Kevin Pang
PSYC144: Psychobiology and Culture of Pain
Fall 2003
Final Project
Conclusions
"Breakthroughs in medical science can do a lot to improve public health, but
history has shown that, more often than not, information about and access to
important new interventions are enjoyed primarily by people at the upper end
of the socioeconomic ladder. As a result, the wealthy and powerful get
healthier, and the gap widens between them and the people who are poor and
less powerful".(3) Socioeconomic status plays a large role in how one
perceives pain. It affects how one views its treatments as well as
its necessity. People of lower socioeconomic status experience more pain
in their lives because of their lack of knowledge, power, and wealth.
Furthermore, these factors also affect how expressive one is about their
pain.
In my hypothesis I broke up the reasons for why I believed the poor experienced
more yet expressed less about their pain into three sections:
The papers cited on this website support the first two of these statements.
There is reasonable evidence to suggest these statements hold some validity.
The notion that physical laborers depend on their physical health for
income is obvious. From papers 2 and
3, as well as a few papers we read in
class, it is clear that those lower in the socioeconomic ladder are less
willing to express their pain for fear of losing their jobs. Without the
financial resources to support living expenses it is difficult to imagine
a lower class physical laborer admitting injury. In addition, the lack of
transferable skills as well as the danger of being replaced by a healthier
worker makes expressing pain even less appealing.
As for the second statement, papers 1,
2, and 4
argue that insufficient knowledge on available treatment as well as
misconceptions about pain/illness can lead to undertreatment of pain. The
lower class in general is less educated than the upper class and therefore can
fall victim to this link. Without proper education on how and where to get
treatment, one can feel helpless to curing their pain. We have read case
studies in class where simply allowing a patient to have a sense of control
over their pain would cause them to suffer less. The poor
lack knowledge about proper health care treatments and therefore endure more
pain. In addition, the poor lack knowledge on how to live healthy lifestyles
which further increases the number of health risks they encounter.
The third statement was not supported by any of the papers cited here because
there isn't a very easy way of determining whether it is true or not. We have
read case studies that indicate some patients express their pain more freely to
the people they associate closest with while others tend to do the opposite.
It would seem that people of lower socioeconomic status would not complain
to one another about their pain because of a general understanding that other
poor people have their own pain and livelihoods to worry about. However, this
may not necessarily be the case. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any
case studies or papers that discussed the topic.
I believe that there is sufficient evidence to link socioeconomic status to
poor health, unecessary pain, and a lack of expressiveness of this pain.
In order to help remove this burden from the members of the poor community,
society must take a closer look at the policies that prevent those of lower
socioeconomic standing from obtaining the knowledge and treatment they
deserve.
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