Tracing Cyclic Impact of Boom and Recession Periods Correlated to Health Care Markers : A quantitative analysis of healthcare utilization related to economic boom and bust

Sammanfattning: At the core of this research is the question is: Is recession good for your health? The purpose of the research served to form a theoretical framework to support the concept that recession is not good for one’s health, but in fact creates a trend where individuals need health care more than in boom periods. There is also the concern that due to economic downturn even in Nordic nations, citizens do not receive health care out of concern for the expense or detriment to employment. The hypothesis of this research remains: Yes, recession has a negative impact upon health for individuals experiencing such conditions. The study builds the thesis and hypothesis that recession is bad for one’s health due to the extra stress of economic downturn and loss to gross domestic product. The countries included in this analysis were Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States. Literature and case study evidence supports the connection between recession being bad for an individual’s health with regard to how such loss of employment and opportunities also forms gaps between individuals. Literature as well as data results support the concept of recession being bad for one’s health because of greater disparity forming in Western nations, but also specifically the United States. Methodology and research design points to a platform design where the approach is strictly quantitative. Data collection for this project focused on searching the Eurostat and OECD databases within the time range of the recession period where collection procedures focused on gathering information about Nordic countries. The countries included in this analysis were Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States. Specific variables for testing to prove or disprove the core problem statement focused on Nordic countries’ gross domestic product or GDP to be compared with the average amount of physicians visits and income factors for those citizens. By testing for these factors concerning health care trends during recession, one was able to find a correlation between the recession having a negative impact upon health. This indeed tests the hypothesis of: Is recession good for your health? The answer is a definitive: No, recession is not good for your health and in fact, negatively impacts health of individuals experiencing recession.