![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
The relationships between poverty and health and ultimately mortality have generated increasing attention among medical and social science researchers. Ever since the World Health Organization established a commission for investigating such links, the leading contributions of Sir Michael Marmot have revealed conclusively these associations. Analysis and efforts have moved to incorporate ethnic and racial minorities which remain largely neglected over the years. Data and information privacy constraints make more difficult analyses which seek to identify differences between indigenous and non-indigenous populations on critical health and mortality issues. In recent years, however, Census as well as hospital discharge records and poverty records have introduced ways to subset the data to establish and examine such relationships among minorities. This research paper presents a highly detailed study of these questions. The paper introduces the concept of preventable deaths as a dimension of ethnically-based health neglect and examines whether such neglect might threaten the generational survival of Mapuche people in Chile. Statistical and spatial analytic methods help to generate mortality rates and compare health disparities and death outcomes between Mapuche and non Mapuche by gender, age and geographical location. The geographic distribution of poverty rates help to visualize these links and connect the association between material deprivation, disease and mortality. The research focus is on children under age 5 years and the array of diseases and vulnerabilities that express themselves in high mortality rates. The paper investigates in some detail the “Ill-defined diseases” concept which may well serve as a proxy for neglect. The paper presents maps and satellite imagery, tables, graphics and basic statistical output appropriate designed for understanding by a broad audience without technical expertise. Spatial statistical methods are used to demonstrate the clustering of events in space.
This paper is coauthored with Dr. Paul R. Voss.