1. Seeman et al. describe allostatic load as a biomarker of "weathering" or "wear and tear" on the human body.
A. What differences would you expect to find, on average, between the allostatic load levels of African-American and White populations in the US and why?
B. What evidence suggests that social support or social integration, as a function of social capital, would affect the allostatic load levels of populations?
2. Marmot describes an association between the social gradient and health.
A. Considering the work of Wilkinson and Pickett, how would the health of people on different levels of the social gradient be affected by living in a society with a Gini Coefficient of .250 as compared to a Gini Coefficient of .450 and why?
B. Drawing on Phelan and Link's Fundamental Cause Theory and relevant research, how would the gradient be affected by policies pa
C. To what extent do changes in wealth distribution and social capital explain the changes in the social gradient and health over time in the US?
D. What impact does increased medicalization have on the social gradient and morbidity over time?
3. Studies suggest that culturally-influenced concepts of gender role norms are associated with health.
A. In low-resource traditional societies, what impact might programs in micro-finance and gender role norms have on the health and well-being of women?
B. How might an emic perspective on gender roles provide insight in preventing the spread of HIV among: 1) African American MSM and 2) Mexican partners of men working in the US?
C. How does marital status affect the health of heterosexual men and women in Western societies and why?