Health inequalities Flashcards
Although not accurate, how can someone’s ‘health’ be measured?
Life expectancy
Infant mortality
How is socio-economic status (SES) measured?
Individual occupation
Area where people live
What pattern would you see regarding deprivation affecting health?
Deprivation is strongly associated with ill health. The more deprived, the larger proportion of their life is spent in ill health. Hence more likely to die at a younger age.
What is the Black Report?
A way of explaining the different theories regarding inequalities in health.
What is the Artefact explanation and its cons?
Health inequalities may be due to the way stats are collected: measuring this makes inequalities poorer/greater than they really are.
Most discredited theory of black report.
Data problems lead to underestimation of inequalities
What is the social selection explanation and its cons?
Your health status determines your social status: NOT vice versa…
Sick individuals move down social hierarchy whereas healthier individuals move up.
Makes only a minor contribution to socio-economic differentials in health and mortality.
What is the behavioural-cultural explanation?
Ill health is due to people’s choices, knowledge and goals: advantaged areas tend to engage in more health-promoting behaviours.
Behaviours are a result of social experiences, not individual choices.
Idea of ‘rational’ choices will differ in individuals.
Choices may be difficult to follow through in unfavourable conditions.
What is the materialist explanation and its cons?
Inequalities come from everyone’s differing access to material resources: low income, unemployment, work environment, housing conditions.
Further research needed to find precisely why material deprivation would more likely cause ill health.
What are the other 2 theories that are not part of the Black Report?
Psychosocial explanation
Income distribution
Explain the psychosocial explanation.
Mental worries alongside materialistic effects can impact your health via different pathways.
Negative life events, job security, work independence.
Explain the income distribution.
Where relative income impacts your health. Countries with more equal income across societies (even if not richest) will have the best health.
Why, theoretically, do countries with higher income gaps tend to have more ill health?
Associated with the psychosocial explanation: less income equality=more social evaluative threat=more stress= poorer health
What pattern can we expect to see when relating deprivation and accessing different healthcare?
MORE DEPRIVED AREAS:
use more of…
GP services
Emergency services
use less of... preventative services (screening, LTC reviews, outpatients) Specialist services (cancer treatment. CABG)
What evidence do we have to support the deprivation- access theory ?
People manage health only if crises
Ill health tends to be normalised-seek help at different times/stages
Hard to collect resources needed for engaging with health services
Tendency to use more ‘accessible’ services
Reflects lack of cultural alignment between health services and lower SES
