ipl-logo

Economic Inequality And Health

1265 Words6 Pages

There is a general consensus that heath inequalities are caused in two ways: first, by biological and genetic differences, which cannot be changed; and second, by social and economic differences, which can be changed. It is the latter – social and economic differences – that are of concern in this TMA. The social and economic differences that exist between different populations in society, and across the world for that matter, are known as the social and economic determinants of health (hereafter determinants). These determinants – which include gender, ethnicity, education level, housing, occupation/employment, income, the family and/or community, and place of residence – can have a strong impact on a person’s social position. Those in a higher …show more content…

Evidence suggests that there is a positive correlation between economic status and a variety of health outcomes (hereafter outcomes), including but not limited to obesity, life expectancy, and child mortality. These outcomes, in addition to others, can be affected by a person’s economic status. However, they can also be affected by any of the other determinants mentioned, some of which may be tied to economic status. For example, economic status may determine where a person lives, or a person’s ability to study at university level. This may be why it has been received more attention than other …show more content…

The model proposes that: at the core, people have a variety of different characteristics, while; at the first level, there are a range of individual lifestyle factors, which are embedded in and affected; at the second level, by social and community networks, and; at the third level, by living and working conditions, such as work environment, education, agriculture and food production, unemployment, water and sanitation, healthcare services, and housing, which are in turn affected; at the fourth level, by broader socio-economic, cultural, and environmental conditions. As mentioned, one of the key problems with evaluating how health inequalities occur in society is that causation can be difficult to establish. When it seems like there is an obvious cause for any given outcome, the situation is usually more complex. However, the Dahlgren and Whitehead (1993) model permits causation to be tracked back to higher causes – known as ‘the causes of causes’ – and eventually to wider socio-economic, cultural, and environmental conditions in every

Show More
Related

  • Health Disparities, An Article By Dr. Christian Dimaano

    437 Words  | 2 Pages

    The lecture, led by Dr. Christian Dimaano, discussed a variety of health disparities and then went into an in depth look at Henrietta Lacks, and the use of her cells in scientific research. He described health disparities as the differences of health problems between races, lifestyles, and mental processes. This was a very interesting topic for me, as a nursing major, I hadn’t really thought about health disparities before, so it was interesting to think about all of the potentially higher health risks that can occur simply because a patients race, or mental state. He also discussed the social determinants of heath and how things like your physical environment, economic stability, social community, and education can all influence your health. Dr. Dimaano also talked about how social determinants of health are health problems that you had no choice in, they are developed by factors such as sex, age, genes, medical care, and individual behaviors such as work and home life.

    Read More

  • Health Disparities: A Case Study

    615 Words  | 3 Pages

    (Healthy People 2020, n.d). As humans, we constantly interact with our surroundings, thus where we live, learn, work and play greatly influences our health outcome, therefore efforts aimed at improving this issue of disparity requires an understanding of the complex conditions in the social system that contribute to the illness in the first place. I chose this topic because as a Public Health student with a concentration of Health Promotion and Education I constantly think about the ways the social determinants of health and health disparities at large contribute to the wide variety of illnesses and diseases and the economic burden caused by these inequalities. In this essay, I hope to explore how the social determinates of health influences an individual’s health outcome, their ability to access healthcare services and the efforts/ interventions that aim at reducing these disparities among minorities. Hence, members of minority racial/ethnic groups suffer a proportionally higher burden of disease and death due to the conditions in which they live

    Read More

  • Social Determinants Of Health Research Paper

    732 Words  | 3 Pages

    Social Determinants of Health Shelly Clavis Rutgers University School of Nursing Social Determinants of Health Defined Health concerns is an issue that most organizations have formed a pact to safely deal with the challenge. The main agenda focuses on the eradication of health inequalities that may exist in most countries. It is best suited that social determinants are accorded the much-needed attention since they affect a number of people. In assessing the factors that affect one’s health, genetic disposition, personal behaviors, ability to obtain healthcare and the overall environment in which an individual resides are to be considered. Social determinants of Health are issues that deals with the conditions that people have found constructed in a society and acts as a parcel in their lives, such as; growth, age and some of the more complex systems that construct a society which include economic policies and their systems that include social norms, development goals and the basic political system that they are indulged under (World Health Organization, 2008).

    Read More

  • Health Inequalities: Social Determinants Of Health Care

    212 Words  | 1 Pages

    The term social determinants of health, can be defined as a ‘set of conditions in which people are born, grow up, live and work.’ These conditions include housing, education, financial security and the environment along with the healthcare service. (http://www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/438838/01.12_Health_inequalities_and_the_social_determinants_of_health.pdf) These factors are affected by the amount of money, power and resources that are available at a global, national and local level. Social determinants of health are linked to health inequalities according to the World Health Organisation, health inequalities are ‘the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries.’

