Social Inequalities In Health

Question 1

Social of patterning of health

Answer 1

• In the UK, health inequalities are evident between
those from different socio-economic groups

• Deprivation is strongly associated with (ill) health:
– the more deprived a person is, the larger the
proportion of their life will be spent in ill health, and
the more likely they will die at a younger age.

Question 2

What was included in the black report

Answer 2

1. Artefact
2. Social selection Black Report
3. Behavioural-cultural
4. Materialist

Question 3

What are the other 2 explanations for health inequalities apart from the black report

Answer 3

Psychosocial

Income distribution

Question 4

Artefact explanation

Answer 4

Mostly discredited

Health inequalities are evident due to the way statistics are collected

Question 5

Social selection.

Answer 5

Direction of causation is from health to social position

Health status causes social position
-plausible explanation but studies suggest that at most this theory only makes a minor contribution to social inequalities

Question 6

Behavioural-cultural explanation.

Answer 6

Ill health is due to the people’s choice/decisions, knowledge and goals

Question 7

Materialistic explanation

Answer 7

Inequalities in health arise from differential access to material resources \

Lack of choice in exposure to hazards and adverse conditions
Accumulation of factors across life-course
Most plausible

Question 8

Psychosocial explanations

Answer 8

Psychosocial pathway act in addition to direct effects of absolute material living standards

Stress impacts on health via different pathways

Question 9

Income distribution

Answer 9

Relative income affects health

- countries with greater income inequalities have greater health inequalities