The Socio-Economic Environment on Human Health

This essay explores the impact of the socio-economic environment on human health. It discusses the determinants of socioeconomic status, including income, education, and occupation, and how they impact people's health. The essay also highlights the relationship between socioeconomic status and stress, and how it affects health.

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THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT ON HUMAN HEALTH.
by Student’s Name
Name of course.
Name of professor
University Name
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Date

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Table of contents
1. Determinants of Socioeconomic Situation or Status................................................................3
Income.........................................................................................................................................3
Education.....................................................................................................................................3
Occupation...................................................................................................................................4
2. Health and socioeconomic status.............................................................................................5
3. Education as a strong predictor of health.................................................................................6
4. The Relationship between Socioeconomic Status and Stress..................................................7
5. Chronic stress and the nervous system.....................................................................................7

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Introduction
The socioeconomic status (SES) is the sociological and economic amount of people’s
work experience and their social position. Furthermore, the socioeconomic situation is analyzed
based on a person’s income, educational level, occupation, and their attributes. The
socioeconomic status is divided into three sections which include the high, middle low level
(Marian 2002). The essay discusses the determinants of the socioeconomic situation and ways in
which socioeconomic class or socioeconomic situation impacts people’s health.
1. Determinants of Socioeconomic Situation or Status
Income.
Income is earned in wages, rents, salaries, and profits. Furthermore, it is obtained
through employment, pensions, social security, dividends, trusts, royalties or government
assistance. Income is a standard measure of socioeconomic status because of it more comfortable
to figure it out in most individuals. Income inequality is prevalent in the world. Low-income
communities emphasize meeting the most pressing needs; they do not save wealth or income for
their future generations. Therefore, the income inequality of people in society has increased over
the years (Blumenthal & Jessica 2002).
Education.
High socioeconomic families put more emphasis on education, and it is perceived to be
more critical such families. In poor households, more priority is placed on safety, shelter, and
food. Young people are prone to many social problems and health problems in the United
Kingdom because of their status in society. They face issues such as drug abuse, unwanted
pregnancies, and obesity (Blumenthal & Jessica 2002).

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Low education levels and income levels have been shown to impact and act as reliable
predictors of many mental and physical health problems such as arthritis, respiratory viruses,
schizophrenia, and coronary disease. The socio-economic problems can be as a result of
environmental conditions at the workplace, or due to a person's social predicament in case of
mental illnesses. Income affects education. Earnings increase in each level of education. Higher
levels of education cause better psychological and economic outcomes (Anandale 2014).
Occupation.
An occupation is the reflection of educational attainment, which a person can use to get a
job and propel. Also, it affects the social position of a person, the ability to make and control
decisions and psychological demands of a person (Blumenthal & Jessica 2002).
Income, Education, and Occupation as Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Diseases.
The socioeconomic status of a person is one of the consistent predictors of morbidity and
mortality, a result that is consistent with most diseases and various risk factors associated with
multiple conditions. Furthermore, income reflects the spending power, diet, housing, and medical
care of a person. The occupation of a person measures their responsibility, prestige, work
exposures, and physical activity. Education measures skills require psychological, social and
other economic resources (Blumenthal & Jessica 2002).
According to studies conducted by Michelle, Cary & Ninez (2018), the socioeconomic
status operates using many mechanisms to affect diseases. Education may be the most critical
determinant which is available to everyone regardless of whether they have high validity,
reliability than occupation or income.
A study conducted by Marian (2002), reports that out of the 23 potential contributors to
morbidity, age and sexes were related to both, and they indicated survival with proper function.

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Studies conducted on cardiovascular diseases suggest that lower levels of education initiate
hypertension, smoking cigarettes, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity.
2. Health and socioeconomic status
Economic inequality is caused by differences in income, occupation, and education. Moreover,
socioeconomic disparities affect the general health outlook of a person. The socioeconomic
status has always been associated with the health of a person. For example, people in high social
hierarchy enjoy better health than those in the low social authority (Blumenthal & Jessica 2002).
Also, a strong positive correlation exists between health and the socioeconomic status of
a person. The relationship indicates that it is not only the poor that get unwell when compared to
everyone. However, there is a continuous gradient that relates to a person’s health from the top to
the bottom of the social-economic ladder (David & Adriana 2008).
People in the low socioeconomic status cannot afford many healthcare resources
provided in hospitals. Therefore, their children and dependents in many cases have advanced
cases of illnesses due to the lack of treatment. The low socioeconomic status is related to the
following diseases. For instance, chronic stress, ulcers, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, type 2
diabetes, cancers, and premature aging (Nettleton, 2013).
Furthermore, researchers are conducting studies to assess the relationship between death
rates and the socioeconomic status because of the presence of significant financial resources
among the wealthy. However, the researchers found little correlation because of social status
differences (Nettleton, 2013).
The social, economic status affects the health of a person even when they have enough
financial resources or access to healthcare. The Whitehall studies done among civil servants in
London reported that there was a low correlation between health and social care even though the

