Gender Perspecitive on Socioeconomic Inequalities - Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Gender Perspecitive on Socioeconomic Inequalities. Answer: Introduction Inequalities and inequities in health are caused by many things, key among them being social standing, race and ethnicity, and geographical location. Health inequality is the reason why even though life expectancy is high and gets better with new medical research discoveries, average life expectancy of a wealthy person would be more than that of a poorer person. Mortality of children under the age of five years is also affected(Davey-Smith, Hart, Montgomery, 1997). A health equity audit should be done to compare the level of medical care received by different demographic groups and areas so as to identify loopholes in health care provision that may cause poor health to some people. Since different demographics go through different immediate environments and physical activities every day, the likelihood of getting health complications is not the same for each individual(Davey-Smith, Hart, Montgomery, 1997). Some alcohol consumers are under a larger threat of getting alcohol-induced injury than others. Others who live in more cramped quarters ar This report will highlight four major health inequalities in the Victoria which is a region that has both a rural and a cosmopolitan are with reference to chronic diseases, lifestyles like smoking and alcohol consumption, social disparities, hypertension, obesity and physical exercise. Health equity refers to the absence of systematic or avoidable disparities in health susceptible to a different group of infections, between groups of people, whether these groups are defined socially, economically, geographically or demographically(Department of Health , 2011). Health inequities are the differences in health outcomes and their risk factors between social groups that are socially produced, systematic in their distribution, avoidable, unfair and unjust(Department of Health , 2011). Health inequities are differences in health status between population groups that are socially produced, systematic in their unequal distribution across the population, avoidable and unfair. Age and Gender. 5.9% of women with an income below $40000 were underweight as compared to 2% of men under the same conditions(Graham, 2002). Women also when employed and well educated were significantly less obese and had a larger percentage with a normal BMI than men with similar conditions. More males, in general, were obese. Men who did not complete high school or were unemployed undertook less physical activity as compared to all Victorian men(Victorian Department of Health , 2012). More women than men reported high or very high levels of psychological distress, mostly between the ages of 55-64 for males and 18-24 and 65-74 for women. Men who reported experiencing depression either did not consume alcohol, were diagnosed with hypertension, or had two or more chronic diseases(Victorian Department of Health , 2012). On the other hand, women who were current smokers and had two or more chronic diseases were more likely to give a poor self-reported health status and were more depressed. Prevalence of diseases like hypertension was more in men than in women. Type 2 diabetes, which is a chronic disease associated with obesity and careless weight gain together with hereditary factors, occurs more in individuals over the age of 50. Type 1 diabetes occurs from the body not producing insulin and is contacted by people under the age of 30(Victorian Department of Health , 2012). It is also called juvenile offset diabetes and has no cure yet despite numerous research. This above bar chart illustrates the estimated population aged 18 years and above with diabetes mellitus between the years 2011 and 2012 in 15 subzones of Crownlands kingdom in Victoria state of Australia. Crowlandsis a small agricultural community settled on theWimmera Riverand is located in the region of 24 kilometres northeast ofArarat, in the state ofVictoria,Australia which consists of a small village with houses and large farms(Graham, 2002). According to the information in the chart, Subzone 01 of crownlands shows the lowest population of people aged 18 and over with diabetes and highest population in subzone 14 of Crownlands. The prevalence of cancer was noted to be age related, with more cases being noted above the age of 65 for men. Osteoporosis had higher incidence in women than men and was observed more in females above 55 and males above 65(Jelfs, 2016). High blood pressure was age related too with more cases above the age of 55, and had more reported cases in men. A significant portion of 65-74 year olds rated life as being satisfactory. However, men with high stress levels, obese or underweight and more than two chronic diseases and unemployed women who did not complete high school and had a below $40000 household income self-reported their health as poor(Kristenson, 2006). Adults between 18-34 mostly reported their health as good and excellent. Women reported their health as good and excellent more times than men. Socioeconomic inequalities. Adults with a total annual income of less than 40000 dollars had higher incidences of obesity. It is also worth noting that this same demographic did not consume recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, and covered less or no hours of physical exercise(Marmot Bell, 2013). This was also the case for people who were not in the job circulation, while the employed had a significantly larger percentage of pre-obesity cases. A significantly large percentage of women whose education reached tertiary level had a normal body mass index (BMI), and this demographic also had the lowest percentage of obese people(Marmot Bell, 2013). This trend is also observed with women whose household income exceeded 100000 