The Impact Income Areas Relates to People with Heart Disease

Individuals usually follow a daily routine in which some of these routines can be healthy such as going to work, and school, exercising, spending time with family, etc. Other routines can be unhealthy such as smoking, drinking, or in general, living an unhealthy lifestyle. Sometimes some of these opportunities rely on the income you live in. However, depending on the person’s lifestyle, it can either increase or decrease the risk of heart disease. These opportunities shape these routines and are often influenced by the social environment in which a person lives. This is especially significant because one of the leading causes of death is heart disease in the United States. The individual’s social environment is shaped by many factors. Some of these factors include access to healthcare, good quality foods, and a safe environment. All of these play a role in determining the lifestyle and chances of obtaining heart disease. The term “structural violence” is used to refer to how social systems affect marginalized groups. In this case, people with heart disease are the marginalized groups. It shows how these individuals are treated or have to deal with the situation they have. Some of these individuals are put in unfortunate situations where they cannot help themselves. If these individuals were not raised in a comfortable environment, the risk of heart disease increases for them due to the risk factors around them. Furthermore, Paul Farmer’s term “structural violence” and author Tobin Siebers’ social model, both help with the argument that individuals with heart disease are mostly affected in lower-income areas due to their environment.

Heart disease or Cardiovascular disease (CVD) describes many conditions that affect the heart (Mayo Clinic Staff). It is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Examples of heart disease can be coronary artery disease, heart failure, arrhythmia, heart valve problems, etc. Many things cause heart disease to occur such as lack of blood pumped for body function, plaque-like fat or cholesterol on the walls of arteries so the blood won’t flow efficiently, etc. Risk factors that add to the chance of heart disease will be increased like smoking, obesity, diabetes, lack of diet, obesity, etc. These risk factors are influenced by the individual’s living conditions and social status. Some of these living conditions and social status have social barriers that can limit access to healthcare, food, etc. Overall, lifestyle does play a factor in obtaining heart disease.

Paul Farmer is an M.D. who is an author who wrote about health and human rights (Partners in Health). In one of his books, On Suffering and Structural Violence: A View from Below, he mentions the term “structural violence” in his book. Structural violence refers to how social and economic systems cause inequality to a specific group of people which can make it hard to live healthy lives. Tobin Siebers is an author and professor from the University of Michigan who published books, essays, and articles when he was alive (Siebers). In one of the books he wrote, Returning the Social to the Social Model, he mentions the use of the social model and how society creates a barrier around disabled people. Siebers critiques that people look at disabled people and see them as if there’s something wrong with them rather than just acknowledging that they have a medical problem. Both these authors show how society sees people with heart disease and how structural violence affects these individuals. They both help contextualize the relationship between heart disease and inequality of income. Going off this, the argument that I am making is that people within low-income areas have higher rates of heart disease because they aren’t provided the right amount of resources to deal with it.

When taking a look at which ethnic groups have the highest rate of heart disease, it showed that people of color (Blacks, Hispanics, and, Asians) have an increased risk of heart disease, especially black adults to have higher hypertension and obesity (Javed). Looking at these individuals with heart disease, it depends on the variety of their environment. Some researchers did a study on how living in a certain neighborhood will affect the chance of obtaining heart disease. Studies have shown that people who have heart disease are mostly found in lower-income areas compared to higher-income areas (Roux). Most of these neighborhoods have a high percentage of minorities. Looking more closely at these neighborhoods, researchers found that when comparing them, such as food quality, they are more expensive and lower quality in low-income areas rather than high-income areas (Gosliner). Access to healthy foods is major in reducing the risk of heart disease. Without access to fresh high-quality products of foods (fresh fruit and whole grains), low-income areas can’t afford these foods, which will cause these individuals to go to fast food places with fats and sugar which will lead to an unhealthy diet and increase the risk of getting obesity, diabetes, and even hypertension, which are all risk factors of heart disease. When looking at neighborhoods with a high percentage of minorities, they contain fewer recreation facilities (sports facilities, fitness centers, playgrounds) which causes most of the people to be obese due to lack of exercise and have an increased risk of heart disease (Moore). Other things that also contribute to heart disease is substance use. The study was performed to see who has been using drugs in the past year. Researchers found that individuals who live in low-income areas had the highest substance abuse compared to higher income (Baptise-Roberts). Researchers also looked at the people living in these low-income areas who also have a greater risk of heart disease due to high amounts of stress (Reynolds). This can be a result of depression, anxiety, trying to find a job to be financially stable or just the situations these individuals are feeling. Mental feelings do take a toll on one’s health which could lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms like smoking, drinking, or just any substance that would just increase the risk of obtaining heart disease.

