

The rules of healthy development.

Lest we forget

Social determinants of health 

might suggest

that they are a static set 

but there are degrees 

and ranges that exist within.

Given a human’s life span,

it takes little to interrupt equilibrium.

Lack of access to quality education 

has historically led to local, regional, 

and national altercations

Given the global situation,

it bodes not well 

in the now, 

or in the future 

for health disparities to increase 

in the exponential.

As a teacher, I share a dream: 

No matter what the routine, region, or extreme, 

All nations will deploy

a universal campaign for Education, 

with fervent dedication 

to higher rates of literacy, 

and therefore, 

lower rates of incarceration and desperation.  

Remember in the beginning,

the quote from Emerson?

He also wrote, 

Don’t be pushed by your problems 

be led by your dreams….