P3 health and social care

In this assignment I hope to effectively discuss and evaluate the patterns and trends associated with health and illness within the higher and lower social classes. I am going to do this by discussing and evaluating the following explanations and perspectives within sociology; Artefact explanation, Natural or Social Selection explanation, Cultural or Behavioural explanation and Materialist or Structuralist explanation.

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.

Social determinants of health encompasses ethnicity, gender and social class. It is seen as the essential

The aim of this essay is to examine the influence that socio-economic status has on an individual’s health.

In the 21st century society there are two current factors that are very obvious in affecting patterns of health. These are that of social class affecting health and lifestyle choices.

Merit 2 – Use different sociological perspectives to discuss patterns and trends of health and illness in two different social groups.

Life expectancy in the human race has risen dramatically in the past century reaching its highest level for both male and female on record. Between 1981 and 2002 life expectancy at age 50 increases by four and a half years for men and three years for women and two years respectively. By 2002 women who were age of 65 could expect to live to the age of 84 while men could expect to live to the age of 81.

Explain patterned inequalities in health and illness. Evaluate sources of evidence with regards to class, gender, ethnicity and age

It is proven on my population pyramid that women live longer than men. This could have to do with many things. If a person is smaller, their heart doesn’t have to pump as much as a person who is taller. So, women are typically smaller than men and are less likely to have a heart attack. Women also take better care of their health and are less likely to be daredevils.

Mortality rates: In gender men generally die earlier than women because of many aspects of their life, for instance in general women tend to take care of them self more physically. A lot of women go on diets and a lot of exercise DVDs and detunes are mainly aimed at women. Women in general do try to eat healthy and go on diets whereas men usually aren't very aware of their diet and don’t have much intention on improving it. Women also tend to go to the doctors and seek medical advice more often and have their illnesses diagnosed and treated more often than men. Because women' generally take more care of themselves and do more to keep themselves healthy.

Gender plays a huge role in the health care setting, for instants majority of patients now days would ask for a female doctor on the bases that they are more understanding. When it comes to male or female whether it be in the health care field or another work environment they think completely different on almost every topic. Males use more of assertiveness, and facts based, while females tend to use more emotion and strategic approaches. Women spend more time with their patients getting the gist of what they are feeling and a better idea of how they are going to treat the symptoms, while men on the other hand may usual only see you for about fifteen minutes get the diagnosis, answers maybe one or two questions uses the logical approach and

This essay will be discussing the extent to which social class and poverty affects health and illness. Firstly, what is social class? Each person’s perception of social class can be different; is social class defined by a person’s accent, the area they live in, or something as simple as their income? Project Britain describes social class as “The grouping of people by occupations and lifestyle”. (Cress, 2014). To find social class Sociologists group people according to common factors, they compare people and various criteria can be conveniently used to place people in social groups or classes. Next we ask the question what determines a person’s health, the NHS defines health as “Physical and mental, it is the absence of disease”. (NHS 2017).

“Healthy individuals cannot survive when society is sick.” On the other hand, aspects of social structure influence health and illness. Social factors not only affect life expectancy, but the possibilities the one will experience diseases and in turn, the health care that they will receive.

Why are men’s mortality rates higher than women’s? The mortality rate for men is much higher than that of women’s due to heart disease, accidents and cerebrovascular diseases. Mortality is known as the measure of the number of deaths in a particular population, in this case men’s. Cardiovascular disease consists of conditions that involve narrowed or blocked blood vessels. Having narrowed or blocked blood vessels can lead to a heart attack, chest pain or a stroke. Heart disease in men can be caused by factors the main one being smoking. 22% of men are known to smoke and do so twice as much as women do. Activities such as smoking greatly influence men’s mortality rates. Men are more prone to being involved in accidents, because

Understanding social factors in health has become a central issue recently and a large number of studies has been dedicated in this regard. Social factors are phenomena seen in the interaction between individuals and social groups. In this essay, the importance of understanding such factors and their influence on health are addressed by studying socioeconomic status. Studies results are incorporated to explain health inequalities that arise from socioeconomic status and possible explanations including the material and structural, social selection, cultural and historical explanations cited in the literature are briefly discussed.