Changing the Discussion of Healthcare in Detroit: The Comeback City
The majority of this week was spent on reviewing documents and videos to get a general idea of public health in the United States and why we use public health as an avenue to improve our country’s healthcare system. While we are GREAT at having the most innovative (read: expensive) medical technology, we are not so great at actually managing chronic diseases or even preventing these diseases from occurring. Our population is dying from heart disease, cancer, and medical/hospital error. All of these are preventable. While I am hearing more discussion about exercising regularly and eating healthy, not everyone has the luxury of having the gym closeby, a safe park for their children to play in, a grocery store closeby that actually sells fresh produce, or even the time to make a healthy meal.
Forty percent of residents in the Motor City don’t have access to a car. Detroit is a unique city in that it is incredibly spread out, and anyone who knows Detroit’s history knows jobs have been few and far between (although this seems to be changing). Knowing that jobs are hard to find near your home, and knowing that you don’t have access to a car, how would you get to work? How would you get food from the grocery store? How do you prevent the heart disease your physician keeps telling you about without the means to do so?
The video Unnatural Causes demonstrated that poor people are disproportionately at risk for developing a number of preventable diseases. Further, if you are an African American you are more likely to die sooner than your white counterparts, regardless of socioeconomic standing, as a result of the institutionalized racism still present in this country. The number of obstacles Detroiters face simply to stay as healthy as their neighbors in the suburbs is astounding. While I was somewhat disappointed that this video did not seem to offer any solutions to the number of problems they listed, Dr. El-Sayed did, in fact, give some solutions already at play in Detroit and some potential solutions for the future.
With an understanding of the problems in our healthcare system and in Detroit, we can begin to come up with solutions that can turn the Motor City into the Comeback City that many hope it will become, and in some ways has already started to become. The new director of Detroit’s Health Department, Dr. El-Sayed, has already begun to implement projects to improve the health of Detroiters. For example, water in virtually all schools in Detroit, including daycares and private schools, was able to be tested for lead within weeks. Marathon Petroleum agreed to reduce its sulfur dioxide emissions after pushback from the Health Department, when they originally wanted to increase emissions. There is potential to implement a “baby box” program like that seen in Finland in which every newborn receives a box filled with necessary supplies to prevent infant mortality (an epidemic in Detroit). I think I can speak for most by saying that I am tired of hearing about the issues in Detroit and am eager for solutions. With these tangible programs beginning to improve healthcare in the Comeback City, I am hopeful that we can set a positive precedent for other cities to follow.