    Read More

  • Examples Of Social Determinants Of Health

    1707 Words  | 7 Pages

    Before we look at the different Social/Psychological Determinants of Health it is important firstly to define what a social determinant of health is. According to the World Health Organization (2017) “The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.” These conditions are as a result of a wide range of factors that are ultimately governed by the way in which money, power and specific resources are shared at different levels including those at global, national and local levels. We have all been a part of and will experience different social determinants of health throughout our lives but it is the standard at which we experience these determinants that will ultimately lead onto them affecting our health or ultimately leaving us unaffected. The Social Determinants of Health which I am going to examine include • Education • Unemployment • Stress • Living Conditions • Cultural Norms.

    Read More

  • Health Inequalities Task 2 Sociological Analysis

    1039 Words  | 5 Pages

    Health inequalities, task 2: In this essay I will provide sociological analysis of the underlying reasons for the differences in health and provide explanations and reasons of health inequalities. According to the map/graph (I provided), there are variations in health status according to social class, gender and geographical region in the UK. For example, the number of premature death are much higher in Scotland then elsewhere, for both men and women.

    Read More

  • Health Disparity In Canada

    1881 Words  | 8 Pages

    Health disparity are avertible health status of distinctive group of people like races, skin color, language, socioeconomic resources, gender and age (Edelman, Kudzma, & Mandle, 2014). Health disparities are arbitrary and explicit to historical and present uneven distribution of political, economic, social, and environmental resources. A disparity can also be related to education, where dropping out of school occurs associated with various social and health problems (CDC,2017). Comprehensively, person with inadequate education are more likely to struggle number of health risks such as substance abuse, obesity, and traumatic injuries, compared to individual who receive more education. One of the main findings within health disparities in history

    Read More

  • Essay On Health Care Inequalities

    1285 Words  | 6 Pages

    This essay aims to identify and evaluate the inequalities in health care in different areas of society, namely disability and gender. Firstly, it is important to understand what we mean by health inequalities. It is commonly understood that health inequality refers to unjust differences in the health status, usually preventable, between different groups, populations or individuals. The existence of such inequalities is attributed to the unequal distributions of social, environmental and economic conditions within societies. Such conditions determine the risk of individuals getting ill, their ability to prevent sickness, as well as opportunities to access to the right treatments.

    Read More

  • Social Determinants Of Health Care Literature Review

    479 Words  | 2 Pages

    Annotated Bibliography Marmot, M. (2005). Social determinants of health inequalities. The Lancet, 365, 1099 1104. This journal article illustrates that many countries have enormous disparities in health.

    Read More

  • Social Determinants Of Health Essay

    1635 Words  | 7 Pages

    These factors are known as the Social Determinants of health. “The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system” (WHO). Dalgren & Whitehead (1991) image of the social determinants of health aims to show the relationship between the person, their environment and their health. The modifiable factors, people’s age, gender and race lie in the centre surrounded by non modifiable factors like profession, housing, education and public policy. There is a direct relationship between people’s environment and their health, e.g. people who live in damp housing have a higher incidence of respiratory health problems (Farell et al.

    Read More

  • Health Inequalities Essay

    894 Words  | 4 Pages

    Health inequalities are preventable and unjust differences in health status experienced by certain population groups. People in lower socio-economic groups are more likely to experience chronic ill-health and die earlier than those who are more advantaged. Health inequalities are not only apparent between people of different socio-economic groups – they exist between different genders and different ethnic groups (“Health inequalities,” n.d.). The situation in which people are born, grow, develop, work and age are affected by social, economic, environmental and most importantly political factors.

    Read More

  • Poverty In Early Childhood

    336 Words  | 2 Pages

    In industrialized countries like the U.S., studies show that income and health are related…”health is related to relative income” (p.208). Poor parents

    Read More

  • Black Report Sociology

    958 Words  | 4 Pages

    The report set out four possible mechanisms to explain widening socio-economic in health inequalities: The Artefact theory suggests that the apparent relationship between these two variables may be, in some way, inherent in the measures themselves. Women were ignored they relied on the social class of their spouse/husband. The interpretation of the results were based on occupation and most deaths occurred amongst the retired. It was also shown that the statistics were flawed and bias to the person who recorded and classified the social groups (Bartley et al. 2005).

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Biomedical Model

    1172 Words  | 5 Pages

    The overall wellbeing of a person depends upon the interplay and combination of a number of factors existing in biological makeup of the person and in the society such as availability, accessibility, approachability and affordability of health care services, culture of people, physical, social and economic environment, living and working conditions, social and community ties etc. These factors act as determinants of health and wellbeing of the people and are influenced by the choices made by the people. The model by Dahlgren and Whitehead (1991) illustrates the four layers of factors such as gender, age, race, and hereditary in the centre that influence the health of individuals. These factors are non-modifiable factors. The centre is surrounded by the four layers consisting of individual lifestyle choices, community network, working and living conditions, socio-economic, environmental and cultural factors which are modifiable in

    Read More

  • Essay On Health Inequality

    1647 Words  | 7 Pages

    Whatever in urban countries or rural countries, health inequality is a common issue. However,health inequality is only an individual problem, not just related a person 's own body health and economic status. Health inequality is mostly affected by social factors, such as gender and work class. the writer would pick up the gender as an example to explain health inequality, and look through the medical technology and government policy, to find out the pattern of health inequality have or have not change over the years.

    Read More

More about Economic Inequality And Health

Open Document