Health: Psychology and Page

Why are higher income and social status associated with better health? If it were just a matter of the poorest and lowest status groups having poor health, the explanation could be things like poor living conditions. But the effect occurs all across the socio-economic spectrum. Considerable research indicates that the degree of control people have over life circumstances,

Health has been influenced by many factors such as poor health status, disease risk factors, and limited access to healthcare. All these factors are due to social, economic and environmental disadvantages. According to the World Organization (WHO) (2015), “the social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health inequities, which is the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries”

“The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life” (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2009). The social determinants of health can be divided into 5 categories, age, sex and hereditary factors, individual lifestyle factors, social and community networks, living and working conditions and general socioeconomic, cultural and

Poverty also influences our responses to health and illness. The level of income below that which people cannot afford a minimum, nutritionally adequate diet, suitable and secure housing, heating and hot water, and beds to sleep on.

These are a few potential links between social inequalities and the health of the population: income and wealth distribution, unemployment, the ageing society, gender and health, mental illness and suicide and disability and dysfunction. I am going to discuss each of these and see the health impact on people in each group.

The correlations between level of education and socioeconomic status, and therefore the general health of an individual, are repeatedly proven to be evident across the globe.

There is not singe factor that determine the quality of health and wellbeing. Many intersecting social and individual factors control the societies health. Income inequality is one of the leading determinant for our health. The effects of income inequality on health maybe understood by examining some social mechanisms, such as public education and healthcare, structural violence, disruption of social cohesion and social capital; and individual risky behaviors. (Kawachi and Kennedy, 1999)

Most of us agreed that the social determinants of health (SDoH) are super inter-related and that income is one of the most critical SDoH. Income can drive and have an impact on many of the other SDoH and their outcomes, such as food security and social exclusion. Stephanie and I also agreed that early childhood development is a crucial SDoH. Negative effects during childhood can lead to negative health consequences in later life, thus enhancing quality of life during childhood can be very beneficial in the long run. As Stephanie summarized, it is “important for all of us to start on the right foot and have the same opportunities to grow up healthy.” Moreover, we discussed the connection between poverty and the SDoH. Lacey pointed out that “poverty

The aim of the Week 3 lecture by Dr Amanda Rebar (Rebar, 2015) was to introduce and discuss the benefits of different pathways available for students, interested in pursuing PHD research or Academia careers.

This essay will discuss ways in which a person’s socioeconomic class and his/her social situation can have an impact on his/her health, using examples. We believe that there is a direct link between socioeconomic/social class and health (Adler et al. 1994). I will be defining the key terms: socioeconomic and health, social class then proceed to discuss about how poverty, income, employability, environment and housing can impact on a person’s social situation and their health.

There are two types of lifestyle diseases mental and physical, adults who are social- economically damaged with low level of education. (Pollan, 2011) As the study results the more people are social-economically disadvantaged the more they are at health risk.

There has been a considerable amount of research into why people from certain strata in the society appear to have worse health and fewer good health opportunities than others. Health is defined as a state of complete physical, psychological and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease (Nettleton, 2006).Social class have influence on people’s health and well-being, whereby women life expectancy depends on the social class they belong to .For women who are categorised as higher social class generally have control and greater power over their day to day live. They will be able to eat organic food; visit private doctors in which it will keep them healthy lifestyle. They will have a position in the society and greater array life chances and more opportunities to lead a flourishing life.

Health psychologists range from a wide area of careers and fields. They focus on how health and illnesses are effected by factors such as psychology, biology and social factors. Health psychologists also seek to answer, “how people cope with chronic illness (both their own and others’)” (Lyons, & Chamberlain, 2006, p. 6). Health psychologists research on different ways to “overcome illnesses more quickly, and how to change people’s attitude” on health problems such as smoking, stress management and weight loss. (Kuther, 2006, p. 5) Professionals studying in the health subfield of psychology work in research settings like universities and schools, as well as clinics and hospitals. (Kuther, 2006). The duties of health psychologists are to answer controversial health questions and concerns as detailed by Lyons and Chamberlain (2006) in Health Psychology: A Critical Introduction:

Health problems that are labeled as social problems, affects the physical, mental health, and impact communities and society as a whole. Socioeconomic statue is based on a person’s position in society and the level of educational attainment, occupation, and household income. A person level of education, income and occupation has a great influenced on one’s health and the mean to have a good health insurance. In the United States, low socioeconomic status is associated with lower life expectancy a prevalence of health problems and higher incidents. Poverty and the lack of college education were associated with higher mortality (Kindig & Cheng 2013). In the United States, rates of overweight and obesity are higher among people living in poverty because high-calories processed food (fast food) are more affordable than fresh vegetable, fruits, lean meat or fish. Member of the lower class are subjected to the most stress and have the fewest resources to cope with it (Cockerham 2007). Stress has been linked to a serious psychological distress in adults living below the poverty line. A variety of physical and mental health problems, chronic fatigue, substance abuse, high blood pressure and cancer are also linked to stress. Poor U. S. adults ages 45 to 64 are five times more likely to experience depression(24 percent) as adults whose family income is 400 percent or more of the poverty level (National Center for Health Statistics 2012). Higher education means better health.

4) In my opinion, among health, labor productivity, and income levels, there are huge, and strong relationship because I think labor productivity decides the income levels, and it also affects people's health. For