SES and Health Outcomes

• Risk factors can affect health and lead to chronic conditions
• Risk factors can be a guide or predictor for potential ill-health in certain groups
• Socioeconomic status and ethnicity can influence people's health and wellness

Demographics and Inequality

• Society can be categorized into various subgroups like socioeconomic status, ethnicity, age, and gender
• Health inequalities, or inequities, exist across these subgroups
• Health inequalities are observable health differences between subgroups within a population, which can be measured and monitored
• Differences in health status between different groups are systemic, socially constructed and avoidable, and are unfair and unjust

Health Inequalities

• Health disparities exist between different groups
• Health disparities exist between individuals within heterogeneous groups
• Health discrepancies exist between groups occupying unequal positions in society

Social Classes and Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Working Class

• Characterized by the lowest income and job insecurity
• Typically presents the highest unemployment rates and poor housing
• Individuals are less likely to be highly educated and are more likely to engage in risk-taking behavior
• Low level of health literacy

Middle Class

• Moderate income and possible job insecurity, especially due to economic downturns over the last 10 years
• Good housing conditions
• Likely to have a good educational background and engage in some healthy behaviors

Upper Class

• Highest income with the greatest job security
• Lowest unemployment rates
• Better housing
• Likely to have a good educational background and engage in healthy behaviors

Implications of Socioeconomic Status on Health

• Fundamental causes of health inequalities stem from an unequal distribution of income, power, and wealth, leading to poverty and marginalization
• Fundamental causes influence wider environmental factors like work availability, education, and quality housing
• Unequal distribution can impact access to services and cultural opportunities
• The wider environment shapes individual experiences such as low income, poor housing, discrimination, and access to health services
• This environment shapes individual experiences

Socioeconomic Status and Education

• Children tend to attend schools closer to them
• Individuals with low socioeconomic status are likely to attend schools that are in bad communities with socially deviant peers
• Schools can be inadequately staffed, overpopulated, and lack resources
• Individuals with high socioeconomic status would likely have access to educated and supported teachers
• Individuals are more likely to have afterschool programs

Employment and Type of Employment

• Is tied to socioeconomic status (SES)
• Different types of work have different associated health risk factors

Occupational Hazards and Risks

• Workplace context, tasks, and environment may present occupational hazards
• Risks could be due to chemicals, dangerous environments, and physical labor demands

Occupational Risks in Offices

• Though office jobs are associated with higher SES, they still pose risks such as repetitive strain injury from typing
• Prolonged sedentary time can increase risk of muscular-skeletal disorders, obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease
• Prolonged time with a laptop on one's lap lowers sperm count and can cause skin problems from heat
• Working for more than 10 hours contributes to risk of cardiovascular problems
• Staring at a screen for a long time can cause strain

Occupational Stress

• Symptoms of occupational stress include fatigue, muscular tension, headaches, heart palpitations, sleeping difficulties, gastrointestinal upsets, and dermatological disorders
• Can be caused by difficult professional relationships, responsibilities, work conditions, environment, or workplace pressures
• Personal control over work is thought to buffer work place stress

Unemployment and Health

• Unemployment negatively impacts people's health
• Associations exist between unemployment and self-rated health
• Unemployment, especially if prolonged, can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, increased risk of binge drinking/smoking
• Unemployment reduces financial resources necessary for a healthier lifestyle

Consequences of Unemployment Models

• A Dose-response relationship means that unemployment duration increases health consequences
• A Steady-state relationship means reaching a certain duration of unemployment
• Adaption results in an adjustment to unemployment
• For women, Janlert et al. (2014) found a Dose-response relationship, with women's health behavior being less connected with increased unemployment
• On the other hand, Adaption is more prevalent with men, with men's health behaviour in this model declining after experiencing the steady state

Ethnicity and Health Inequality

• An ethnic minority is a group of people who differ in race, colour, national, religious, or cultural origin from the majority population

• In the country an ethnic minority lives

• Heath inequalities ethnic minorities face are systematic and non-random

• Can be borne from racism and prejudice

Ethnic Inequality Globally

• Native Americans in USA had lands taken, and African Americans experience discrimination and inequalities
• Latin American immigrants face discrimination and prejudice
• In Canada, Natives had their lands taken, and South Asian/Arab minorities are of lower SES compared to the white population
• In Australia, Aboriginal people had their lands taken, the immigrants of North Africa suffer high rates of unemployment
• In France, Sub-Saharan African descendant minorities face prejudice and lack of social mobility
• In Dubai, South Asians working in construction, hospitality, and transport have less social mobility and face social privilege

Different Prevalence of Illnesses across Ethnic Groups

• British South Asians are 6 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes
• British African Caribbean people are more likely to have high blood pressure
• African Caribbean people are twice as likely to have a stroke, and at a younger age than white people
• White Irish and Scottish populations have the highest rates of lung cancer

Generational Differences in Ethnic Minority Groups

• Ethnic differences in health may vary between generations
• In some Black and minority ethnic (BAME) groups, rates of ill-health are worse among those born in the UK than in first generation migrants
• Ethnic minority individuals born in the UK are more acculturated and suffer from lesser linguistic barriers
• Individuals are arguably born into a society that is more inclusive than their parents/grandparents.

Lifestyle Factors in Ethnic Minority Groups

• While genetics plays a role in higher prevalence of chronic illness in ethnic minority groups, lifestyle must also be considered
• South Asians and African-Caribbean in UK are less likely to be physically active
• Individuals are less likely to be health literate, because of reduced and lesser likelihood of highly educated
• Dietary factors contribute to health inequalities

Social Factors and Ethnic Health Inequalities

• Sociological factors that can influence the health of They
• Can be refugees or have language barriers
• Poorly understood cultural sensitivities, and can have multiple generations per household
• Individuals may be less acculturated

Addressing and Reducing Ethnic Health Inequalities

• Policies on reducing socio-economic should consider the needs of BAME groups
• Services should be sensitive to the needs of BAME groups and promote awareness of their health risks
• The needs of BAME groups should be specifically considered in planning and providing health care

Summary Points

• Socioeconomic status has implications of of differential effect on different groups

• People of higher Socioeconomic enjoyment have better social benefits, while people of lower have access to lower rates of services

• Ethnic health inequality entails the unfavorable health outcomes certain ethnic minority groups face due to systematic and unjust social systems that continually disadvantage, underserve and disenfranchise non-dominant groups

• Ethnic health inequality is in increased