2013 Health - Corna life course perspective

Question 1

when was the study published?

Answer 1

2013

Question 2

what is the aim?

Answer 2

A life course perspective is adopted to understand the socioeconomic position (SEP)-health dynamic

Question 3

what does Corna criticise about the current literature?

Answer 3

fails to consider structural factors properly, and ignores gender’s influence on SEP

Question 4

how can socio-economic inequalities in health be seen as persisting all through an individual’s life? (3)

Answer 4

lower income, education and previous work in lower grade professions are all associated with poorer self rated health, mental well-being and greater functional limitations among older adults

Question 5

why, when considering diseases, is the life course important?

Answer 5

Most conditions have long development (latency) periods

Question 6

what can health itself be viewed as?

Answer 6

as a type of life course capital – one that is depleted or protected over time due to individual and structural factors (O’Rand and Henretta)

Question 7

how does cumulative exposure influence health?

Answer 7

the length of time in disadvantaged circumstances is particularly important for understanding subsequent health disparities

Question 8

what is greater cumulative exposure to disadvantaged SEP associated with?

Answer 8

poorer health and greater mortality among middle/old age adults

Question 9

why are life course epidemiological models valuable?

Answer 9

for highlighting the significant role of early disadvantage, which encourages policies to be implemented at this early stage

Question 10

what are two limitations of epidemiological models?

Answer 10

– inattention as to why these inequalities develop in the first point, conceptualise SEP as rather fixed
tend to focus on how disadvantage influences health at a given time, without realising that health like SEP can change over time

Question 11

what are the two social science approaches to the SEP-health dynamic?

Answer 11

CAD and AAL

Question 12

what do the two approaches consider in regards to the SEP-health dynamic?

Answer 12

how inequalities develop over time, and about whether divergence, convergence or maintenance of inequalities best captures how the SEP-health relationship changes as individuals become older

Question 13

what does CAD stand for?

Answer 13

cumulative advantage/disadvantage theory

Question 14

what is CAD?

Answer 14

a process whereby initial relative advantage (or disadvantage) associated with structural location and resources results in systematic divergence in life course processes across individuals or groups over time, early advantage will confer subsequent advantages (which are subsequently denied from those experiencing early disadvantage) and higher rates of return to initial circumstances relative to those with less advantageous beginnings

Question 15

what does AAL stand for?

Answer 15

age as leveller hypothesis

Question 16

what is AAL?

Answer 16

inequalities which are evident earlier in the life course connect or reduce as individuals enter later life

Question 17

what factors can be seen as driving the convergence in health in older age? (3) (Herd)

Answer 17

biological factors play a stronger role than social ones, the potential for welfare state supports associated with retirement to level economic inequalities and their subsequent influence on health, and the possibility that inequalities fade out as older adults disengage from important stratifying systems, such as the labour market

Question 18

how can this convergence in old age be criticised?

Answer 18

any observed reduction in the impact of SEP in later life is based on selection – only the wealthiest and healthiest survive to old age, creating a homogenous group

Question 19

what did Willson et al find in relation to old age and wealth?

Answer 19

respondents with higher wealth and income reported slower declines in health than their less advantaged counterparts

Question 20

what did Dupre find in relation to health and education?

Answer 20

diseased incidence and mortality increase with age at a faster rate than for less educated people

Question 21

how can it be seen that it isn’t age alone which causes socioeconomic mortality differences to converge in old age?

Answer 21

growing evidence that illness not advancing age is behind the observed reduction of the effect

Question 22

what policy decisions do those who support AAL think will be most effective?

Answer 22

suggest redistributive measures and social services for old people are especially important

Question 23

however, what is important to remember about CAD and AAL?

Answer 23

CAD and AAL are not mutually excusive, emphasising early vs later policy intervention overlooks the fact that provisions are needed across the life course

Question 24

how does the life course model need to be updated? (3)

Answer 24

• Need for a better understanding of what leads to a disadvantaged SEP
• Need for a focus on how SEP is a gendered construct
• Need to consider how the labour market and family experiences shape SEP

Question 25

what is life course theory fundamentally concerned with?

Answer 25

the dynamic interaction between individual biography, structural context and historical time, study of different trajectories, different roles we occupy combine to create social pathways

Question 26

what must be considered when understanding individuals within their social contexts? (4)

Answer 26

agency, historical context, family, policy

Question 27

what is the principle of agency?

Answer 27

individuals construct their life course experiences within the constraints and opportunities of the social circumstances

Question 28

why do individual biographies need to be further contextualised? example?

Answer 28

life course is embedded and shaped by historical time and place, old adults now were alive within world war 2, characterised by significant welfare expansion as well as rigid gender divides in the formal labour market and the home

Question 29

what are Esping-Anderson’s three worlds of welfare capitalism based on? (3)

Answer 29

based on the extent to which they de-commodify or reduce market dependence for a living wage, on the extent to which they stratify individuals through access to benefits, and in reference to the relative roles of the state, the market and the family in the provision of welfare

Question 30

what are Esping-Anderson’s three worlds of welfare capitalism?

Answer 30

liberal, social democratic, corporatist

Question 31

what is an example of liberal capitalism?

Answer 31

the UK

Question 32

what is liberal capitalism? (3)

Answer 32

low degree of de-commodification, high extent of stratification and an emphasis on market solutions

Question 33

what is an example of social democratic capitalism?

Answer 33

Sweden

Question 34

what is social democratic capitalism? (2)

Answer 34

Wider range of benefits to all citizens, rely less on markets or families for the provision of welfare

Question 35

what is an example of corporatist capitalism?

Answer 35

Germany

Question 36

what is corporatist capitalism? (3)

Answer 36

provide benefits tied to previous earnings, upholding earlier stratification, depend on the family for welfare

Question 37

why should a gendered approach to health be considered based on the life course?

Answer 37

Progress has been made, but most women will still take off at least a bit of time to spend with their child which affects them later in life

Question 38

how can SEP be linked to health? (4)

Answer 38

• Differences in material standards of living and access to resources
• The psychosocial implications of one’s position in the social hierarchy
• Lifestyle and behavioural factors
• Differential exposure to social stressors

Question 39

why is it important to remember to attribute individual SEP to structural factors?

Answer 39

runs the risk of attributing it to individual choice, privileging the proximal rather than the structural determinants of health

Question 40

how do policy contexts influence SEP?

Answer 40

in regulating/providing benefits which influence SEP through their influence on work and family experiences including childcare