Blog Audit: Blog Post About Blogging

As this blog entry’s title states, today I’m going to talk about my blogging experience this semester.  I’ve noticed some patterns in my blog posts this semester. I will share them with you, along with answering the suggested prompts given to me to help write this blog audit.

I think I’ve been highly critical of corporations, specifically CBC, Wal-Mart, and Metro. I feel the reason is they are money making corporations that aren’t doing enough to help the community, to decrease health disparities. While it may seem like they are by advertising the good they are doing, I strongly believe it isn’t enough.  In the case of Metro, they potentially make it more difficult for people to earn a stable income because of reducing the number of hours available in each store in response to minimum wage increases.  This ties into another theme I wrote of often within my blog: the relationship between income and health disparities.

Another concern of mine is the relationship between income and health disparities. It is a concern of mine because time and time again we learn of evidence that shows us that those of lower socioeconomic status have poorer health in comparison to those of higher economic status. Many reasons may help to explain this relationship, each of these reason have to do with income; whether there isn’t  enough disposable income to purchase healthy food, or to partake in organised sports. Another system should be in place, a system where money isn’t valued, where socioeconomic status has no impact on health.

I feel like I’ve come to acknowledge that things never happen overnight, that issues are a lot more complicated because of the great diversity of ethnic backgrounds in Canada, and simply because programs must be tailored to the needs of the community. I looked at this in Blog Post 3 by acknowledging we can’t use the same systems that work great in Europe because of the different contexts.  I’ve also acknowledge that I don’t know all that is occurring in my community, that I am looking at it from one point of view. In my opinion, my frame is shaped by my age and my education. Like I’ve mentioned in Blog Post 5, the children in my community may have a sense of community because they may play together. I don’t see this because I spend most of my time outside of my community because of school and work. Thus, this makes me want to take another look at my community and future communities, and by viewing how others see the community, if the sense of community exists for them.  

After re-reading my posts, I’m surprised I managed to discuss health promotion so frequently. When I started writing my blog posts, I clearly remembered thinking that each would speak of something different; that didn’t happen.  This is significant because it shows the material from class that grabbed my attention the most, I think I related to it more. Coming from a working class family, from the lower end of the middle class spectrum, and not having a “healthy” or “normal” BMI, I felt like it spoke to my experiences.

I noticed that in my first blog posts, the examples that were used to elaborate on my ideas came from what I thought others experienced, but then I started to use my real life experiences. In Blog Post 1, I looked at the experience of the Villagers of Taylor, BC and of other Canadian participants, but in Blog Post 5 I shared what I thought a community comprised up, and used a favourite show of mine to illustrate that point. Thus I started to personalise my blog posts.

In general I enjoyed this assignment. It was different from others because it was posted online for the world to see and made me think of how class lecture related to outside the classroom. I preferred having to write about 500 words for each blog instead of writing one essay or research paper that is 3,000 words. This is mostly due to me being a procrastinator and would have written the essay all at once. Thus, I liked having to submit an assignment in chunks rather than as a whole to encourage me to get my work done and not be overly stressed to get it completed on time. I don’t know if I’d blog again, but it would be a great outlet to let my ideas and thoughts roam free.

What's in a Community?

In class we’ve been exploring the concepts of community. However, what is considered a community? When I think of community, I think of the geography behind it. Thus, to me a community is a group of people and families that live in close proximity, in the same geographic area.  Do you think something is missing from my definition of community? What about the sense of community? While you live in a community, you may not feel like there is a sense of community. I make this statement from experience. At home, I don’t really know my neighbours, and it seems like none of us make the effort to know each other.

A picture from Gilmore Girls, from the community

Growing up I knew what I wanted in a community, what kind of neighbourhood I wished to live in as an adult. I wanted to live in a big city within a tight knit community. This was partly, maybe more, due to watching Gilmore Girls. In Gilmore Girls, the town of Stars Hollow showed a great sense of community: everyone knew each other, had town meetings, frequent community events, and no big box stores.  When something went wrong, the community acted as a support system. Even with Rory gone to University, the community still asked about her, and she also stayed in contact with the community by visiting often.

