15 - Understanding Inequalities Flashcards
What is a disability?
Restricted ability Interaction between impairment and social world, focussed on impact on function of individual. (not focused on the cause)
What is a handicap?
Old term for social disadvantage
What is the biomedical model of health and illness?
Locates cause of disease in the individual. Focuses on health as a biological process, genetics and clinical risk factors. Physiological impairment –> disability –> social disadvantage Treat the impairment
What is the social model of health and illness?
Locates cause of disease in the relationship between individual and society. Views health as a social construct. Focuses on social structures and risk factors Social barriers –> disability
What does the social model highlight?
Social change
What does the biomedical model highlight?
Behavioural change and risk behaviours
What is the causal pathway in disability?
The defects cause the disability which causes the social disadvantage
Examples of environmental barriers causing disability in the social model
No wheelchair ramps, others can’t speak sign language, no brail for the blind
Examples of psychological barriers causing disability in the social model
Stereotypes (lazy, burdens) Prejudice (pre-conceived ideas about groups) Discrimination (direct, indirect) Victimisation
What is absolute poverty?
Condition where household income is insufficient to afford basic necessities of life: Food, shelter, clothing If a person is living in conditions that meet at least 2 of the UN indicators
What is relative poverty?
Condition where household income is a certain percentage below median income for that country. In the EU Relative poverty defined as having a household income < 60% of the national median Median disposable income for UK in 2017 was £27,300
What is human agency?
- Capacity to act independently - Ability to make choices and impose those choices - Expression of individual power
What is society composed of?
- Organised set of institutions - Patterns of relationships
Who came up with the Social Model of Disability?
Oliver
What is the Social Model of Disability?
Presents disability as a cause of societal barriers
What is connection between socioeconomic status and mortality?
Higher professions = lower rate of mortality
What is intersectionality?
A theoretical framework for understanding how aspects of one’s social and political identities might combine to create unique modes of discrimination (gender, race, education, culture, sexuality, ability, age, ethnicity, class, language) Identifies that interlocking systems of power have compounded effect.
What is inequality?
Systematic difference in the distribution of power, resource and opportunity in a social system
What are the 4 determinants of population health? (in order of most to least important)
- Social/societal characteristics & total ecology 2. Health behaviours 3. Medical care 4. Genes and biology
What is the ‘Rainbow Model’? Who is it by?
Health inequalities in society - where your level of health is connected to your socioeconomic level - has led to a growing awareness that many health issues can be determined by social factors. Economic, environmental and social inequalities can determine people’s risk of getting ill, their ability to prevent sickness, or their access to effective treatments. Dahlgren-Whitehead
What is the life expectancy of Sierra Leone vs Japan?
Sierra Leone = 46 years
Japan = 83 years
What are the 7 UN indicators of poverty?
- Dirty water
- Lack of sanitation
- No education
- Information deprivation
- Lack essential medical/maternity care
- Poor nutrition
- Lack shelter
Where in England has the lowest life expectancy?
Blackpool - >30% children in poverty, 69 years in most deprived area
Where in England has the highest life expenctancy?
East Dorsest - healthiest and lowes deprivation, 10% children in povery, 85 year life expectancy in least deprived area
What is social class defined by?
Economic, political and cultural factors
What is the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC)?
Organised by occupation –> higher categoires have better opportunities
What was The Whitehall Studies on jobs and health?
Study on civil servants in London - lower risk of CVD (and death) for better job positions
What was Wilkinson and Pickett’s study on health?
The spirit level - only in the early stages does economic development boost life expectancy
What did pierre bourdiea habitus do?
Concerned with the dynamics of power in society, how social order and status can be maintained across generations
How much does health problems associated with poor housing cost the NHS every year?
At least £600 million per year
What was the Siegler et al. study?
Studied the relationship between NS-SEC (classification) and fatal childhood accidents
Key points for social inequality:
- Strong evidence for links between social disadvantage and health inequalities
- Individual (biological & psychological), material and social factors interact over time to impact on health status
- ‘Solutions’ to health inequalities reflect different beliefs and political ideologies
What was Reeve et al’s study (Evidence for health selection theory)?
Up to 50% of homeless people are disabled
What was Goosby’s study and evidence for life course theory?
Adult depression and chronic pain linked to parental unemployment, maternal depression and childhood hunger
