Study ignores availability of health care options (Response to ‘Study: Education drives health behavior changes after falling ill’)
By Sue McPherson
Western News – Letters to the Editor

September 11, 2013
click on Sept 12/2013 issue, go to page 5 for Letters

or

In her study (Study: Education drives health behavior changes after falling ill, Aug 29), Western Sociology professor Rachel Margolis states, “health problems arise throughout the life course and how people respond to new medical conditions can shape their future health.” She argues “better-educated, middle-aged people are more likely to stop smoking, start physical activity and maintain both of these behaviors.”

Knowing the importance of good health, and what might affect it, could be attributed to education and thinking ability, leaving those with less education at a disadvantage when it comes to changing their conditions. Margolis seems to take a psychological perspective in some respects, neglecting other influences on the health of the uneducated. The individual exists within society, and is subject to the kind of health care that is available, so that even if they have the will, there also needs to be a way.

A family doctor would be an asset, as would funds to access health services and products. Not all health needs are covered by provincial health plans, and quitting smoking might not be an option for some who see it as one of their few enjoyments in life. Many Canadian doctors are so busy that not everyone has a family doctor, and even if they do find one, time is a premium, and getting one’s health sorted out in minimum length time slots is difficult.

I can see there could be some coming together as people grow older and more adaptive, when education might be less relevant, whereas midlife would still be the most natural time for a turning-point, a time when more age-related health conditions start to occur, combined perhaps with a life crisis and mediated by adaptation or resistance to age-related norms and access to resources, a time to reconsider the future and make changes in behaviour.

Sue McPherson, BA’93

Study: Education drives health behavior changes after falling ill (re research by Rachel Margolis)
By Communications Staff

Western News
August 29, 2013

link no longer works (Nov 2014)

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Sept 2013

See also, photo essay: Menopause and Aging Femininity