Summary Of They Paved Paradise And Put Up A Parking Lot By Cameron Page

Public health plays a significant role in protecting and improving the health of the general population. Cameron Page’s article “They Paved Paradise And Put Up A Parking Lot” emphasizes the role the general public plays in defining public health in the United States. The title of the article addresses the importance of city parks and open spaces. The title highlights a need to protect urban green space, a so called “paradise”, from being paved into parking lots and constructed into city buildings. Page reflects on his public health role when a patient loses a place to exercise and their health sharply deteriorates. He proves that narrative matters through the story of his patient P, a forty- year old Hispanic man living in the South Bronx.

Page’s patient, P, suffers from back pain and he is determined to find the cause of the pain. To rule of the most lethal causes of back pain, some of the questions Page asks include “Did the pain wake him up at night? Was it worse when he was lying down? Had he recently lost weight?” (Page). P hasn’t experienced any of the following symptoms and has in fact gained forty pounds. Page becomes interested when he discovers that the cause of the back pain is the Yankees. The article explores the story of the deteriorating health of P as a result of the construction of the Yankee stadium. As a doctor, Page feels helpless because the cause of his patient’s problem is out of his control. The article introduces the concept of the “biopsychosocial model” which Page has learned but rarely applies in the clinic. He explains that “we don’t apply it because we don’t know how” (Page). Readers question whether doctors like Page should actively pursue social factors that influence health care delivery and

Construction of the new Yankee stadium leaves P without a place to play soccer which is ultimately his source of exercise and cause of his weight gain and back pain. P is the explained to be the classic case of “social medicine”. His medical problem is caused by his environment not by some physical ailment. Page explains that medication may temporarily relieve P’s problem but the main problem, “the conditions in which he lives” (Page), is not a factor Page can change. The article emphasizes the fact that the biopsychosocial model of medicine isn’t strictly biological, psychological, or social, but rather “a result of the interaction of these three factors” (Page). New York City pledged to replace every acre of parkland that was lost and after years of construction, there was still no place for P to play soccer. He’s still forty pounds overweight and has developed hypertension and increased LDL cholesterol levels. The “replacement parkland” that emerges a year later features a new parking garage, an artificial turf field built on top of the parking garage, tennis courts, and no green space. Page ponders, Could the decline in urban park space be a cause of the decrease in physical activity? The United States is facing an obesity epidemic and Page proves that social environment is one of many causes of the epidemic. Although dropping more green pace into cities is unlikely to solve the