The Relationship between Social Class and Health - Term Paper Example

Discuss the relationship between social and health The debates regarding the nature of inter relationship between the health care problems and the social status of the individual’s has been continuing for a long time.  Many sociologists believe that not only the low social class has resulted in poor health of the people but in many cases the poor health of the people has also led to a fall in the social status of the individuals. The essay discusses the relationship between social status and health. World Health Organization (WHO) defines an ideal state of health as, “a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. (Ustun and Jacob, 2005) Condition of health depends on a number of factors like the genetic, environmental and the nutritional ones; which ultimately is related to the standard of living of the people. Thus it can be suggested that, health is a function of welfare and hence is considered as one of the responsibilities of the welfare state. The positive correlation between poverty and ill health was recognized as early as the 19th century by the famous social reformer Edwin Chadwick, when he referred to poor health as a major cause of poverty. (An introduction to social policy, n.d.) Social class in UK as also in other parts of the world is nothing but the power and status of an individual (Purdy and Banks, 1999, p. 29) which is determined by the person’s wealth, his or her cultural background and the nature of employment. Figures obtained from UK have proved that there is a marked difference in health care problems across different social classes of the country. This is true among all the parameters of health including the questions on general health, life expectancy and the maternal and infant mortality rates. Government of UK has always been concerned about the welfare of the people of lower social classes. This dates back to the year 1572, when for the first time an act was made to this effect by Queen Elizabeth. This was followed by many such acts during the seventeen and eighteen centuries, which provided proper housing and other facilities for the poor. Edwin Chadwick conducted a study on the health conditions of the laborers in Liverpool in 1842. It was found that while the average life expectancy was 35 years for the professionals, it was only 15 years in the case of the laborers. (Health and Social class, n.d.), Later with the establishment of National Health Service (NHS) in UK the health care provisions for the citizens received the much needed boost. Since the starting of the NHS, special attention was paid to the health needs of the people of the lower class. In fact a government document from the 1940’s stated that one of the fundamental principles of the NHS will be to separate health care from the questions of the personal means. The following are the main determinants for living a healthy life. Firstly, good education is very crucial for maintaining better health conditions of the people. This is because it helps in providing better income opportunities for them. This provides a sense of security to the people and helps in maintaining their mental and physical well being. Another very important factor in determining the health conditions is the environment in which the people live. These factors include the housing conditions of the people as well as their job environment. People living in the slums and poor localities have to stay in unhygienic situation. Also the people living in the more crowded localities face severe health related problems due to their exposure to heavy noise and pollution. Along with fresh air, proper drinking water facilities are also very essential for maintain good health of the citizens as many chronic diseases occur in those places where there is no such facility. Being short on resources, there is no way out for the people belonging to the lower classes and they are forced to suffer in these circumstances. (Wilson, 2005)   Employment of a person determines his status in the society and also how satisfactorily he can maintain himself and his family. The upward movement in the job hierarchy also improves a person’s pay structure and his working conditions. A worker who belongs to the lower strata of the society is often forced to put in longer hours of work in most unhygienic conditions and that too along with a very low pay structure. This in turn has a negative effect on the physical health and the mental well being of the person. He may also suffer from a low self esteem due to constant supervision from his superiors. These people are barely able to meet their necessities and fail to satisfy other important needs of themselves and their families. Further since most of them work in the unorganized sector these people generally become the first people to lose their jobs in case of any economic downturn. This increases anxiety among them and are prone to suffer from heart related problems. If these problems persist then they might also from mental health problems. It has been also been found that the gender of a person has profound effect on their health. Evidences have suggested that women have a longer lifespan than men. It is probably because they are more hygiene and health conscious then men. Also they are not required to do the more hazardous tasks which are always reserved for the men. Black report published in 1980 has shown that the life expectancy of women in UK is more than men across all the social strata. On the cultural parameter it can be suggested that the people in the lower social class live a less than healthy life style. It is believed that they eat more junk foods and also smoke and drink more than the people belonging to the middle and the upper classes. Not only do they lack resources for planning their health requirements but also there is a general lack of knowledge regarding what exactly constitutes a healthy diet. Also these people who generally had labored throughout the day are found less reluctant in exercising, so as to keep their cardio vascular system in perfect shape. The economist Frederich Engels had noted long ago that drinking happens to be the bane for the working classes (Health and Social class, n.d.). People in the lower classes have been found to indulge themselves in heavy drinking of cheap liquor. Sustained use of such spirits also produces negative effect on their bodies. Lastly, in the social context, it may be noted