Sociology
Outline the explanations for the findings of the Black Report and comment on which you think offers the most reasonable explanation for ill health.
By:
Rachel Mc Devitt
ID Nursing Year 1 Sem 2
Throughout history there has always been a link between ill health and social class. In sociology a social class refers to the social relationship individuals have when sharing similar status, involved in earning a living. The main aspects of this relationship are the market economy which set an income according to their career. Occupational classes ranging from professionals in class I to unskilled manual workers in class V. However, class is not simply a classification it is a standard of living. These social classes
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The report set out four possible mechanisms to explain widening socio-economic in health inequalities:
The Artefact theory suggests that the apparent relationship between these two variables may be, in some way, inherent in the measures themselves. Women were ignored they relied on the social class of their spouse/husband. The interpretation of the results were based on occupation and most deaths occurred amongst the retired. It was also shown that the statistics were flawed and bias to the person who recorded and classified the social groups (Bartley et al. 2005).
Cultural theory/behavioural theory suggests that the lower social classes prefer less healthy lifestyles such as alcohol consumption, obesity and smoking, infrequent exercise, unhealthy diet these are independent variables to that of intervening variables between social structures. As a result there is an increases in the risk of diseases like lung cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. More education is needed in this area in schools and colleges to promote good health and healthy
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An individual with an Intellectual Disability has significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and in adaptive behaviour, which covers many everyday social and practical skills, some also have physical problems. Being vulnerable leaves them more exposed to the social determinants of health (i.e. poverty, unemployment, social exclusion).A person with an ID have equal rights to health care, there voice is not heard and they are often over looked. I am alarmed by the figures and statistics I have uncovered in this assignment. I fear for the future of my patients/clients with an intellectual disability who have diverse health problems and have difficulties communicating and often on a low income. Inequality will always exist, whether it is based on gender, ethics, race or
There are many open wounds in the African-American community that have not healed what so ever. Disintegration of family structures in the African-American community has been a persistent problem for far too long. High out of wedlock birth rates, absent fathers, and the lack of a family support network for many young African-Americans have led to serious problems in America's urban areas. The persistence of serious social problems in inner-city areas has led to a tragic perpetuation of racial prejudice as well. African Americans still face a litany of problems in the 21st century today.
1. What factors differentiate the history and experience of African Americans from those of Asian, Hispanic, and Native Americans? The factors that would separate African Americans from racial ethnic groups would be their involuntary immigration and initial enslavement. Other groups came in hopes of political freedom and economic opportunity. While African Americans history and experience were based upon economic exploitation, the denial of freedom, denied their language, history, culture, ancestral ties and homeland affiliation.
At my school, I am a co-leader of Sankofa, my school’s Black Awareness Club. We educate the student body on racial issues and have discussions about what it means to be black in our society. Throughout high school, I have helped this club grow from a few students to a flourishing space where students and teachers gather to better themselves and our school. After every event I feel progress being made. From the transformed way the members in my club interact in their community to the increasing number of curious new members, this club are advancing the presence of black students in my school.
1. Even with our medical advances, the United States ranks 29th because of lack of health care for some individuals but also the lifestyle Americans have. Another reason is that class statuses correspond with our health outcomes. What I meant about this, is that lower and middle class individuals are exposed to more health threats than higher class. This is the connections between healthy bodies and healthy bank accounts and race/ethnicity.
Social Determinants of Health: In “The Black Man in a White Coat” by Damon Tweedy, the medical student and then practicing physician details his personal experiences concerning race and medicine. From the beginning of the novel, I noticed the similarities between Tweedy’s lectures to those of our own in PA school. Each lecture begins or ends with the common topic of distribution regarding age, sex, and race. The only commonality being “More common among black people” (Tweedy pg. 12).
The authors addressed the birth disparity outcomes between the African American and White population. They stated that racial discrimination interconnects with income disparities, poverty, cultural isolation, stress, etc., As a result of these factors the African Americans still have the highest rate of infant mortality in the nation, and the African American babies die before the first birthday twice the rate comparing to White babies. Greg, R., Alexander, Michael, D. Kogan, & Nabukera, S. (2000).
