Social Inequalities in Health:Sociological Perspectives

Question 1

In what way do societal inequalities not reflect biological or genetic differences?

Answer 1

not inevitable or unavoidable

Question 2

what is health inequality?

Answer 2

Health inequality predominately refers to differential health outcomes i.e mortality and morbidity rates linked to social and economic inequalities, as previously described.

Question 3

what is health inequity?

Answer 3

Health inequity relates to the unequal distribution of resources between different population groups that result in different levels of access to services – one example would be access to health services based on income in predominantly market-based health care systems i.e the USA.

Question 4

is the NHS equitable?

Answer 4

The NHS is formally a formally equitable service, but differences in access do arise reflecting differences in education, culture, time-rich resources, region of residence, etc.

Problem:
Education: need to understand when they need help
Culture: what is considered a health problem
Time-rich: people who have time to access their doctor at available time- taking time off to see the doctor is not paid

Question 5

How do we measure SE class

Answer 5

Since 2001, the official classification measure is the National Statistics Social Economic Class (NS SEC). This is also based on occupation, but assessed in terms of differential skill requirements, as well as employment conditions and relations.

Question 6

describe the classes according to the national statistics SE classification

Answer 6

1- Higher managerial and professional occupations
2- lower managerial and professional occupations
3- intermediate occupations
4-small employers and own account workers
5- lower supervisory and technical occupations
6-semi-routine occupations
7- routine occupations
8- long term unemployed/ unclassified by occupation

Question 7

what are social determinants of health?

Answer 7

Social, economic and environmental factors that strongly influence the quality of the health of a population

Question 8

how is education linked to health?

Answer 8

Educational attainment : Strongly linked with health behaviours and outcomes. Low attainment may impact on many outcomes in later life including, quality of work, future earnings, involvement in crime, and high rates of morbidity.

educational attainment is strongly linked with health behaviours and outcomes- better educated tends to be less likely to suffer from long term conditions such as anxiety or depression. Better knowledge and capabilities for health. Readiness for school- related to development of child, is worse in low income families

Question 9

How does employment affect health

Answer 9

Employment : One of the most important determinants of physical and mental health; The effect of unemployment does not just affect individuals. Children growing up in workless households are almost twice as likely to fail at all stages of education compared with children growing up in working families.

Levels of employment have both short and long term impacts.

Unemployment is rising- link between children who grow up in unemployed/low income families

Question 10

how does income affect health

Answer 10

Living standards / income : There is a strong association between income and health, with many health outcomes improving incrementally as income rises.
A parent’s income may influence a child’s early development and educational opportunities, which in turn can affect a child’s employment opportunities and their income.

Question 11

give 6 key determinants of health in terms of sociology

Answer 11

education 
employment
income
built and natural environment
crime
social capital

Question 12

how does built and natural environment affect health

Answer 12

air pollution in built up areas, exposure to fine particulate matter increases mortality from heart and lung conditions. Access to green spaces is beneficial to mental health and physical health- unequally distributed with poorer communities having less access. Housing not meeting the standard of living- affects poorer people more. Homelessness- poorer health, die younger.

Question 13

how does crime affect health?

Answer 13

offenders and victims are likely to live in the most deprived areas. Crime affects both physical and mental health

Question 14

how does social capital affect health

Answer 14

community life, social connections and having a voice in local decisions all contribute to wellbeing, buld control and resilience and can buffer against disease and influence health related behaviour. Loneliness

Question 15

have social class health inequalities decreased?

Answer 15

No

Question 16

How has life expectancy between men and women of different social classes changed?

Answer 16

For men and women of all social classes, life expectancy has increased, but the gap in life years between classes has not narrowed.

However, when measured on a relative scale, the gap between the most and least socially advantaged did not substantially change, in fact it widened.

Between 2013–15 and 2016–18, the difference in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas in England widened by 0.4 years among males and 0.5 years among females.
Among females living in the most deprived areas life expectancy fell by 95 days over this period, in contrast to the gain of 80 days among females in the least deprived areas (Raleigh:2020).

Question 17

what is an absolute measure?

Answer 17

ameasurementmade directly and independently of comparison with othermeasurements.

Question 18

what is a relative measure?

Answer 18

Relative measurementis a method for deriving ratio scales from paired comparisons represented by absolute number

Question 19

3 main indicators of inequalities in health outcomes

Answer 19

healthy life expectancy at birth
premature mortality from all causes aged under 75 years
mental wellbeing of adults

Question 20

3 types of measure that can be used to assess life expectancy

Answer 20

Relative Index of Inequality (RII): How steep is the inequalities gradient? This measure describes the gradient of health observed across the deprivation scale, relative to the mean health of the whole population. In this report, the magnitude of RII is quoted.Unless explicitly explained, the RII indicates the extent to which health outcomes are better in the least deprived areas, or worse in the most deprived areas, compared to the mean.

Absolute range: How big is the gap? This measure describes the absolute difference between the extremes of deprivation.

Scale: How big is the problem? This measure describes the underlying scale of the problem, puts it into context and presents past trends at Scotland level.