dollars. It is noted that people with lower incomes and education levels or not in a labour force were more likely to be depressed. The statistics from the study indicate that men who did not complete school, were unemployed, not in a labour force and a hou sehold income below $40000 were more depressed(Ostlin, 2002). Incidence of diabetes also decreased with increase in household income for both men and women. It was reported that a higher percentage of people who took screening tests had a household incomes of between 40000-100000 dollars. This inequality can be considered an inequity since only some people can access some beneficial things like screening, and since mental health is associated with a semblance of financial stability. Subzones 1 to 6 on the chart are seen to be inhabited by financially able individuals because most of them can afford to get medical services(Pearce, Mitchell, Shortt, 2015). Bar chart 2, represent the number of people aged 18 years and above who has delayed medical consultations due to inability to afford in the year 2010. As per the chart, there had been more people in subzone 14 who could not afford to have medical consultations and lesser number of people in subzone 01 respectively. By looking at bar chart 1 2 we, can come to a conclusion that the population with diabetes mellitus in subzone 1 was low because, they were able to afford medical consultations whereas the people in subzone 14 presented with more number of diabetes cases since they had extremely poor affordability for medical consultations. As seen by the pie chart subzone 14 had the highest population delayed purchasing prescribed medication for the reason that they could not afford medications unlike the population in Subzone 1 where a lower population did not delay buying prescribed medication and had more affordability when compared with subzone 14 in the year 2010(Pearce, Mitchell, Shortt, 2015). However, people in subzone 12 also showed the second highest population with diabetes mellitus and had least affordability to medical consultations as well as had the inability to purchase prescribed medication due to lack of affordability in 2010. As can be seen in the charts, subzones 14 and 15 have the largest shortages in medical facilities hence the difficulty for subjects to find services. This difficulty in access could otherwise be caused by high costs to receive these services. This is the complete opposite of subzones 1, 2, 3 and 4 which have very few reports of lack of access to services, meaning that there are adequate facilities as well as an employed and well off demographic which can afford to pay for services(Smith, Upton, Gillis, Hawthorne, n.d). Steps should be taken to level out this huge disparity so that there is equality in services received and statistical data concerning this subject can be collectively analysed on a level playing ground. This graph alone can indicate to higher life expectancy in some subsets than others, and probably higher child mortality rates. Lifestyle inequalities. This includes alcohol consumption, smoking, dietary recommendations and physical activity. From the research, it could be seen that prevalence for smoking is higher in males than it is in females. The percentage of individuals who smoke where higher in the metropolitan areas of Victoria. It is also worth noting that the percentage of ex-smokers was significantly larger than the percentage of current smokers. More adults between 18-24 were smokers than those adults between the age of 65-85. Most adults at these ages have quit smoking(Smith, Upton, Gillis, Hawthorne, n.d). The proportion of current smokers decreased in proportion with increase in household income. Most smokers were identified to be individuals who did not complete high school, are not employed and have a household income of less than 40000 dollars. Geographical location. Rural people had a higher percentage of obese people than their urban counterparts. Individuals born overseas were more underweight and normal weight. Type 2 diabetes was notably more prevalent in metropolitan areas, though Australian born individuals had a notably lower percentage of diabetes incidences than those born abroad(World Health Organization , 2017). Screening should be done to discover diseases like bowel and breast cancer. The study done showed that about 63.9% of adults went for bowel screening and 72% of the women went for a mammogram in the year 2012/2013. A higher proportion of rural dwelling people had been screened than metropolitan dwellers. Rural regions generally reported better health than metropolitan areas. This inequality is also an inequity because rural areas evidently seem to have better conditions for health. The fruits and vegetables which should be maintained in the diet are likely available more easily. The subzones 1 to 6 are rural areas as can be seen by the ease to access to medical services. Rural facilities rarely have the kind of demand and traffic that urban facilities experience(World Health Organization , 2017). This can also explain why more rural people have undergone cancer screening than town dwellers, and that they self-report themselves as healthier. Subzones 7 to 14 are shown to provide poor services and are likely to be swamped by patients because urban dwellers sit most of the day and could possibly have back problems; work for long hours and consume more alcohol than their rural counterparts and therefore can develop alcohol related complications. References Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011). 3218.0 Regional Population Growth (2001-2010), Australia. Davey-Smith G, Hart C, Montgomery S. (1997). Lifetime Socioeconomic Position and Mortality.Prospective Observational Epidemiology. British Medical Journal 314: 54752. Department of Health (2011). 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