Session 3

Question 1

Describe and evaluate some explanations for health inequality

Answer 1

Artefact - health inequalities are evident due to the way statistics are collected
Social selection - direct causation is health –> social position (sick individuals move down hierarchy)
Behavioural-Cultural - ill health is due to people’s choices/decisions, goals and knowledge (disadvantaged background –> health damaging behaviour)
Materialist - inequalities arise from differential access to material resources (low income, unemployment, work environment, poor housing conditions), lack of choice and accumulation of factors
Psychosocial - in addition to material living standards, stress impacts on health (direct/indirect)
Income distribution - relative income affects health (egalitarian society = best health)

Question 2

Define the terms ‘inequality’ and ‘inequity’

Answer 2

Inequality - different care, not equal

Inequity - inequalities that are unfair and avoidable

Question 3

Describe and evaluate some evidence on inequalities in access to healthcare

Answer 3

Deprived groups:
Higher rates of use of GP, emergency services
Lower use of preventative services, specialist services
Manage health as a ‘series of crises’
Use more ‘porous’ services
Normalisation of ill health
Difficulty marshalling the resources needed for negotiation and engagement with health services
Lack of cultural alignment
Utilisation can be difficult to interpret

Question 4

Describe the relationship between health and variables, including social class, ethnicity and gender in Britain

Answer 4

Social class - deprivation is associated with ill health
Ethnicity - CVD (high in South Asian, Irish), Cancer (low in BME), respiratory disease (low in BME), liver disease (low in BME), health related behaviours vary due to culture, access to services, generic factors
Gender - men have increased mortality and suicide, female have poorer mental health and increased disability
Sex - biological factors –> hormones/reproductive difference