Low Income Groups And Health: Can Unhealthy Habits Be Changed?

Course overview

The medical literature is clear about the relationship between wealth and health - wealth equates to health at every point on the economic spectrum. But, money alone is not the solution to reducing health disparities. Low socioconomic groups practice more unhealthy behaviors than their wealthier counterparts for a variety of reasons - stress, unsafe environments, and embedded cultural patterns all conspire against good health. Based on the current medical and public health literature, this presentation will examine the rationale for unhealthy behaviors, barriers to behavior change and successful strategies for improving the health of low-income Americans.