Lesson Plan

• Describe how illness can cause poverty through loss of income and medical costs.
• Explain the short‑term and long‑term economic impacts of health shocks on households.
• Analyse policy measures that can break the illness‑poverty cycle.
• Apply simple calculations to estimate the immediate cost of an illness episode.

• Projector and screen
• Printed handout with case‑study data
• Calculator worksheets
• Whiteboard and markers
• Flow‑chart diagram of the illness‑poverty cycle
• Sticky notes for exit ticket

Begin with a quick prompt: “Think of a time a family member was sick – how did it affect the household’s money?” Connect this to prior discussions on causes of poverty. Explain that today’s success criteria are to explain the mechanisms linking illness to poverty, calculate an example cost, and evaluate policy solutions.

1. Do‑now (5') – students write a brief response to the opening prompt.
2. Mini‑lecture (10') – present the illness‑poverty link using the flow‑chart and key statistics.
3. Case‑study analysis (15') – in pairs, calculate loss of earnings, medical expenses, and total immediate cost for the rural household example.
4. Group discussion (10') – share findings, explore indirect and long‑term impacts, and clarify formulas.
5. Policy brainstorm (10') – groups list possible interventions, match them to each stage of the cycle, and present one idea.
6. Check for understanding (5') – exit ticket: write one sentence describing how illness can trap a household in poverty.

Summarise the cycle: illness → income loss & medical costs → depleted savings → asset sale/debt → deeper poverty → higher disease risk. Collect exit tickets and remind students that the homework is to research a real‑world health safety‑net program and write a short summary of how it addresses the cycle.