Health Inequality - Term Paper Example

 «Health inequality» Health inequality is also known as health disparities; this is the gap in the quality or efficiency of health and healthcare across racial, sexual orientation, ethnic and socioeconomic groups. There are conflicting definitions of health inequality. Some people just refer to it as disparity, inequity or inequality depending on their understanding of the word. This is evident, in various people in the world. Health disparities causes are complex but can be tackled in one way or another. The causes of these disparities include lifestyle behaviors. Disparity, when it comes to public health refers to a chain of events that vary from environment access to health care facilities, utilization of these facilities and of course to the quality of service. Also, it is noted that a particular outcome of health status can be evaluated as inequitable since maybe it requires scrutiny (Wilkinson, 2007). Health inequalities are caused majorly by socio economic status of individuals, but they can also be attributed to the human capital model; which is the amount of physiological stock that each individual is born with. Most of the time the stock depreciates with time depending on life the individual chooses to live (diet, smoking, drinking and other life choices). The lifestyle factors are a major contributor to inequalities. Health inequalities are also influenced by intergenerational causes; they are passed down from one generation to another. This may not only mean through genetics but also by how their mothers behaved during their pregnancy and as they raise the children. Parent’s health behaviors may influence their children at an early stage.The relationship between health and health inequalities is extremely close. It is as if one is talking about the same thing but at different angles. Health inequalities result in poor health circumstances therefore it is necessary to curb the causes that facilitate health inequalities. The accessibility of health care is considered as a contributing factor of inequality in health. The most compelling is the one that involves the accessibility of health facilities for the aged. Inadequacy in health services is a significant determinant of inequality of health. The importance and substantial concerns of health inequalities The greatest concerns are the lifestyle factors, accessibility to health care and socio economic factors. The lifestyles factors are sometimes known as the closest causes of health inequalities because they are the chief causes of disease. They are worse than situations such as poverty, housing and education. The lifestyle factors include smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use, weight, sexual behaviors that are not acceptable, nutrition, drug use, exercise, weight and even stress. The mentioned lifestyle behaviors have contributed to lifestyle diseases such as obesity, lung cancer, HIV/AIDS, liver cirrhosis and eventual death for some people who over indulge or after practicing some of the mentioned behaviors extensively. Socio economic factors are a crucial contributing factor. Poverty is an underlying problem here. The people who cannot afford good healthy behaviors succumb to the effects of health inequality. Their housing and clothing can be a contributing factor. Some individuals are exposed to poor living condition, where sanitation is not considered prime. They suffer from disease and cannot afford health care services. They eventually languish in pain and suffering due to their inability to buy medicine or even pay for hospital bills. Socio economic factors tend to go beyond the affecting the individual of a certain social status directly. They tend affect even their lifestyles. A rich man who smokes can live for longer than a man who smokes and is poor. This reflects majorly on the how a rich man can take care of themselves even as they smoke but the poor man may not be able to pay for his medical bills especially when they are suffering from lifestyle diseases such as lung cancer or chest related ailments that require close medical attention (Whitehead, 1998). The accessibility of health care services or quality medical services is also a major concern. The fact that poor people cannot afford efficient medical services is a reason for inequalities in health. There are instances when people cannot access certain medical facilities because are unavailable in some hospitals. The factors that contribute to the inaccessibility of hospital facilities have had dire effect on health inequalities especially the age related inequalities. The significance of this topic is that it helps one to measure the extent of health disparities. The measuring of these inequalities will help form mitigation measures that will reduce the rate of health discrepancies amongst many people living at whatever statuses in the world. How to tackle /control health inequalities Various countries in the world have different ways of dealing with health discrepancies. The data that are collected on health inequalities is usually used to estimate the scale of inequity and how to deal with the results of these discrepancies such as child mortality, heart diseases and other conditions that result from the state of inequalities of health. It is evident that when health inequalities are dealt with the rates of disease are reduced and death that are as a result of the diseases become minimal too. (Daniels, 2000). Some countries design policies that deal with health discrepancies effectively. These policies offer a good opportunity for the various governments to demonstrate rigorous plans and activities and methods that curb the health inequalities in a particular country (Hexel, 2006). The health departments deal with these issues of health inequalities by allocating of appropriate resources. Some ensure that the funding that is distributed is taken to the neediest hospitals that are pertinent. There are various tradeoffs that exist between the redistribution of health resources and models that deal with cost effective medications or treatments for the whole population. Governments direct some funds towards this issue in order to control it. In United Kingdom, the government has developed specific health inequalities initiatives that target whose major aims were to tackle the issue of health inequalities. These initiatives had targets that were met and ensured a great difference in the number of people from being victims of health inequalities. The targets proved to be a motivating factor (Bartley, 2000). Starting children centers in their early years will ensure that there are minimal or no instances of child mortality. The children centers can deal with children health conditions for a small fee or for free in order to ensure that children are healthy in the society. Effective interventions can also be a good move to ensure that health discrepancies are in check amongst the communities. Secondary and specialist services can be good at tackling special cases that have been neglected or those that have not been dealt with due to lack of funds. Tackling issues across sectors and departments will ensure that the people’s health is looked after. Building a good environment is a good contribution to ensuring that many health discrepancies do not get out of hand and are dealt with in time before they cause bad effects on the population (Bartley, 2000). References Bartley M, Sacker A, Firth D (2000) Towards explaining health inequalities. BMJ; 320:1303–7. Daniels N, Kennedy B, Kawachi I. Is inequality bad for our health? Boston: Beacon Press, 2000 Hexel PC, Wintersberger H (2006). Inequalities in health: strategies. Soc Sci Med; 22:151–60 Oliver A, Cookson R. (2000) Towards multidisciplinary research into health inequalities. Health Econ; 9:565 Whitehead M. (1998) Diffusion of ideas on social inequalities in health: a European perspective. Milbank Q; 76:469–92, 306. Wilkinson RG. (2007) Socioeconomic determinants of health. Health inequalities: relative or absolute material standards.BMJ Read More