Speaking of health inequalities and income inequality.

Now I have somewhere to post this stuff. Today on Yahoo, the following two headlines ran right next to one another:

• Study: Arsenic in drinking water threatening millions globally
• Diamond-encrusted skull sells for $100 million

I'm not going to talk academic here...this is sick! And so emblematic of our problem here in the U.S. Rich people are so fricking bored, with so much money to spend, that this is "newsworthy." I guess I should be glad that arsenic in the water is still considered newsworthy, too? I think certain Asian (and other) cultures would categorize this as a fundamental imbalance in our priorities as a culture, but who ever thinks to question it?

Hey-o to Heather! Welcome to your new home! We're really looking forward to a post about your new job, digs, and life!

You know you're a Social Determinants of Health Nerd when...

I'm very excited about the upcoming PBD documentary, "Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?" This is an apt time to foster discourse about the social determinant of health and root causes of illness, with people discussing the ineptitude of our health care system (with help from Michael Moore) to start thinking about what really impacts health. A I hope this gets the average person engaged & thinking, not just us nerds.

http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/

This is great b/c it seeks to be more than an informative documentary, but platform for social action through a public health campaign. From the website:
Unnatural Causes, a seven-part series for PBS broadcast and DVD release, will, for the first time on television, sound the alarm about our glaring socio-economic and racial disparities in health--and seek out root causes. But those causes are not what we might expect. While we pour more and more money into drugs, dietary supplements and new medical technologies, it turns out there is much more to our health than bad habits, health care or unlucky genes. The social conditions in which we are born, live and work profoundly affect our well-being and longevity.
Conceived as part of an ambitious public education campaign conducted in partnership with leading public health, policy, and community-based organizations, Unnatural Causes will help foster a new and hopeful approach to the public's health. 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. And these are the stories Unnatural Causes will tell.

Word.

The urge for social and behavioral sciences never dies...

Welcome SBS'ers. Old. New. Okay, mostly old. Hey.

This is a first post so of course I have no idea what to say. What am I up to? Knee deep in practicum when I should by all rights be knee deep in thesis. Getting ready to start another semester (yes, another. Two years is not enough for me. Just one class, though). Oh, and did I mention that it appears that my practicum will never end? My supervisor -- who shall remain nameless, although he is someone you probably all have at least a passing awareness of -- is as dry, humorless, and odd as he seemed on initial acquaintance.

Those first year gals are now second years -- I bet they're looking forward to going back to UW about as much as we were.

Beren has a cold, a summer cold, and we are watching Sponge Bob Square Pants. DeAnn just sent me her photos from our last party, and it inspired me!

The question now is .... how will I make it so that people other than me can post to this thing?