Final

Hi Class, please feel free to ask any questions/comments related to the final assignment. Also, I am leaving the blog open until Monday so you can work on those participation grades :-)

For those who want a recap, or for those not in class, I have uploaded the first three parts of the film below. This should cover the entire first part of the film....

Alex

Chunking express-3

Chunking express-2

Chunking express-1

Organizations

Another very interesting presentation. You address the topic broadly and thoughtfully. I enjoyed the breadth of the project and also the diversity in opinion that you proffered.

Rather than me asking you lots of questions at this point, I'm going to leave this space more open so that this group can post more information as some of their presentation was missing.

A few general questions, though:

How are these different organizations connected? Are they essentially Western organizations or are they truly global? Is there a a difference between an organization that is global in reach and one that is global in its set-up?

Health Care 2

I very much enjoyed this presentation. The data presented were very interesting and it was quite shocking to see so clearly the disparity between different life expectancies around the globe. Interestingly, of course, the US has quite a depressed life expectancy given how much we spend on health care provision. You also drew attention to the wider social and cultural conditions which impact on health care. It would be of some interest had you discussed this in more detail. Certainly the data you cited inferred the connection but I would be interested in how you interpret these data.

While the above clip showcases poverty in the US and its relation to health care, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how different identities both within and outside the US are impacted by stratification and how this specifically affects health care provisions and outcomes.

This was implied through your presentation but it would be of some interest (and would help with clarification),

Global Healthcare

Another very interesting presentation... There are many variations out there, but, as you discussed, the main difference between countries and the way they run their healthcare system, is whether they have a national system of health or a private system of health. America spends more than ANY other nation on health and yet has lesser outcomes than other countries in terms of life-span and illness prevalence. You rightfully point out that Americans are generally fearful of a national health system because it has been tied to 'socialism'.

Who do you think is driving this ideological message? If healthcare is inefficient in the US and our outcomes so lacking, why are we holding on to a privatized system? Who benefits from this system?

Internationally, countries far poorer than the US are nationalizing their healthcare systems....

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/interviews/reinhardt.html

You also mentioned prescription drugs. Most drug companies, of course, are located in first world countries - and they are driven by profit. How do you think this shapes what research is done? And globally, what populations and diseases do you think go unattended?

You use many great clips to show some of your points, but what is one of the problems of relying on commercial media (made in the US) to tell us about the healthcare system? (Think of The Corporation).