SOCY 3505/HNSC 3505 Sociology of Public Health (Ferre): Readings and Calendar
Professor Juan Ferre's OER
Course Structure
- This course is primarily a discussion seminar.
- I expect you to read all assigned texts and participate in class discussions.
- The course has 2 main parts: Social Determinants of Health and US Health Care System
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Topics Part 1 "Social Determinants of Health"
- Introduction
- Social Determinants of Health General Information
- Social Class and Health
- Gender Oppression and Its Impact on Health
- Abortion and Reproductive Rights Health
- Health Inequalities and Racial Oppression
Dates: August 27th to October 10th
1. Introduction (Part 1)
Date: August 27th
Introduction to course
Date: August 29th
Readings
- The Sociological Imagination "The Promise" [pdf]Mills, C. Wright, "The Promise," in The Sociological Imagination. Oxford Paperbacks. A Galaxy Book ; GB 204. London ; New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 1967. pp. 3-13
- Dangerous to Your Health: Capitalism in Health Care [pdf]Navarro, Vicente. Dangerous to Your Health: Capitalism in Health Care. New York: Monthly Review Press New York, 1993. Introduction. pp. 9-14
2. Social Determinants: General (Part 1)
Date: September 3
Readings:
- The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills : Recessions, Budget Battles, and the Politics of Life and Death. [pdf]Stuckler, David. The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills : Recessions, Budget Battles, and the Politics of Life and Death. New York: Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group, 2013. Chapter 5. “Greek Tragedy” pp. 77-94
Date: September 5th - No Class
Date: September 10
Readings:
- "Social Inequalities and Public Health" [pdf]Bell, Ruth, Peter Goldblatt and Michael Marmot, "Social Inequalities and Public Health." In Sommer, Marni, and Richard Parker. Structural Approaches in Public Health. Routledge, 2013. Chapter 3 pp. 28-45.
Date: September 12
Readings:
- Theories for Social Epidemiology in the 21st Century: An Ecosocial Perspective [pdf]Krieger, Nancy. “Theories for Social Epidemiology in the 21st Century: An Ecosocial Perspective.” International Journal of Epidemiology 30, no. 4 (2001): 668–677.
3. Social Class and Health (Part 1)
Date: September 17
Readings:
- Employment Relations, Social Class and Health: A Review and Analysis of Conceptual and Measurement AlternativesMuntaner, Carles, Carme Borrell, Christophe Vanroelen, Haejoo Chung, Joan Benach, Il Ho Kim, and Edwin Ng. “Employment Relations, Social Class and Health: A Review and Analysis of Conceptual and Measurement Alternatives.” Social Science & Medicine 71, no. 12 (2010): 2130–2140.
- Why the White Working-Class Mortality and Morbidity Is Increasing in the United States: The Importance of the Political Context.Navarro, Vicente. “Why the White Working-Class Mortality and Morbidity Is Increasing in the United States: The Importance of the Political Context.” International Journal of Health Services 49, no. 2 (April 1, 2019): 197–203.
Date: September 19
Readings:
- For Incarcerated Workers, Summer Heat Can Be a Death SentenceFassler, Ella. (2019, Aug 28). For Incarcerated Workers, Summer Heat Can Be a Death Sentence. In These Times Retrieved from: http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/22029/incarcerated-workers-prison-dangerous-heat-work-conditions
- Treated like Meat: Workers describe "extreme" sexual harassment on Smithfield Foods' meatpacking lines. [pdf]Gurley, Lauren Kaori. (2019, October). Treated like Meat: Workers describe "extreme" sexual harassment on Smithfield Foods' meatpacking lines. In These Times Retrieved from: https://inthesetimes.com/article/restricted/22032/
4. Gender oppression and its impact on health (Part 1)
Date: September 24
Readings:
- Unequal Depression for Equal Work? How the Wage Gap Explains Gendered Disparities in Mood DisordersPlatt, Jonathan, Seth Prins, Lisa Bates, and Katherine Keyes. “Unequal Depression for Equal Work? How the Wage Gap Explains Gendered Disparities in Mood Disorders.” Social Science & Medicine 149 (2016): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.11.056
Date: September 26
Readings:
- Genders, Sexes, and Health: What Are the Connections--and Why Does It Matter?Krieger, Nancy. “Genders, Sexes, and Health: What Are the Connections--and Why Does It Matter?” International Journal Of Epidemiology, vol. 32, no. 4, Aug. 2003, pp. 652–657. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mdc&AN=12913047&site=ehost-live
Date: October 1 No Class
5. Abortion and Reproductive Rights Health (Part 1)
Date: October 3
Readings:
- Safeguarding Abortion: A Matter of Reproductive Rights.Gruskin, Sofia. “EDITOR’S CHOICE. Safeguarding Abortion: A Matter of Reproductive Rights.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 103, no. 1, Jan. 2013, p. 4. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.301131.
- “It Is Time to Integrate Abortion Into Primary CareYanow, Susan. “It Is Time to Integrate Abortion Into Primary Care.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 103, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 14–16. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.301119.
- Reproductive Rights Activism in the Post-Roe Era.Fried, Marlene Gerber. “Reproductive Rights Activism in the Post-Roe Era.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 103, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 10–14. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.301125.
Date: October 8 No Class
6. Health Inequalities and Racial Oppression (Part 1)
Date: October 10
Readings:
- Structural Racism and Health Inequities in the USA: Evidence and Interventions.Bailey, Zinzi D., Nancy Krieger, Madina Agénor, Jasmine Graves, Natalia Linos, and Mary T. Bassett. “Structural Racism and Health Inequities in the USA: Evidence and Interventions.” The Lancet 389, no. 10077 (2017): 1453–1463.