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civil servants had the same access to healthcare. The study revealed that the association was
stable even when a person controlled habits which affect health such as exercise, smoking, and
alcohol consumption. Moreover, the likelihood of getting rheumatoid arthritis or type two
diabetes could not be decreased by any form of medical attention yet both diseases are common
in lower socioeconomic status populations (Darrel, Roza & Michael 2018).
3. Education as a strong predictor of health.
Adler & Ostrove (2009), report that education is a strong predictor of health than income
or education. Several mechanisms in which knowledge can positively impact health have been
proposed. Some studies indicate that higher education improves health by supporting economic
advantages.
Training protects against diseases by enhancing problem-solving values, abilities and
lifestyle behaviors. Furthermore, knowledge impacts a person with positive social, economic and
psychological skills that protect from adverse influences. The capabilities can accompany higher
attainments in education such as positive approaches towards health and the access to preventive
health services. Furthermore, through education, a person can join groups that encourage the
appreciation of positive health behaviors and build high self-esteem (Adler & Ostrove 2009).
4. The Relationship between Socioeconomic Status and Stress.
According to the American Psychological Association (2018), the socioeconomic status
of a person affects their health. Furthermore, the association proposes that when a person is low
in the social hierarchy, the person has a high chance of poor health. Low socioeconomic status
has an impact on personal psychology which leads to chronic stress due to shame.

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Stress is a person’s response to a disturbance that occurs on the outer or the inner
environment. The brain is responsible for weight other parts respond to physiological stress
while other parts respond to social threats. Stress activates pathways in the brain such as the
periaqueductal gray and hypothalamus which trigger changes in the heart rate, inflammation,
blood pressure, glucose levels, and freeze response (American Psychological Association 2018).
Chronic stress is more extreme and is caused by social judgment by others. It leads to
changes in the body such as heart rate, sugar levels, glucose levels, and fat deposits. These
changes lead to arrhythmias, high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, and diabetes. Chronic
stress leads to pathological conditions that shorten life (Anandale 2014).
5. Chronic stress and the nervous system.
SES leads to chronic stress which causes inflammatory diseases. Furthermore,
inflammation has a significant role in modern-day illnesses. The inflammation of the arterial wall
causes cardiovascular diseases, the inflammation of various tissues causes cancers, and swelling
of the brain causes infections of the central nervous such as Alzheimer’s disease (Barry & Yull
2016).
However, stress is an inflammatory mechanism. Stress leads to a rise in cortisol, an anti-
inflammatory hormone which reduces inflammation. When cortisol is increased, the receptors
become less active. When cortisol levels decrease, due to the low stress, the receptors remain
downregulated for some time. Low cortisol levels, in down-regulated cortisol receptors, leads to
a reduced anti-inflammatory effect. Therefore, a pro-inflammatory situation of stress system is
activated. The pro-inflammatory condition causes the beginning of inflammation that causes
inflammatory diseases (Barry & Yull 2016).

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According to, the Medicare program in the United States, Blacks, and
beneficiaries of lower socioeconomic stats use fewer health promotion services and preventative
services such as mammography and influenza immunizations than Whites and beneficiaries of
higher socioeconomic status. Furthermore, they use fewer common surgical procedures such as
CABG and fewer diagnostic tests, for example, colonoscopy. Moreover, people in the low
socioeconomic status use types of a process associated with poor chronic diseases management
such as amputation of limbs and debridement (Barry & Yull 2016).
Conclusion
The socioeconomic situation of people negatively impacts their health. In most cases,
these people have inadequate access to healthcare services. Furthermore, they prefer low-quality
services. Therefore, in most instances, people from low social status have advanced forms of
diseases in their bodies. People in the socioeconomic status have access to poor health due to low
income, low levels of education and unrewarding occupations as compared to people in the high
socioeconomic status. Governments should strive to support people from the low socioeconomic
cadre and help them access better healthcare services like their counterparts in the higher social
state.

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References
1. Adler, N & Ostrove, J 2009. Socioeconomic status and health: What we know and what
we don’t. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 896(1), pp. 3-15.
2. American Psychological Association 2018. Work, Stress and Health and Socioeconomic
status. [Online]. Available at <https://www.apa.org> [Accessed on 17 Nov. 2018].
3. Anandale , E. (2014) The sociology of health and medicine; a critical introduction , 2nd
edn., Cambridge: Polity Press.
4. Barry A.M. & Yull, C. (2016) Understand the sociology of Health: an introduction , 4th
edn. London: Sage
5. Blumenthal & Jessica, K 2002. The effects of Socioeconomic Status on Health in Rural
and Urban America. JAMA, 287(1), p. 109.
6. Darrel, J, Roza, V & Michael, M 2018. The Maryland Health Enterprise Zone Initiative
Reduced Hospital Costs and utilization in Underserved communities. Determinants of
Health. 37 (10), p.29.
7. David, BM & Adriana, JR 2008. Socioeconomic status and health dimensions and
mechanisms. Cambridge: National Bureau of Economic Research Publishers.
8. Marian, G 2002. Measuring the effects of socioeconomic status on healthcare. [Online].
Available on <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK221050/#ddd00030 > [Accessed
on 19 Nov. 2018.]

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9. Michelle, KJ, Cary, SN & Ninez, P 2018. Managing Diversity to eliminate disparities: A
framework for health. Health Inequity, 37(80), p.72.
10. Nettleton, S. ( 2013) The sociology of health and illness, 3rd edn., Cambridge; Polity
Press.