Social Economical status is one of the major risk factor to health and health care disparity. In the past few years the death rate in the United States has decreased but, there exists a widening gap between the death rates of blacks compared to whites (Japanese National Health, n.d.). It has been documented that people that are poor or not well educated have poorer health than rich people or well educated people. Social Economic status effects not only the individual but the entire family and community as a whole. If one is living in poverty they may not have the money to seek out appropriate medical care and they may rely on home remedies due to affordability. They may also wait until their condition has reached an emergency level and seek out care in the emergency …show more content…
This type of practice can lead to more and more chronic and debilitating diseases and conditions, that may have been avoided if they had the funds or access to health care. Living in poverty may also affect their living environment, for example, not have proper sanitation and living in deplorable conditions can exacerbate previous diagnosed illness or cause newly diagnosed conditions. Not having the money to buy food that are healthy can also cause unfavorable medical issues. If money is not available to meet some of the basic necessities of live, such as water, food and shelter, good health will surely suffer. Being at a social economic disadvantage places a lot of mental stress on an individual with can result in physical symptoms and conditions. According to (Pampel, Kreuger & Denney, n.d.) unhealthy behaviors result from the vast differences in the social circumstances of low- and
There are many factors that contribute to the current health status of Black Americans, but “Poverty may be the most profound and pervasive determinant of health status” (Edelman & Mandle, 2010, p. 39). Health care is expensive and can only be purchased by those who can afford to pay, so those below the poverty level are those who lack insurance. Without insurance their access to healthcare is limited, especially preventative care. No preventative care means more expensive care that comes with illness.
There is a strong correlation with an individual or group SES and the quality of health care received. Social Economic Class relates to what group of class an individual fit in based on their income, which can include wages, investments or other source. The quality of care depends on the facilities that is offering the services, the staff, accessibility to the service and the kind of health insurance that the person has. Affording health care is expensive and the lower or poor class has to decide between being able to afford food or other daily needs and going to a clinic for screening. Most of the time, individuals who fall in the class will ignore the health signs while
. Addressing health inequalities and health care is not only important from the point of view of social justice, but also to improving the health of all Americans by improving the quality of care and health of their children. People. Moreover, the difference in health is expensive. An analysis estimates that about 30% of total direct medical expenses for blacks, Hispanics and Asians are excessive costs due to inequalities in health. The difference also leads to economic losses due to indirect costs related to loss of productivity and premature mortality. (Artiga,
Socioeconomic status is a health disparity in the United States. In 2012, McHenry concluded that there are approximately 84,000 preventable deaths that occur each year. Although the ACA has provided accessible health care to many people that would otherwise not be able to afford health insurance there still is a large population uninsured (Brown & Divenere, 2017). African Americans have a high prevalence of
In today’s society, there is still a great struggle with health care disparities and many lives are affected by the lack of this fundamental program in our society. There are millions of people who die each year because they are unable to afford quality healthcare. The debate still continues about healthcare inequalities, what causes this disparity and who are affected by it. Health care is more of a necessity rather than a luxury and even though skeptics may argue to the latter, it only underlines the importance of the need for the wellbeing and care of individuals. There are several factors that could contribute to the lack of health care in the United States which ranges from but not limited to race, gender, socio- economic status, and lack of insurance coverage. The truth is there is a great disproportion between who can really afford quality healthcare as appose to individuals who have it. One would imagine that an employed individual would easily afford quality healthcare but we could be no further from the truth, since one’s economic status is an essential determinant to its affordability.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), “health equity is achieved when every person has the opportunity to attain his or her full health potential and no one is disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). Satcher (2010) reports that health inequities are “systematic, avoidable, and unjust” disparities (p. 6). He also states that the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded that social conditions are the most important determinant of a person’s health. Social conditions “determine access to health services and influence lifestyle choices” (Satcher, 2010, p. 6). These determinants must be addressed in order to reduce health inequity. Inequity can be
A variety of challenges including personal, social, economic, and environmental factors can determine the health of an individual as well as its community. Others determinants of health include genetics, access to medical care, and socioeconomic measures such as education and poverty. Any interference among these factors can often lead to health disparities, which are health gaps that exist between different communities and populations. Health disparities can affect communities based on gender, age, race, social status, economic status, or special care needs. Therefore to understand which factors affect the health of a community, it is necessary to examine the social and economic conditions in which people live in, as well as the rates of diseases
For decades, a person’s socioeconomic status or SES has affected the healthcare that people receive due to race and “wealth”. This problem has plagued American society because of these factors leading to many receiving inadequate healthcare. All of these factors for someone’s SES has changed a lot in the healthcare domain that is unfair to many who are not the “ideal”. Due to this the perception, experiences with healthcare waver and are different between the stages of these SES’s. No matter the status of a person they should receive the same amount of care, treatment, and closer.
Throughout the course we discussed the causes of health disparities which really impact me a lot, due to my directly work with minorities. I hear many times that stress can kill a person, and based The Death Gap stress it focus on structural violence throughout the book, it is the policies and laws that determines your access to a quality life. Minorities are segregated into certain communities where there is poverty, violence and less access to resources and that has a major impact in the quality of health and life that leads to premature death. African American are victims of discrimination when trying to buy a house on a more well off area, or rental discrimination. Income inequality affects minorities and access to health care. We need
As stated by Engels, 1892 & Speybroeck, 2010, poor health outcomes have been mainly correlated with low income, low education, unsanitary housing, inadequate health care, unstable employment and unsafe physical environments (p.111). Unfortunately, socioeconomic status is often used to determine the type of medical care someone gets. For instance, people living in low-income neighborhoods have limited access to 'adequate' medical care, which is the opposite experience for those residing in upper-class
This year being an election year means that the American people are confronted with many issues and disparities that plague our nation. One of these hot button topics is that of healthcare. The United States is the only developed nation without a universal healthcare system, but spends the most for health services. With so many Americans lacking the adequate care needed or facing bankruptcy due to piling medical bills, one must look at the health disparities that are causing this super power nation to inadequately serve its citizens.
The United States is world renowned for having the best health care if not the most accessible. Citizens have at their disposal a plethora of hospitals, physicians, and therapists to improve their well-being. Statistical data was taken back in 2010 under the Central Texas Region and studied health care coverage and income in regards to the community. The data displayed in the surveys heavily suggest that income/ health in general have a high correlation. The issue that arose with the given data imply that those who are on the lower end of the income spectrum subsequently have no health care coverage and poorer health than those with higher income. In any case with high correlation there are a number of factors influencing the statistical evidence, and in this case sociological barriers are present in regards of inequality and health care.
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.
The aim of this essay is to examine the influence that socio-economic status has on an individual’s health.
Some social inequality indicators such as income and education have effects on access to healthcare from a quality of healthcare to the utilization of healthcare. An individual from a marginalized community may not be able to afford healthcare because of limited incomes (Von dem Knesebeck 357). As such, high morbidity and mortality rates are recorded among this group of people. This is however different among the rich who can easily afford, access and utilize the healthcare services. Education is also another indicator which determines whether an individual will seek healthcare services or not.