Health Inequalities

Question 1

What is the definition of “health inequality”?

Answer 1

Health inequalities are differences in health across the population, and between different groups in society, that are systematic, unfair and avoidable

Question 2

Which categories of people typically experience health inequalities?

Answer 2

-Socioeconomic status and deprivation.
-Membership in vulnerable or excluded groups.
-Certain protected characteristics.
-Geographic location.

Question 3

How can health inequalities be observed and measured?

Answer 3

-Differences in prevalence of conditions and mortality rates.
-Behavioral health risks like smoking.
-Wider determinants like housing and employment.
-Access to healthcare.
-Quality and experience of healthcare services.

Question 4

How do health inequalities affect the prevalence of long-term conditions and mental health?

Answer 4

-People in lower socioeconomic groups are more likely to suffer from severe long-term conditions.
-Mental health service contact rates and suicide rates are higher among more deprived populations, with suicide rates for working-age adults being twice as high in the most deprived groups.

Question 5

How are behavioral health risks related to deprivation, income, gender, and ethnicity?

(27 to less than 10%)

Answer 5

– Risks are concentrated in the most disadvantaged groups
– Prevalence of multiple higher-risk behaviours varies by deprivation
– Health related behaviours are shaped by cultural, social and material
circumstances
– This is compounded by differences in the environments people live, ex. cheap fast food vs expesive hugh quality restaurants

Question 6

Explain these maps

Answer 6

Higher life expectancy in south than north. Northeast has very low expectancy for males and females.

Question 7

What are the “wider determinants of health,” and how do they affect people?

Answer 7

Housing: Poor quality or overcrowded housing is linked to cardiovascular, respiratory, and mental health issues.

Employment: Unemployment is associated with reduced life expectancy and worse physical/mental health. Employment rates are lower in more deprived areas. Less social connections and less help.

Question 8

How does health inequality affect access to and experience with healthcare?

* Pharmacist’s responsibility to meet patients needs

Answer 8

-Some groups may not understand health information (e.g., asylum seekers).
-Fewer resources are available in poorer areas, impacting quality.
-Different groups have systemically different experiences, especially minorities and LGBTQ

Question 9

What is “intersectionality”?

Answer 9

People face multiple, overlapping factors (like race, income) that affect their health uniquely. Each group is not the same.

Question 10

What does the Adapted Labonte Model say about health inequalities?

Answer 10

Health inequalities are caused by social factors (housing, jobs). Solutions need to address root causes, not just behaviors, and resources should match needs.

Question 11

What are wider determinants of health

Answer 11

-income and debt
-employmant and quality of work
-education and skills
-housing
-natural and built environment
-access to goods/services
power and discrimination

Question 12

What do the wide determinants affect

Answer 12

-health behaviour like smoking diet, alcohol and diet
-physco-social factors like isolation, social support, social networks and self-esteem
-physiological impacts like bp, cholesterol and depressiom

Question 13

True or false: Everyone has the same opportunity to be healthy

Answer 13

False

Question 14

5 Lessons from Labonte model

Answer 14

-Resources should be allocated proportionately
- action on behaviours and conditions should be adressed within context of their root
- interventions that target individual behaviour may widen inequalities
- a joined up, place base approach is required
- -health inequalities stem from variation in wider determinants of health

Question 15

What is the NHS doing to reduce health inequalities?

Answer 15

‘A more concerted and systematic approach to reducing health inequalities’
-Setting measurable goals to reduce inequalitites
-Increasing funding in high-inequality areas
-Special focus on:
- Maternity care for ethnic minority women from deprived groups
- Health checks for mental illness
- Support for rough sleepers (30 mil pound investment)

Question 16

What is the CORE20PLUS5 approach?

Answer 16

Focuses on the poorest 20% and locally identified groups, with five clinical areas needing urgent improvement.

Question 17

Who are the “PLUS populations”?

Answer 17

– Ethnic minority communities
– People with a learning disability and autistic people
– People with multiple long-term health conditions
– Other groups that share protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010

*People who experience social exclusion (homeless, drug+alcohol, sex workers, gypsy, roma, traveller communities, vulnerable migrants, modern slavery, contact with justice system, coastal community)

Question 18

True or False: The plus 5 for adults and children are the same

Answer 18

False
Children - asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, oral health and mental health
Adults - maternity, severe mental illness, chronic resp disease, early cancer diagnosis, hypertention