Topics Part 2 "US Health Care System"
- US healthcare system in comparative perspective
- Introduction to the Health care system: The Medical Industrial Complex
- How is health care financed?
- How is health care delivered?
- A look at private hospitals from inside
- Health care reform and its misgivings
- What is the deal with Medicare for All?
- Medicare-for-all Q & A.
- The Pharmaceutical Industry
- Health and Climate Change
- Research on health inequalities and class interest
Dates: October 15th to December 19th.
1. US healthcare system in comparative perspective (Part 2)
Date: October 15
Readings:
- Health Care Spending in the United States and Other High-Income CountriesPapanicolas I, Woskie LR, Jha AK. Health Care Spending in the United States and Other High-Income Countries. JAMA. 2018;319(10):1024–1039. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.1150
Check out the "Multimedia" tab to hear interviews and watch videos on this topic.
Date: October 17
Movie
2. Introduction to the Health care system (Part 2)
Date: October 22
Readings:
- To Live and Die in America: Class, Power, Health and Healthcare.Chernomas, Robert, and Ian Hudson. To Live and Die in America: Class, Power, Health and Healthcare. London: Pluto Press, 2013. Chapter 5, “The political economy of US healthcare: the Medical Industrial Complex.”
Date: October 24
Continue discussion from previous class.
3. How is health care financed? (Part 2)
Date: October 29
Readings:
- An American Sickness : How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It BackRosenthal, Elizabeth. An American Sickness : How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. New York: Penguin Random House, 2017. Chapter 1, “The Age of Insurance.”
- Health care politics, policy, and services: a social justice analysis.Almgren, Gunnar. . SpringHealth care politics, policy, and services: a social justice analysiser, 3rd ed. 2018. Chapter 3. Section on employer-based health insurance. [Student presentations]
Talk:
Date: October 31
Readings:
- A Primer on Medicare (2015)Cubanski J., Swoope, C., Boccuti C., Jacobson G., Casillas G., Griffin S., Neuman, T. and Kaiser Family Foundation’s Program on Medicare Policy. (2015, March) A Primer on Medicare - Key Facts about the Medicare Program and the People it Covers. #7615-04 available on the Kaiser Family Foundation’s website at www.kff.org
4. How is health care delivered? (Part 2)
Date: November 5
Readings:
- An American Sickness : How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It BackRosenthal, Elizabeth. An American Sickness : How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. New York: Penguin Random House, 2017. Chapter 2, “The Age of Hospitals.”
- Very Profitable Nonprofit Hospitals... But Where Are The Profits Going?by Bruce Y. Lee
Forbes, May 8, 2016
5. A look at private hospitals from inside (Part 2)
Date: November 7
Readings:
- Selling Our Souls: The Commodification of Hospital Care in the United States.Reich, Adam Dalton. Selling Our Souls: The Commodification of Hospital Care in the United States. Princeton University Press, 2016. Part II: Pp. 71-77 and 89-108 (117)
Date: November 12 Mid-Term Exam
6. Health care reform and its misgivings (Part 2)
Date: November 14
Readings:
- Crisis in U.S. Health Care: Corporate Power Still Blocks ReformGeyman, John. “Crisis in U.S. Health Care: Corporate Power Still Blocks Reform.” International Journal of Health Services, vol. 48, no. 1, Jan. 2018, pp. 5–27, doi:10.1177/0020731417729654.
Date: November 19
Readings:
See readings for next class
7. Medicare for All Q & Q (Part 2)
Date: November 21
Presentation and discussion with Dr. Roona Ray
Readings:
- The Costs of a National Single-Payer Healthcare System [pdf]Charles Blahous. “The Costs of a National Single-Payer Healthcare System.” Mercatus
Working Paper, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Arlington, VA, July 2018. - Medicare-for-All and Public Plan Buy-In Proposals: Overview and Key Issues [pdf]October 2018 |
Neuman T., Pollitz K., and Tolbert J. (2018, October) Medicare-for-All and Public Plan Buy-In Proposals: Overview and Key Issues Issue Brief - Beyond the Affordable Care Act: A Physicians’ Proposal for Single‐Payer Health Care ReformWorking Group on Single‐Payer Program Design (n.d.) Beyond the Affordable Care Act:
A Physicians’ Proposal for Single‐Payer Health Care Reform
8. Medicare-for-all Q & A (Part 2)
Date: November 26
Debate: the politics of Medicare for All.
How the proposals by different Democratic candidates differ from each other.
What is at stake and what would be necessary to achieve Medicare for All.
Date: November 28 No Class
9. . The Pharmaceutical Industry (Part 2)
Date: December 3
Readings:
- “The Pharmaceutical Industry in the Context of Contemporary CapitalismJoel Lexchin, “The Pharmaceutical Industry in the Context of Contemporary Capitalism” in Waitzkin, Howard. Health Care Under the Knife: Moving Beyond Capitalism for Our Health. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2018. Chapter 6 (pp. 83-98.)
10. Health and Climate Change (Part 2)
Date: December 10
Movie: This changes everything
Full movie available at: https://tubitv.com/movies/492011/this_changes_everything
11. Research on health inequalities and class interest (Part 2)
Date: December 12
- Medical Marketing in the United States, 1997-2016Schwartz LM, Woloshin S. Medical Marketing in the United States, 1997-2016. JAMA. 2019;321(1):80–96. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.19320
Date: December 17
Presentations and discussion on the Field Trip
Dates: December 19
Activity: Reflections & conclusions.
Unless otherwise noted, SOCY 3505/ HNSC 3505 "Sociology of Public Health" Open Educational Resource (OER) was curated by Professor Juan Ferre for Brooklyn College in 2019, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. [Detailed license and acknowledgements]
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