SES differences in health

Question 1

what is the black report?

Answer 1

seeing that illness correlated with certain areas of work. 
- UK gov't looked into health conditions and how social class may be related to this.

Question 2

what 3 things did UK govt do to try to decrease publicity of black report?

Answer 2

1. release on a friday night, long weekend in mid-summer.
2. only released 200 paper copies of report.
3. stated that it’s not important.

but there was growing interest, it was published and very influential

Question 3

new field of research regarding socioeconomic inequalities of health. - what kind of pattern found?
why is this pattern important?

Answer 3

gradient. as social class improves, health improves by corresponding amount.
- important bc structure of hierarchy/society gives the least to the lowest members of society. increasingly more with increase SES but still only top have best help.

Question 4

income quintile?

Answer 4

place incomes from highest to lowest + divide into 5 groups.

Question 5

what does income quintile show us regarding men and womens health

Answer 5

as income (ses) increases, so does ones health. same for both men and women.

Question 6

infant mortality + income quintile relationship

Answer 6

lowest income quintile = highest rate of infant mortality

Question 7

avoidale mortality rates + occupational skill level.

– what is avoidable death?

Answer 7

death by causes amenable to medical treatment.
those in higher more professional areas of work = lower rate of avoidable mortality. not in labour market = huge increase in dead by avoidable causes.

Question 8

why might it not be useful to look at individuals not in labour market related to occupation + health?

Answer 8

maybe health is reason theyre not in labour market in the first place. already higher risk of death causes them not to get a job.

Question 9

pattern btw smoking and income quintile

Answer 9

higher quintile = lower rates of smoking.

Question 10

diabetes prevalence by income quintile pattern:

Answer 10

in general = o the rise. but lowest income = highest risk. 2nd income quintile is started to pull closer to 1st quintile + further from middle class.

Question 11

explanations given in the black report

Answer 11

1. artefact
2. social selection
3. materialist
4. cultural/behavioural

Question 12

artefact - explanation given in black report

Answer 12

• stated that relationship doesn’t really exist, it’s created by humans.
• assigned social class based on health + vice versa.

Question 13

some ways social classes can be measured?

Answer 13

1. income measure
2. census data = average income of neighbourhoods
3. wealth (asset-base measures)

Question 14

social selection - explanation given in black report

Answer 14

• explanation stated that association wasn’t causal. health may be cause of poor job, not the other way around.
• longitudinal research debunnks this. social class => health outcomes. exceptions include mental illness/disease that occurs with age. can lead to difficult transition into adulthood + can determine social class.

Question 15

materialist - explanation given in black report

Answer 15

• material condition of ppl’s lives. things theyre able to access give opportunity/constraints on achieving optimal health.
• • food, safety, education, take a sick day

Question 16

cultural/behavioural - explanation given in black report

Answer 16

behaviours in social class are encouraged. even if social class change, entrenched behaviour would stick, leaving ppl more vulnerable to health anyway.