Events

BCLS Highlighting October “Health and Wellness” Month with Video Series

Published

1 year ago

October 6, 2023

Press Release

Berkeley County Library System (BCLS), in honor of October “Health and Wellness” Month, is inviting customers to checkout “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?” Video Series which presents a different health topic with each video. The complete (4 Disc) documentary video series is available for checkout from the Berkeley County Library System. A Discussion Guide is available per episode every week during October.

“Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?” Video Series can provide an opportunity for organizations or individuals to create a support group session for the entire series and promote discussion of various health topics.

About the Series – Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?

The U.S. is one of the richest countries in the world, yet we rank 29th for life expectancy. We spent more than twice what other countries spend per capita on health care. Why aren’t we healthier?

See the following trailers for each episode of Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?

EPISODE 1 (56 minutes): Health in America: In Sickness and In Wealth – There’s No Such Thing as Small Stuff: Being Poor in Louisville. Mary Turner, featured in “In Sickness and In Wealth,” lives in a poor neighborhood of Louisville, KY. With three teenage children, a husband on disability, and health complications that prevent her from working, Mary must budget carefully to keep her family fed and housed. In this video, she discusses the choices she faces every day, quickly but eloquently presenting a glimpse of one woman’s life at the lower end of the U.S. socio-economic spectrum.
EPISODE 2 (29 minutes): When the Bough Breaks – Kim Anderson’s Story. The number of infants who die before their first birthday is much higher in the U.S. than in other countries. And for African Americans, the rate is nearly twice as high as for white Americans. Even well-educated Black women have birth outcomes worse than white women who haven’t finished high school. Why?
EPISODE 3 (29 minutes): Becoming American – Wealth Equals Health. Recent Mexican immigrants, although poorer, tend to be healthier than the average American. They have lower rates of death, heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses, despite being less educated, earning less and having the stress of adapting to a new country and a new language. In research circles, this is the Latino paradox.
EPISODE 4 (29 minutes): Bad Sugar – Gardening as Cultural Renewal – The Gila Crossing School Program. The Pima and Tohono O’odham Indians of southern Arizona have arguably the highest diabetes rates in the world – half of all adults are afflicted. But a century ago, diabetes was virtually unknown here. Researchers have poked and prodded the Pima for decades in search of a biological – or more recently, genetic – explanation for their high rates of disease. Meanwhile, medical-only interventions have failed to stem the rising tide not just among Native Americans, but globally.
EPISODE 5 (29 minutes): Place Matters – Living in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods is Bad for Your Health. Why is your street address such a good predictor of your health? Latino and Southeast Asian immigrants like Gwai Boonkeut have been moving into long-neglected urban neighborhoods such as those in Richmond, California, a predominantly Black city in the San Francisco Bay Area. Segregation and lack of access to jobs, nutritious foods, and safe, affordable housing have been harmful to the health of long-time African American residents, and now the newcomers’ health is suffering too.