Health Inequalities Flashcards
What are some of the risk factors for disease that health psychology focuses on?
Individual risk factors, e.g. personality, diet, exercise
Environmental risk factors
What are health differentials?
Differences in health status and life expectancy across different groups
How does the WHO measure life expectancy?
Expected number of years to be lived in the equivalent of full health
People who live in richer countries are more likely to live longer, so why was America ranked 24 for life expectancy?
- Social groups with extremely poor health
- HIV caused higher proportion of deaths
- Cancers relating to tobacco
- High levels of homicide
What impact does poverty have on health?
People who live in developing countries live significantly shorter lives than those living in developed countries
What are some of the contributing factors to the impact of poverty on health?
Lack of safe water Poor sanitation Inadequate diet Poor access to healthcare Poor medical facilities HIV/AIDS Lack of finances for medical treatment
What is the relationship between income and health in industrialised countries?
Linear, i.e. even moderate differences in wealth or social factors related to wealth have an impact on health
What is the difference between the social causation model and the social drift model for explaining health differentials?
Social Causation: Low socioeconomic status causes health problems
Social Drift: When someone develops a health problem they may be unable to maintain a job/work/their living standards, i.e. health problems cause low socioeconomic status
What are some of the potential reasons that people in lower socioeconomic groups have a higher risk of disease?
- More health damaging behaviour, e.g. smoking, alcohol, less healthy diet, less exercise
- Occupational status - independently predicts health status even after controlling health behaviours
- Exposed to more health damaging environments, e.g. dangerous work settings, low quality housing, poor air quality
- Degree of control over living conditions
What are some of the reasons why people in lower socioeconomic groups engage in more health compromising behaviours?
- Aware of risks, but less willing to act on information
- Lack of opportunities
- Stress associated with economic deprivation
- Coping
- Inhibit consideration of long-term consequences
What are some of the stressors experienced by children living in lower socioeconomic groups?
Family instability
Overcrowding
Poor diet
Restricted educational opportunities
What are some of the stressors experienced by adolescents living in lower socioeconomic groups?
Family strife
Exposure to smoking
Leaving school with poor qualifications
Unemployment or low-paid/insecure jobs
What are some of the stressors experienced by adults living in lower socioeconomic groups?
Working in hazardous conditions Financial insecurity Unemployment Low levels of control over work or home life Negative social interactions
What are some of the stressors experienced by older adults living in lower socioeconomic groups?
No/small pension
Inadequate heating
Inadequate food
What does Hobfoll & Lilly’s (1993) Conservation of Resources Model propose?
Mental & physical health are determined by the amount of economic, social, structural or psychological resources available to the individual
What are some of the differentials in access to healthcare?
- Access differs due to personal characteristics & healthcare system itself
- Access is mediated by the availability/cost of the services
- People with low SES are less likely to have private health coverage & have their children immunised
How does majority/minority status affect health status?
Minority groups:
- Higher infant mortality
- Higher unemployment rate
- Lower weekly income
On average in industrialised countries, women have higher life expectancy than men. What are some of the reasons for this?
Biological differences: Females have higher immune system resistance, higher levels of oestrogen
Behavioural differences: Men engage in riskier behaviour, less likely to seek medical help
What are some of the reasons women in developing countries have short life expectancy than men?
Health risks of pregnancy
Inadequate health services
What are some of the work factors that may influence health?
- Dangerous occupations
- Job alienation
- Drinking culture
- Long working hours
- Job stress
- Poor social support
- Inconsistent social control
What 3 key factors did Karasek & Theorell (1990) find contribute to work stress?
- Demands of the job
- Degree of freedom to make decisions about how best to cope with these demands (job autonomy)
- Degree of available social support
What is job strain?
A combination of high demand, low autonomy and possibly low levels of social support
