HEALTH, HEALTHCARE AND CAPITALISM Flashcards
What is the purpose of collecting health data?
Research projects, clinical use
issue = whether private companies have access to this data?
What are 4 ways in which healthcare is measured?
1) SUBJECTIVELY
(relies on estimation or opinion eg how much do you smoke)
2) OBJECTIVELY
(height, weight, measurements)
3) AGE OR EVENT
(maternal mortality, age at first child)
4) CROSS SECTIONAL or LONGITUDINAL
(eg ask a group of people as a cohort eg 1st year sociology students compare to other cohorts)
(Long - ask questions to the same cohort across time to compare)
Then can make estimations
What are some problems with collecting routine vital data? (eg when someone is born/ dies/ what they died from)
- It is only OBJECTIVE (doesn’t take health conditions in East vs West into account)
- It is limited to these ‘easy to measure’ events
- It is more frequently older and vulnerable people (as they are most likely to need the treatment)
Issues with definitions and methods?
There are underlying factors
- In our globalised world it is hard to come to universal definitions for a complex condition such as bipolar
- How long do you need the symptoms for?
- Is it the same in the East vs the West?
( or do they have different definitions due to different access to resources/ more therapists/ more awareness in western world)
What are some problems with measurement tools?
Mental health is assessed by psychiatrists through questionnaires they have written
Have they written them portraying a particular set of beliefs? Leading questions?
What is the general expectation of health?
Richer country = better health
What do we mean by the ‘postcolonialist approach’ in expectations to healthcare? And what is an example of this?
POSTCOLONIAL APPROACH eg dementia (sophisticated diagnosis and analysis done in the west)
Data isn’t collected in the same way around the world
(levels of dementia are higher in the west because we have the resources to diagnose them)
Does Gross National income have an effect on health?
The economy of the place you live in will influence how you experience your health
CORRELATION BETWEEN THE RICH/ DEVELOPED COUNTRIES IN THE WEST AND THE AMOUNT OF INFANTS ALIVE AT 1 YEAR OLD.
What are the 8 political/ cultural influences that further affect your health?
1) SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS (education, employment etc)
2) GENDER
3) ETHNICITY
4) POLITICAL POWER (level of safety and stability)
5) CULTURAL ASSETS (privileged lifestyles, high status consumption assets, access to private treatment?)
6) SOCIAL ASSETS (access to social networks, social capital = contacts that can support you through your adult life)
7) HONORIFIC STATUS (prestige, respect)
8) HUMAN RESOURCES (skills, expertise, training)
How does the idea of ‘safety and stability’ affect healthcare?
- Rapid economic, political and social changes are usually accompanied by sharp rises in mortality
Examples:
- Embargos/ Sanctions
- Armed conflicts
- Changes in government policy
- Austerity (30,000 excess deaths in 2015 due to cuts in health and social care)
- Brexit ( Leaving with no deal = loss of health workers)
How does your ‘gender’ affect healthcare?
- 4 million females ‘missing’ in 2008’
- Sex selected abortion (girls over boys)
- Boys seen to be more valuable than girls
- Money/ Healthcare focussed on them
- Cultural beliefs can result in affecting a woman’s life span (eg India, China, Asia)
Who wrote ‘Effect of trade policy on social determinants of health’?
Blouin et al (2009)
What is main question Blouin (et al 2009) asks?
If we make poorer countries richer by trading with them (buying what they produce, selling them infrastructure that could improve health)
Does it make populations more healthy?
(=COMPLEX)
What would be the effect on the very poor?
If you have nothing, SOMETHING will improve your health
Psychological effect?
Inequality increases (if the poor get richer, the rich also get richer) = high gaps between rich and poor in health benefits = rise of economic insecurity
