13.3 Poverty Health

Question 1

How to establish poverty reduction?

Answer 1

Sanitation, clean water, improved

handling and transportation of food, birth spacing

Question 2

What are the medical consequences of poverty?

Answer 2

Malnutrition - weakened immunity and neurophysiological development
Poor maternal nutrition - premature births and low birth weight
Poor nutrition in childhood - inhibited growth and development
Lack of hygienic facilities - infestations with scabies, head lice and intestinal worms
Damp housing - upper respiratory tract infections, ease of spread of pathogens
Lack of play facilities - hindered psychological development and increased risk of accidents
Hazardous work conditions - physical exhaustion, risk of accidents

Question 3

What is life expectancy related to and not related to?

Answer 3

Not related to in RICH countries national income per head
IS related to in RICH countries income per head (individual)
Thus, health and social problems worse in unequal countries

Question 4

Types of poverty and explain them

Answer 4

Absolute poverty - lack of absolute minimum standards of living (severe deprivation of basic human needs - usually in rural areas) e.g. food, safe drinking water, shelter, health, education
Relative poverty - when individuals lack resources to obtain the types of diet needed, activities, living conditions within the society they belong in (differs among countries and over time, unable to get basic consumer goods)

Question 5

Concerns with the types of poverty

Answer 5

Absolute poverty - 1) Based on wellbeing being measured in terms of physiological requirements

2) What about social/cultural needs e.g. a phone?
3) Difficulties in capturing how people view their financial situation and income doesn’t directly indicate malnutrition

Relative poverty - 1) How can you define and measure ACCEPTABLE living patterns, customs and activities

Question 6

What is the capabilities approach?

Answer 6

This is the shift of focusing on what people are able to do and be rather than what they have

Question 7

What are the views on poverty?

Answer 7

1) Individualistic - poverty is self inflicted process (because poor people are lazy, do drugs and drink, the poor are ill because they don’t look after their health)
2) Structuralist - poverty is a consequence of structural forces in society (lack of opportunities, unequal distribution of resources, choices in health are due to social and economic constraints)

Question 8

Intersectionality on poverty explain

Answer 8

poverty is harsher if you have other characteristics of disadvantage: if you are a woman, a person of colour, have a disability or a health condition, etc. (gluten- free food is now in all major supermarkets, but costs up to four times more).

Question 9

Causes of health inequality

Answer 9

• Age
• Sex
• Ethnicity (poorer health in some ethnic minority groups)
• Gender (male mortality rates higher)
• Geography
• Socioeconomic status (mortality rate correlates closely to social class)

Question 10

Where can health inequalities be observed?

Answer 10

• Infant mortality
• Life expectancy
• Mortality/death
• Morbidity/illness
• Self reported ill-health

Question 11

Factors that affect life expectancy

Answer 11

1) Some populations have significantly shorter life expectancies than the general population
2) People with learning disabilities have shorter lives on average than the general population

Question 12

Why is health political?

Answer 12

1) Unequal distribution
2) Health determinants
3) Organisation
4) Citizenship
5) Globalisation