Inequalities in Health and Social Class

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This report delves into the complex issue of health inequalities, focusing on how social class and knowledge impact health outcomes. It examines the various approaches adopted by different disciplines to address these inequalities, including promoting social responsibility, maximizing health investments, and fostering partnerships for health education. The report also identifies key factors influencing health profiles, such as income, education, race, and social class, and explores the relationship between organizations, health, and vulnerable society members. The conclusion emphasizes the ongoing challenges in serving vulnerable populations and the continuous efforts to bridge the gap in health and illness.
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Running Head: INEQUALITIES IN HEALTH
health and social care
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Introduction
In the era of globalization, health is defined by complexity. The commission on health’s social
determinants was being created by the World Health Organization in order to understand this
complexity better. They were given a task to gather and summarize the evidence on the society’s
structure by interactions, institutions and the norms that are impacting the health of the
population and the measures which are not taken by the government and the general public to
control the illness and improve health. Further the frame of social class and the knowledge points
towards the adaptation of the human rights architecture in order to enable the health equity’s
realization and further the state is claimed as the bearer of the duty. Furthermore, the inequalities
in the illness and health as per the knowledge and the social class are given for the better
understanding. Then the differences in the approaches which are being adopted by the various
disciplines in the health and illness solutions are given. Then the major factors which impact the
health profile of the individual and the society are given along with relationship among the
health, vulnerable society members and the organizations.
Inequalities in Health and Illness According to Social Class and Knowledge
The social class and the knowledge has a great impact on the health and illness in order to
receive the life expectancy and the knowledge, and social class brings inequality to a great
extent. The social determinants of the health are social and economic conditions and it further
gives rise to the group differences in the status of the health. People of backwards classes doesn't
get the adequate knowledge in order to improve their health and get cured of the illness.
Whereas, the other people gets adequate knowledge and are more conscious of their health
(Bocoum et al., 2015). Further, the inequality in health and illness is the term which is being
used in various countries in order to refer the instances where the illness and health of the
various groups of demography like racial and ethnic groups differ in spite of the access to
services to the health care. This type of examples contains increased rate of mortality and the
morbidity for the lower classes of occupation as compared to the higher classes of the
occupation. According to the researchers (Hansson, F., 2013), the distributions of the social class
and the determinants are given a shape according to the policies and the norms of the public
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INEQUALITIES IN HEALTH
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which further influence the ideology of the politics to govern the jurisdiction. It has been
observed that the people who have low socioeconomic status experience the great inequality in
the illness and health and they doesn’t get the adequate health care because they don’t have the
appropriate knowledge in order to improve their well-being. Therefore, it has been proved from
the various researches that there is great inequality in the illness and health depending on the
knowledge and the social class to which people belong.
Differences in the Various Approaches Adopted by Disciplines
There are various approaches which are being adopted by the various disciplines in order to
bring the equality among the illness and health. The approaches are as follows (Pavalko, E.K.
and Caputo, J., 2013):
Promoting social responsibility for the health and the illness
According to the WHO, people of the backwards class and people who are having lower
socioeconomic status are made aware about the importance of health and what measures can be
taken in order to avoid illness and cure it easily without impacting the immunity system to a
great extent. It is very important to promote the social responsibility as it will help in bringing
equality in the health and illness.
Maximizing investment for the development of health
According to the researchers, the government is investing more for the development of the health
of people. The concept of the ecological public concept is being used which is related to the
transforming nature of the illness and the health. People are given knowledge about the ecology
in order to create awareness among them to remain healthy (Wagstaff, A., 2015). Further, this
helps in achieving sustainable development and the health.
Growing partnerships for the promotion of the health education
According to the various disciplines, the partnerships are growing among various health
development organizations in order to promote heath education in such a way that the people of
backwards classes become conscious about their health like the people who have the higher
socioeconomic status and have a social class. The main aim of such organizations is to bring
equality among the health and the illness.
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INEQUALITIES IN HEALTH
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Maximizing the empowerment of the individual and the capacity of the community
The motive of the health development organizations is to maximize the individual’s
empowerment and the community action for the health as it refers to the combined effort which
is put by the communities in order to maximize the control of the community over the
determinants of the illness and the health.
Factors that Influence the Health Profile of the Society and the Individual
There are various factors which are being recognised as the major ones that affluence the health
profile of the society and the individual to which he/she belongs and further it has been shown
that these factors are inter-related (Kondo et al., 2012).
