Chapter 7 Poverty as a Health Issue
This module on Poverty as a Health Issue was authored by Ben Stucky. It was inspired and partially supported by the author’s experience as an instructor through the Preparation for Industrial Careers in Mathematics Program (PIC Math). PIC Math is a program of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). Support is provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF grant DMS-1722275).
We can’t thrive (and sometimes can’t survive) if we are not healthy. To stay healthy, we depend on being able to access affordable healthcare. Unfortunately, the reality is that many folks across the United States do not have this access, often due to cycles of poverty.
Short of fixing broken systems, what can we do to help? Nonprofits such as free health clinics provide some relief in the form of free health services to poor and uninsured Americans in the communities they serve. But they have limited resources and face the challenge of deciding how best to use them. Thankfully, math can come to the rescue!
In this module, we will explore the connection between poverty and health outcomes, and learn some ways that we can use mathematics to help nonprofits such as free health clinics decide how best to allocate their resources.