HEALTH IS MORE THAN HEALTH CARE: 

The Documentary Series

The U.S. is one of the richest countries on the planet. Yet, we rank 29th in the world for life expectancy.

Unnatural Causes…is inequality making us sick?

A four-hour documentary series exploring

our socio-economic and racial inequities in health.

 

What’s happening to our health? While we pour more and more money into drugs, dietary supplements and new medical technologies, this ground-breaking documentary series crisscrosses the country to investigate the findings that are shaking up conventional understandings of what really makes us healthy, or sick.

This series sheds light on mounting evidence that demonstrates how work, wealth, neighborhood conditions and lack of access to power and resources can actually get under the skin and disrupt human biology as surely as germs and viruses. But it’s not just the poor who are sick—so are the middle classes. At each descending rung of the socio-economic ladder, people tend to be sicker and die sooner. What’s more, at every level, many communities of color are worse off than their white counterparts.

Compelling personal stories from all parts of the country demonstrate how social conditions are as vital to our health as diet, smoking and exercise. As Harvard epidemiologist David Williams points out, investing in our schools, improving housing, integrating neighborhoods, better jobs and wages, giving people more control over their work, these are as much health strategies as smoking diet and exercise. who are sick—so are the middle classes. At each descending rung of the socio-economic ladder, people tend to be sicker and die sooner. What’s more, at every level, many communities of color are worse off than their white counterparts.

www.unnaturalcauses.org

The above images and text provided courtesy of California Newsreel.

Unnatural Causes…is inequality making us sick?

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Using “Unnatural Causes” to raise awareness and stimulate dialogue and action about racial and ethnic health disparities -
The Arkansas Story  

Presented by
Creshelle R. Nash, MD, MPH
of University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences at the Black Caucus of Health Workers Session of the 2008 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting 

Abstract:

Creshelle R. Nash, MD, MPH, M. Kate Stewart, MD, MPH, S. Dianne Colley, MPH, Carla C. Sparks, BS, Hosea W. Long, MA, Angelinq Levitskaya, Terry DuBose, Willa B. Sanders, MPA 

 

“Unnatural Causes-is inequality making us sick?” is a documentary series examining the root causes of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and airing in conjunction with a national public engagement campaign designed to educate, organize and advocate for policies that promote wellbeing for everyone. A multidisciplinary group within the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences came together to utilize this documentary as a tool to influence the health disparity discussion institutionally, and locally. This presentation will detail our experience with use of this tool. The activities we have undertaken broadly include dissemination of the documentary, multi-sector communication and promotion of community action. We held a series of planning meetings to discuss the series and its use internally and externally. Screenings and evaluations with multiple constituencies and stakeholders were organized. Feedback and information from these groups was used to both define our process, tailor future organizational activities and plan research/evaluation activities. Finally, this work has also been used to mobilize grassroots communities to move beyond medical care and individual behavior change models when attempting to improve the health of minority communities.

 

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