that if people are satisfied with their lives then they are less likely to fall ill. Factors which are associated with this will include whether a person is well connected with their families and the peer groups it has been found that people of the lower classes, who are staying away from their families face many difficulties on this account. Along with this having a stable job and the recognition attached to the same also contributes to the mental satisfaction. People of lower status have to work in hazardous sectors and in many cases had to do unrestricted manual labor The Black Report (Health and Social class, n.d.) published by the Health Ministry in 1980 showed that there still exists a clear relationship between the social status and health. It showed that the death rate for the unskilled workers was 2.5 times higher than that of the professionals between the age group of 15 to 64. Life leads to a series of transitions in human beings. It begins with the cognitive changes in the early childhood, to going through the tests of the primary and then the secondary education. This is followed by finding jobs and raising a family and finally comes the retirement. Each of these stages profoundly affects people’s physical and mental health. Here the people who have faced disadvantage in their past due to the social status of their parents, find themselves at greater risks in each of these phases of life and hence suffer more from mental and physical trauma. Providing good health to the citizens will involve reducing the educational failures, reducing unemployment related insecurities and improving the housing conditions. Our society can become healthier only when those people who are marginalized and suffer deprivation are allowed to play a useful role in the social and cultural life of their communities. (Wilkinson and Marmot, 2003) Poverty has been found associated with a higher risk of illness as well as premature deaths. Life expectancy varies greatly in relation to the social class. While the professional men gave a life span of 80 years, the same is 72.7 years for the unskilled manual laborers. For women the same figure is 85.1 years and 78.1 years respectively. Similarly the children in the poorer families experience health related problems in their childhood which plagues them through the rest of their life. It has been found that the three year olds belonging to the households with income below the level of £10000 are 2.5 times more likely to suffer from serious illness than the children belonging to the households with annual income of £52000 and above. The risk of infant mortality is also high in the children born in the poorer families. In the lower social groups it has been found to be 5.9 deaths per 1000 births, which is 20% higher than that of the national average of 4.9 deaths. (‘Poverty in UK’, n.d.) Although most of the studies suggest that the social class of the people has a direct effect on the health conditions of the people, there are many such cases where this theory does not hold. This is because life threatening diseases like cancer or neurological problems like autism and cerebral palsy does not have any relation with the social status of the patients. Although the economic conditions of the patients has an effect on the kind of treatment that can be made available to them, it is virtually impossible to prevent such diseases. Secondly the health condition of the populace is greatly determined by the peculiar habits of the individuals which might not be totally affected by their social status. For example, a manual labor as well as professional may suffer from chronic drinking and smoking habit. Thus the social status or the back ground of the individuals seems to have little effect on their condition of health. Also now days the Government is vigorously promoting various programs in the social sector so as to reduce the negative effects of the inequalities in income and wealth. The people in the lower strata of the society are being provided with such educational and health facilities which will make them avail these services even if they are not in a position to pay for the same. This will go a long way in ameliorating the relationship between social status and health. It is also well known that income is not the only determinant of health among the various classes. A plumber or an electrician may be earning more than a priest but that does not ensures that he will have a better health condition than the priest. Over all, it can be safely concluded that social status has a significant relationship with health related issues. It is true that anyone can get affected by chronic diseases, irrespective of their social status; also whether a person inculcates positive or negative habits is not exactly determined by his social status. Still, it must be acknowledged that the people belonging to the higher strata have much more resources and knowledge at their disposal to deal with the health related problems. Further, it is beyond doubt that notwithstanding the sincere efforts of the Government to deal with the health care problems the result has not been as expected. This is mainly the result of poor ground level implementation of such programs in the country. Thus it will take some time before the social status becomes an unimportant factor in the determination of the health condition of the people.                     References 1. ‘An introduction to social policy’, (n.d.), available at: http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/health.htm, (accessed on 24th June 2009). 2. Health and Social class (n.d.), available at: http://classes.deonandan.com/hss1101/Health%20and%20Social%20Class.pdf, (accessed on 24th June 2009). 3. Purdy, M. and Banks, D. (1999), Health and Exclusion: Policy and Practice in Health Provision, Routledge. 4. Poverty in UK (n.d.), available at: http://www.cpag.org.uk/povertyfacts/, (accessed on 24th June 2009). 5. Ustun and Jacob (2005), “Re-defining ‘Health’”, WHO, available at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/bulletin_board/83/ustun11051/en/ (accessed on 24th June 2009). 6. Wilkinson, R. and Marmot, M. (2003)“Social determinants of health” WHO, available at: http://www.euro.who.int/DOCUMENT/E81384.PDF, (accessed on 24th June 2009). 7. Wilson, A. (2005), “Structural determinants of health”, available at: http://www.burgerman.info/www-nursing/structural-determinants-health.htm, (accessed on 24th June 2009). Read More