social inequalities and health

Question 1

what is absolute poverty?

Answer 1

absolute poverty is consistent across all countries an must meet 2 of the following criteria (it leads to high infant mortality, high morbidity, premature death):

1) lack of clean water
2) lack of sanitation
3) lack of shelter
4) poor nutrition
5) insufficient calories
6) lack of medical care
7) no education

Question 2

What is relative poverty?

Answer 2

is defined in relation to a measure in the country where a person lives
- In the EU ‘Relative poverty’ defined as having a household income

Question 3

describe health inequalities in britain

Answer 3

There is a social gradient effect. The difference in Life expectancy between the least deprived areas of the UK compared to most deprived areas has increased in the past decades to up to 16 years difference, and higher in males than females.

Question 4

what is Occupational social classification ?

Answer 4

NS-SEC - Higher occupations (1.) – (8) Never worked and long-term unemployed

Question 5

what are the 5 explanations for health inequality ?

Answer 5

1) health selection
2) Individual behaviour
3) Materialistic explanation (house, income ect.)
4) Psycho-social explanations (mental health)
5) life course explanation (childhood socioecconomic status affects adult life more)

Question 6

What was the whitehall theory?

Answer 6

• Lower social status is linked to biological stress pathways and poorer physical and mental health