Unequal lives : health and socioeconomic inequalities

Title:

Personal Author:

Graham, Hilary

Publication Information:

Maidenhead Berkshire : Open University Press, 2007

ISBN:

9780335213696

0978335222629

Subject Term:

Social status -- Health aspects -- Great Britain

Equality -- Health aspects -- Great Britain

Health attitudes -- Great Britain

Health services accessibility -- Great Britain

Available:*

Library	Item Barcode	Call Number	Material Type	Item Category 1	Status
Searching... PSZ JB	30000010151352	RA418.3.G7 G72 2007	Open Access Book	Book	Searching... Unknown
Searching... PSZ KL	30000010151351	RA418.3.G7 G72 2007	Open Access Book	Book	Searching... Unknown

"With the compelling evidence that more redistributive universal welfare benefits and education provide the main escalator to reducing inequalities, this is a timely and thought-provoking book for all those concerned to reduce our societies' embedded structural inequalities, cumulative disadvantages and health inequalities."
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

" Unequal Lives is the book that we have all been waiting for. In this skilfully crafted volume, Hilary Graham makes the vital connection between health inequalities and social inequalities in a way that opens up new understandings of both concepts and consequences for policy. Scholarly yet accessible, this is a 'must read' book for researchers, policymakers and practitioners alike."
Margaret Whitehead, WH Duncan Professor of Public Health, University of Liverpool, UK

"The book has high educational value and is worthy of being considered as a resource for students in relevant courses. It will also be helpful for policymakers, clinicians and social workers, especially those settling and the changes in health outcomes are being observed. The author should be congratulated for bringing clarity to a complex, interlacing and intricate relationship of social and health sciences."
Nilamadhab Kar, MD, DPM, DNBConsultant Psychiatrist, Wolverhampton City PrimaryCare Trust; Resource Person, Quality of Life Researchand Development Foundation, UK and Consultant Psychiatrist, Mental Health Directorate,Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust, Steps toHealth, Showell Circus, Wolverhampton, UK.

What is meant by health inequalities and socioeconomic inequalities? What evidence is there to support the link between socioeconomic status and health? Why do these links persist over time, between and within societies, and across people's lives? What part do policies play in the persistence of social and health inequalities? Unequal Lives provides an evidence-based introduction to social and health inequalities. It brings together research from social epidemiology, sociology and social policy to guide the reader to an understanding of why people's lives and people's health remain so unequal, even in rich societies where there is more than enough for all.

The book introduces the non-specialist to key concepts like health inequalities and health inequities, social class and socioeconomic position, social determinants and life course, as well as to the key indicators of health and socioeconomic position.

It provides a wealth of evidence on socioeconomic inequalities in health at both national and global level, and explores how these inequalities persist as countries industrialise, patterns of employment and family life change, and chronic diseases emerge as the big killers.

Consideration is given to policy and its impact on inequalities within the UK, Europe and beyond and an assessment made of health inequalities throughout the life.

This new book from best selling author Hilary Graham is of particular interest to students in sociology, social policy, health studies, health promotion and public health as well as to social work and community nursing students and those working in the health and welfare fields.

Author Notes

Hilary Graham is a professor of health sciences at the University of York, UK

Acknowledgements	p. x
Introduction	p. xi
Part 1 Key Terms	p. 1
1 Health inequalities and inequities	p. 3
1.1 Introduction	p. 3
1.2 What are health inequalities?	p. 4
1.3 What are health inequities?	p. 10
1.4 Conclusions	p. 17
2 Measuring health and health inequalities	p. 19
2.1 Introduction	p. 19
2.2 Measuring health: mortality-based measures	p. 20
2.3 Measuring health: measures based on people's assessment of their health status	p. 24
2.4 Measuring health: measures of development and decline	p. 28
2.5 Measuring health inequalities	p. 30
2.6 Conclusions	p. 34
3 Socio-economic inequalities	p. 36
3.1 Introduction	p. 36
3.2 Researching socio-economic inequalities	p. 37
3.3 Socio-economic position as a structural location	p. 40
3.4 Socio-economic position as actively produced	p. 41
3.5 Childhood and parenting	p. 44
3.6 Conclusions	p. 46
4 Measuring socio-economic position	p. 48
4.1 Introduction	p. 48
4.2 Measurement of socio-economic position	p. 50
4.3 Measures of socio-economic position	p. 52
4.4 Conclusions	p. 61
Part 2 Patterns	p. 63
5 Health inequalities: global, national and historical	p. 65
5.1 Introduction	p. 65
5.2 Global health inequalities	p. 66
5.3 Socio-economic inequalities in health within countries	p. 72
5.4 Socio-economic inequalities in health over time	p. 76
5.5 Conclusions	p. 81
6 Health inequalities across changes in disease	p. 82
6.1 Introduction	p. 82
6.2 Socio-economic inequalities in health across changes in causes of death	p. 82
6.3 Social patterning of risk factors for chronic disease	p. 86
6.4 Conclusions	p. 94
Part 3 Understandings	p. 97
7 Social determinants of health and health inequalities	p. 99
7.1 Introduction	p. 99
7.2 The emerging focus on social determinants	p. 100
7.3 Models of the social determinants of health	p. 104
7.4 Social position as a key determinant of health	p. 111
7.5 Conclusions	p. 113
8 Socio-economic inequalities across generations: occupation and education	p. 114
8.1 Introduction	p. 114
8.2 Changes in the labour market	p. 115
8.3 Class origins and class destinations: inequalities across generations	p. 121
8.4 Class inequalities in educational trajectories	p. 124
8.5 Class inequalities in educational opportunities	p. 128
8.6 Conclusions	p. 132
9 Socio-economic inequalities across people's lives: partnership and parenthood	p. 134
9.1 Introduction	p. 134
9.2 Partnership, parenthood and adult socio-economic position	p. 135
9.3 Widening inequalities in domestic trajectories	p. 137
9.4 Young motherhood	p. 140
9.5 Conclusions	p. 142
10 Health across unequal lives	p. 144
10.1 Introduction	p. 144
10.2 The socio-economic life course and health	p. 145
10.3 Socio-economic inequalities in developmental health	p. 150
10.4 Socio-economic inequalities in functional ageing	p. 156
10.5 Conclusions	p. 158
11 Unequal lives: policy matters	p. 160
11.1 Introduction	p. 160
11.2 Policy approaches to tackling health inequalities	p. 161
11.3 Welfare systems and socio-economic inequalities	p. 164
11.4 Widening income inequalities	p. 172
11.5 Conclusions	p. 175
Concluding comment	p. 177
Notes	p. 182
References	p. 184
Index	p. 211

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Summary

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Author Notes

Table of Contents