Income
If people have high income, then they tend to spend more for their well-being and are more
conscious about what they eat. Whereas people who have low income, they are more prone to the
illness as they don't care about their health because their major priority is to fulfil their basic
needs (Coburn, D., 2015).
Education
According to the researchers, it has been proven that the people who are highly educated are
more aware of the health and illness as compared to the people who are less educated. Highly
educated people highly relies on the society in which they live, so they take care of their health.
Whereas, the people who are not educated enough doesn't get the adequate awareness in order to
take care of their health and improve their standard of living.
Race/ethnicity
The race or ethnicity to which people belongs play a great role on the individual towards the
health and the illness. As we act in a similar way in which are society wants us to perform, and
this might be beneficial for us sometimes and sometimes not. For example, the people of 21st
Century are more aware of the inequality in the health and illness and how to bridge the gap
between the two as compared to the previous generations (Truesdale, B.C. and Jencks, C., 2016).
Social class
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The social class is proved as one of the greatest factors which is responsible for the inequality in
the health and the illness. As the people of higher socioeconomic status are more aware of the
health development programs and the various measures as compared to the people of lower
socioeconomic status (Truesdale, B.C. and Jencks, C., 2016).
Therefore, the explanation of these factors demonstrates that they are related to one another in
order to influence the health profile of the society and the individual.
Relationship between Organizations, Health and the Vulnerable Society
Members
The vulnerability results through the interaction among the available resources, members of the
society and the various communities and the organizations. The vulnerability results from the
various problems of the development, incapacities of the person, disadvantages of the social
status and the inadequacy of the interpersonal supports and the networks. The negligence of the
vulnerability demonstrates the social status of the members of the society. Further, it may arise
from the challenges of the larger population which require the various types of the policy
interventions from the economic and the social development (Pickett et al., 2015). Further, the
various organizations take measures in order to create awareness among the vulnerable members
of the society about the health which helps in reducing the inequality in the health and illness and
moreover, these organizations help in bridging the gap between the two which improves the
standard of the living of the people of backward class or the people who are having lower
socioeconomic status (Ryff et al., 2015). Therefore, it shows the relation among the
organizations, health and the vulnerable members of the society.
Conclusion
It can be understood from the above-given information that serving the vulnerable members of
the society is not an easy task not because of the differences in the ideology but because of the
low public priority and the awareness. Further, it can be clearly understood that there is still
inequality in the health and illness among the people of backwards class and the people who are
having higher socioeconomic status. Therefore, the organizations are trying their best in order to
create awareness among people and bridge the gap between the health and the illness.
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REFERENCES
Bocoum, I., Macombe, C. and Revéret, J.P., 2015. Anticipating impacts on health based on
changes in income inequality caused by life cycles. The International Journal of Life Cycle
Assessment, 20(3), pp.405-417.
Coburn, D., 2015. Income inequality, welfare, class and health: A comment on Pickett and
Wilkinson, 2015. Social Science & Medicine, 146(22), p.8e232.
Hansson, F., 2013. Inequality in Health.
Kondo, N., van Dam, R.M., Sembajwe, G., Subramanian, S.V., Kawachi, I. and Yamagata, Z.,
2012. Income inequality and health: the role of population size, inequality threshold, period
effects and lag effects. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 66(6), pp.e11-e11.
Pavalko, E.K. and Caputo, J., 2013. Social inequality and health across the life course. American
Behavioral Scientist, p.0002764213487344.
Pickett, K.E. and Wilkinson, R.G., 2015. Income inequality and health: a causal review. Social
Science & Medicine, 128, pp.316-326.
Ryff, C.D., Miyamoto, Y., Boylan, J.M., Coe, C.L., Karasawa, M., Kawakami, N., Kan, C.,
Love, G.D., Levine, C., Markus, H.R. and Park, J., 2015. Culture, inequality, and health:
evidence from the MIDUS and MIDJA comparison. Culture and brain, 3(1), pp.1-20.
Truesdale, B.C. and Jencks, C., 2016. Income Inequality and Health: Strong Theories, Weaker
Evidence. Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research, 5(5), pp.30-37.
Truesdale, B.C. and Jencks, C., 2016. The health effects of income inequality: averages and
disparities. Annual review of public health, 37, pp.413-430.
Wagstaff, A., 2015. Commentary: Value Judgments in Health Inequality
Measurement. Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.), 26(5), p.670.
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