I know it may unrealistic to compare a sitcom to the “real world” because, after all, sitcoms have scripts, and depict what viewers want to see, the ideal world or utopia. However, if that’s what people want, maybe there is value is watching the lives of these characters unravel? As it did with me, it made me see what I want, but I haven’t put into action any of this in my community. When I look at my community I think see the community as being passive, not seeing that changes should be made.  This relates to the fact I hardly see my neighbours outside, even in the warmer months. Almost every household has at least one vehicle, thus takes their children to extra-curricular activities instead of playing outside with the other children.  When there is the community garage sale in the summer, I still don’t see much of the neighbours outside, getting to know other members of the community. Maybe I’m just not paying attention? Maybe since I’m no longer a child, I don’t see the talking between parents?

One thing I think I can assume is when kids in the community know each other they play together, thus they create their own community.  As classmates have pointed out in class, a community have shared values, shared beliefs, and share common interests.  That being said, if children create their own network of friends, would that be considered a community? When kids get to know each other, it also opens the opportunity for parents to connect.

I apologize if I’ve spoken in circles today, that was not my intention.  As I wrote this blog post, it gave me a lot to think about, which may explain why I spoke in circles, I was writing “out-loud”.  I will definitely try and keep all of this in mind, and maybe try and see how my neighbourhood does fit the definition of community, and how I can potentially make an impact.

Sources:

FNN 400 lecture notes week 6

More information on Gilmore Girls: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238784/

Today's Inequities (Blog post #4)

In last week’s blog post I spoke of how income is an important determinant of health. I didn’t, however, give examples of how this is true. To elaborate on this, I will speak of last week’s lecture material from FNN 400 and from FND 401 (Social & Cultural Dimensions of Food).

In FND 401, I learned about “health disparity” and “health inequity”, where health disparity is defined as a “disproportionate disease burden among population groups”, while health inequities are the “causes of health disparities”. This relates to last week’s lecture on social inequities. The primary inequity boils down, once again, to income. There is a large gap between the very poor and the very rich, which is becoming bigger as time progresses. There have been attempts made to decrease this gap by increasing minimum wages. This, however, is insufficient.

Many businesses that pay employees minimum wage are retail and grocery stores. Speaking from experience, minimum wage increases didn’t always benefit the employee. I used to work at Metro grocery store for nearly three years of my life. As a student and a part-time worker I would get thrilled when minimum wage was going to increase. I would think to myself, more money in my pockets. However, as minimum wage increased, so did my union dues and a decrease in available hours in the departments. It didn’t affect me much because I had the second highest seniority, and thus the number of hours per week I was scheduled remained nearly unchanged. My circumstances aren’t exactly generalizable to the rest of minimum wage workers, because I was a student who couldn’t work many hours in the first place. Some people were scheduled less hours, and no longer benefited from the minimum wage increases; some were worse off.

What other things can we do to make all equal, to eliminate the gap between the Rich and Poor, and thus increase the health in the lower socio-demographics? In class we spoke of also increasing social assistance, make food, housing and day care more affordable, and increase health and recreational activities. However, who will pay for all of this? Will the Rich be good Samaritans and put more money into these concepts? One way this can potential happen would be to speak to the emotions of the Rich.

An issue I can see arise from this is the potential of an increased tension between the Rich and Poor. It is possible, that that the Rich may feel like they have a right to make all the important decisions, an example would be could be where the affordable houses will be built. Will the Rich feel like they are superior to the Poor, and act as if they were their saviour? If the Rich think they aren’t benefiting as well, would they retract their donations? Either way, I don’t believe I will see this in my life time or for at least many years from now.

If we can’t reduce the social inequalities, we must find a way to reduce these relationships.  The relationships explored in class included those between income inequalities and Physical Health, Mental Health, Obesity, Violence, and Teenage Births.