Throughout society, people have opinions on certain individuals with disabilities. When comparing the term “structural violence” from Paul Farmer to people with heart disease, it mostly represents the people living in low-income areas. Structural violence presents itself in many ways in lower-income areas such as efficient recreational facilities, and poor housing. Going into more detail, some people can’t afford to get good quality foods, healthcare, or in general a better lifestyle. This structural violence targets different ethnic groups, genders, and income levels even though it’s not directly any physical violence. People in higher-income areas do not have to worry about this since they can afford things that will help them deal with their heart disease. Even if these individuals do get heart disease, the way they really could obtain it is from poor life choices or just genetically inherited. Sieber’s social model also affects those individuals with heart disease. The social model looks at how society affects individuals with disabilities. It focuses on how society can try to fix the social barriers around these individuals instead of focusing the blame on their disabilities. For example, people in low-income areas that have heart disease can’t afford healthcare so the social model will focus on how to fix that problem so everyone has a chance to have healthcare. It makes it hard for people in low-income areas to access the resources that they need to prevent the risk of heart disease. A solution to help these individuals could be adding a wellness center since most individuals in low-income areas have stress. Reducing the stress levels of these individuals can help reduce the chance of heart disease which helps out these types of communities, especially the ethnic groups. Another thing that could also help out these people is building more recreational facilities. Building more recreation facilities will promote physical activity and lower obesity rates if these individuals start to work out which will also reduce the chance of heart disease. Increasing access to healthcare is a big plus for those individuals who cannot afford it so that heart disease overall can be reduced in these lower-income areas. These solutions can help these individuals and change their community for the better.

Looking at all the information provided, I think that this information supports the argument that I am making about heart disease being higher in low-income areas because there aren’t enough resources to deal with it. Because low-income areas are usually filled with minorities, I think that structural violence does take part in why these low-income areas are focused on. Most low-income areas have a lack of education, racism, and discrimination, poor infrastructure, etc. Higher-income areas don’t have a problem when it comes to these factors. An area like the Bronx is an example of how some of these factors cause it to stay a low-income area. Some of these people can’t afford healthy foods which causes them to spend money elsewhere and raise heart disease. Some people who have jobs don’t make enough money to get excess healthcare. People in these areas don’t have as many efficient supermarkets, gyms, banks, etc, which adds to how these areas become low-income. The use of structural violence supports my argument since it is used to target certain individuals (people with heart disease) at certain incomes. Sieber’s social model also supports the argument because some people look at people with heart disease and want society to do things to help everyone as a whole instead of dealing with heart disease.

In Conclusion, what you choose to do for your daily routine does contribute to the chances of obtaining heart disease. People living in low-income areas are not as fortunate as people in higher-income areas since these individuals face many challenges such as limits to obtaining higher quality foods, lack of recreational facilities, access to healthcare, and even stress living under these conditions. Structural violence explains how these social barriers affect specific ethnic groups and genders are targeted, affecting their chance to improve their living conditions. Trying to address these issues, with the use of the social model, like investment in health within those low-income areas, building more recreational facilities, and increasing access to healthcare can help society reduce the chances of obtaining heart disease and promote equality for all individuals.

Works Cited
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Javed, Zulqarnain, et al. “Race, Racism, and Cardiovascular Health: Applying a Social Determinants of Health Framework to Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease.” Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, vol. 15, no. 1, 18 Jan. 2022, www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.121.007917, https://doi.org/10.1161/circoutcomes.121.007917.

Partners in Health. “The Life of Dr. Paul Farmer.” Www.pih.org, www.pih.org/paul.

Siebers, Tobin. “Tobin Siebers.” Michigan Quarterly Review, 12 Nov. 2024, sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/author/tobin-siebers/. Accessed 16 Dec. 2024.

Roux, Ana V. Diez, et al. “Neighborhood of residence and incidence of coronary heart disease.” New England Journal of Medicine 345.2 (2001): 99-106.

Gosliner, Wendi, et al. “Availability, quality and price of produce in low-income neighborhood food stores in California raise equity issues.” Public 21.9 (2018): 1639-1648.

Moore, Latetia V et al. “Availability of recreational resources in minority and low socioeconomic

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Baptiste-Roberts, Kesha, and Mian Hossain. “Socioeconomic Disparities and Self-reported Substance Abuse-related Problems.” Addiction & health vol. 10,2 (2018): 112-122. doi:10.22122/ahj.v10i2.561

Reynolds, Sharon. “Stress Links Poverty to Inflammation and Heart Disease.” National Institutes of Health (NIH), 8 July 2019, www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/stress-links-poverty-inflammation-heart-disease.