Social Determinants of Health Shelly Clavis Rutgers University School of Nursing Social Determinants of Health Defined Health concerns is an issue that most organizations have formed a pact to safely deal with the challenge. The main agenda focuses on the eradication of health inequalities that may exist in most countries. It is best suited that social determinants are accorded the much-needed attention since they affect a number of people. In assessing the factors that affect one’s health, genetic disposition, personal behaviors, ability to obtain healthcare and the overall environment in which an individual resides are to be considered. Social determinants of Health are issues that deals with the conditions that people have found constructed in a society and acts as a parcel in their lives, such as; growth, age and some of the more complex systems that construct a society which include economic policies and their systems that include social norms, development goals and the basic political system that they are indulged under (World Health Organization, 2008).
The term social determinants of health, can be defined as a ‘set of conditions in which people are born, grow up, live and work.’ These conditions include housing, education, financial security and the environment along with the healthcare service. (http://www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/438838/01.12_Health_inequalities_and_the_social_determinants_of_health.pdf) These factors are affected by the amount of money, power and resources that are available at a global, national and local level. Social determinants of health are linked to health inequalities according to the World Health Organisation, health inequalities are ‘the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries.’
These Social Determinants of Health may all relate to each other in some ways but may also have no relation to each other at all. However, examining them will let us determine whether this is true or not and will enable us to conclude whether specific determinants of health have an effect on others. Analyzing these determinants of health will also provide us with information that may or may not link them to specific health conditions and diseases which is an interesting area as we move forward in the industry of health and wellbeing.
This essay aims to identify and evaluate the inequalities in health care in different areas of society, namely disability and gender. Firstly, it is important to understand what we mean by health inequalities. It is commonly understood that health inequality refers to unjust differences in the health status, usually preventable, between different groups, populations or individuals. The existence of such inequalities is attributed to the unequal distributions of social, environmental and economic conditions within societies. Such conditions determine the risk of individuals getting ill, their ability to prevent sickness, as well as opportunities to access to the right treatments.
Annotated Bibliography Marmot, M. (2005). Social determinants of health inequalities. The Lancet, 365, 1099 1104. This journal article illustrates that many countries have enormous disparities in health.
The Biopsychosocial model (Suls & Rothman, 2004) is one of the earliest multi-dimensional models of the health field. This model demonstrates the interaction between biological and social factors in regard to disease analysis. It displays levels above and below a person arranged from global systems at the top and genetic systems at the bottom. In the Social and Behavioral Foundations of Public Health, Coreil (2010) describes how the biopsychosocial is more concerned with the biological systems within the human body and pays greater attention to this interplay. In the case study, Cockerham (2013) details how social conditions act as the ultimate causes of diabetes and diabetes related fatalities in the community of East Harlem.
These factors are known as the Social Determinants of health. “The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system” (WHO). Dalgren & Whitehead (1991) image of the social determinants of health aims to show the relationship between the person, their environment and their health. The modifiable factors, people’s age, gender and race lie in the centre surrounded by non modifiable factors like profession, housing, education and public policy. There is a direct relationship between people’s environment and their health, e.g. people who live in damp housing have a higher incidence of respiratory health problems (Farell et al.
Health outcomes among people depend upon the resources that people have to live a quality life. The variations with the money distribution and power derive such circumstances and induce inequalities in health at domestic and global levels where they have become unavoidable at present (Vega & Frenz, 2013). It has been stated that income, housing as well as environment are the major categories undermining all the factors of social determinants as mentioned earlier. Individuals, groups and communities are negatively influenced by these factors in their health status. Governments of all nations have undertaken several measures to tackle the risks arising from these conditions (Chapman, 2010).
Health inequalities are preventable and unjust differences in health status experienced by certain population groups. People in lower socio-economic groups are more likely to experience chronic ill-health and die earlier than those who are more advantaged. Health inequalities are not only apparent between people of different socio-economic groups – they exist between different genders and different ethnic groups (“Health inequalities,” n.d.). The situation in which people are born, grow, develop, work and age are affected by social, economic, environmental and most importantly political factors.