Sources:

FNN 400 lecture notes, week 5

FND 401 lecture notes

Money = Health?

“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle” - Prov 23:4-5

This verse, from the New International Version Bible, tells us that we shouldn’t thrive to be rich. Although being rich would be nice, there are more important things: our health. However, there is a correlation between ones health and income.  This is evident when you look at The Social Determinants of Health 10 Tips to Better Health (Raphael, 2005). All 10 tips have one common theme, something that ties them all together: socio-economic status. This means that money does matter.

However, you may be thinking: doesn’t everyone, no matter their socio-economic status, have the same access to health care through Medicare? Indeed, that  is true. Matter of fact, those with a lower socio-economic status visit physicians and hospitals more often than those with higher socioeconomic status, but that is only because they are getting sicker (Picard, 2011). Although Medicare offers the same health care access to all Canadians, the problem is that the other social determinants of health are not being addressed; they all lead or spin out of low socio-economic statuses.  Is this reminding you of last week’s post?  I hope so.  I am once again going to talk about health promotion.

You’ve probably noticed a trend, that I have a strong opinion about health promotion.  I think health promotion is very important in creating a health Canadian population. The Globe and Mail’s André Picard tells us readers  that  many of Europe’s countries spend less on healthcare, but more on social welfare than Canada, and still have greater health outcomes (2011). That tells me that these European countries are targeting more so the social determinants of health, and thus health promotion is greater. It would be interesting to see how they manage to allocate their financial resources into the social welfare programs, and who are they targeting with these programs.

I wonder if Canada were to apply the same approaches as Europe, would similar results occur? In the short term, the answer would be no, because changes in policies and distribution of funds to health promotion takes time to see it increase the overall health of Canadians. Also, with Canada having such a great diversity in race, ethnicity, and culture in comparison to each individual European country, a greater difficulty will arise during the planning stages. An ethical dilemma may arise if all Canadians are treated in the same way without taking into consideration the implications of either using an upstream or downstream approach.

In my opinion, something that needs to happen with an increase in health promotion is an  increase of choice. By allowing Canadians to chose whether they want to participate in health promoting activities or not, without victim blaming, we may create stronger communities. Perhaps, those who previously would have decided not to participate may see the benefits of living healthier lifestyles through their neighbours, and thus will make the decision to make the same lifestyle changes. This may seem like wishful thinking, but it needs to happen for Canadians to live longer and healthier.

Maybe one day socio-economic status will no longer be a social determinant of health.

Sources:

http://www.acts17-11.com/money.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/andre-picard/universal-health-care-scores-well-but-dont-be-deluded/article1892275/

FNN 400 week 4 lecture notes

Health Promotion is on my Mind

In today’s blog, I want to discuss health promotion and different parties that may be involved. What many do not know is only about “5% of total health care funding goes to public health.”   Public health is responsible for health promotion and prevention; it looks at keeping Canadians healthy and thus reduces the burden on the health care system with sick individuals.  Why is it only 5%? The reason is there is a greater focus on treatment, which can be measured; unlike its siblings health promotion and prevention where we cannot definitely state it caused individuals and communities to remain healthy.  Nonetheless, more funding should be given to public health. 

Can businesses help Canadians improve their health? What about Wal-Mart? Recently in the National Post, it was reported that the U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama has teamed up with Wal-Mart to make “healthier” foods more affordable to Americans. Wal-Mart will “reduce fats and sugars in packaged food and cut the price of fruits and vegetables”. I consider this health promotion because it is seeking to decrease the economic barrier that inhibits low-income families from choosing to eat a well-balanced meal. Thus, it is targeting two of the 12 social determinants of health: income and income distribution, and food insecurity.

