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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