Session 2 - Health Inequalities

Question 1

Explain how you would measure socioeconomic status (SES)?

Answer 1

Measure:

1. Their occupation
2. The area in which they live

Question 2

List the 7 classes of occupation and an example of a job of this role type

Answer 2

1. Higher managerial and professional e.g. doctors
2. Lower managerial and professional e.g. retail managers
3. Intermediate e.g. police (up to sergeant)
4. Small employers e.g. farmers
5. Lower supervisory and technical e.g. mechanics
6. Semi-routine e.g. receptionists
7. Routine e.g. bar staff

Question 3

List the 6 explanations/theories for health inequalities (4 from black report, 2 from subsequent studies) and briefly explain the theory

Answer 3

1. Artefact
   e. g. argues that health equalities are evident due to the way in which data is collected
2. Social selection
   e. g. argues that health equalities are caused by health status influencing the social position (sick individuals move down the social hierarchy)
3. Behavioural-cultural
   e. g. argues that ill health results from people’s choices and decision as well as their knowledge
4. Materialist (most plausible)
   e. g. argues that health inequalities result from differential access to material resources
5. Psychosocial
   e. g. argues that psychosocial pathways act in addition to direct effects of material living standards (e.g. considering the impact of stress) - linked to the biopsychosocial model!
6. Income distribution
   e. g. argues that it’s the relative income that affects health (not average) - it’s the most equal societies with the best health

Question 4

Explain how deprivation influences an individual’s access with healthcare

Answer 4

• Tend to manage their health as a series of crises
• Normalise ill health
• Tend to use more ‘porous’ services such as A and E
• Difficult to arrange resources needed to access healthcare
• Lack of cultural alignment