What are Wal-Mart’s motives? Is it truly to help Americans live healthier lives? Maybe not.  Businesses wants to create a clean image, to give their customers what they want, and thus potentially increase their sales. However, I do applaud Wal-Mart. Will this development cross over the border? Will Canadians see the same healthier options? If so, how much of an effect will it have on Canadian populations? I can say it depends. I do not think it will impact all Canadians. Take Downtown Toronto as an example. How many Wal-Marts can you find Downtown? None. Would a Wal-Mart ever be built Downtown? It is very unlikely, because there simply isn’t any room for one to be built. What about the current grocery stores located Downtown? Can they create a plan similar to Wal-Mart’s? It may be possible, but it may take a long time for such developments to occur.

What implications will this have on me? As a nutrition student and a future nutrition professional, I feel like my duty is to promote health. Independent of whether the food industry does or does not improve the contents of their packaged foods (i.e. less sodium and sugar), I need to educate family, friends, and clients (individuals or communities) how to read food labels to make healthier choices between similar foods.  I already attempt to choose healthier alternatives for myself, but I also know the economic barriers that prevent this from occurring. Thus, I also need to account for these economic  factors in future practice.

For those of you who haven’t seen the latest public service announcement from Health Canada, I’d like to leave you with the video . This is a way that Health Canada is trying to help Canadians chose healthier options, and thus, promoting health.

Sources:

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/First+lady+makeover+Mart+food+aisle/4141744/story.html#ixzz1CxESJoHF

Lecture notes from January 26^th, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J860Sim0hyQ 

Happy (Belated) New Year!

That time of year has already come and gone, but something still remains: New Year’s Resolutions.  Examples of New Year’s resolutions include finishing the bathroom renovations as planned, finally clearing out the clutter in your home, or spending more time with your family. However, one theme seems to resonate every year: getting physically healthy. This includes eating healthier and making it to the local gym in hope of losing weight. What if I told you an entire Canadian town had made this same resolution? Hard to believe? Well it’s true.

The “villagers” of Taylor, BC have pledged to collectively lose one ton in ten weeks. Will they achieve their goal?  You can track their efforts by watching Village on a Diet Mondays at 9pm on CBC. But that’s not all! This documentary is only a fraction of a Canada wide campaign to get Canadians to lose weight and make healthier choices. Live Right Now, CBC’s health promotion campaign, combines all of the network’s efforts: news, radio, television programming, and a website.  

However, I ask myself whether or not this campaign will succeed.  Will Canadians hop on board and lead healthier lives? Well, one thing to consider why is CBC leading this initiative? I understand that CBC is known for its home-grown shows, but what about the Canadians who don’t watch CBC or listen to CBC radio? I probably would have never heard of this campaign if it wasn’t for my program, Nutrition and Food.  Also, this campaign isn’t individualized, and may not fit the needs of individuals. Unlike Taylor, BC, people in other towns and cities may not have the same individualized support to lose weight.  On Village on a Diet, the villagers have access to a doctor, a psychologist, a dietitian, a chef, and two personal trainers that can tailor the program to their needs.  Thus, it is fair to say that they have a great advantage over the rest of the Canadian population.

On a positive note, CBC strategically featured this campaign in January, when motivation is at its peak to lose weight. However, how long will the hype last? Many of us break our New Year’s resolutions early on in the year. That includes me! Is that why Village on a Diet will run only for 10 weeks? What will happen afterwards? Will the Live Right Now campaign continue? Maybe not. As a classmate pointed out in seminar, CBC may have just featured the show to make a profit. As the year progresses and Canadians become less motivated to lose weight, the CBC may find it unprofitable to continue the campaign, or at least to its current extent.  Time will tell what CBC’s real intentions are.

Again, I pose the question: will it succeed or not? How will we know? Will a study be launched to determine whether this campaign was effective? That may be difficult as there may be not base data on Canadians who are participating in the campaign.

Although I have my doubts, I will try and stay optimistic. This campaign may not be perfect, but it is the attempt that counts.  

Sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/liverightnow/

http://www.cbc.ca/liverightnow/village/