Essay
UNIT 10 - SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES TASK 2
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
This assignment is task 2 for unit 10 sociological perspectives. My work has been graded at distinction level.
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Unit 10: Sociological perspectivesTask 2:
Can inequality make us ill?
P5: Explain how social inequality affects different groups in society.
Inequalities in society effect our social classes in a variety of ways. This includes the amount
of money people receive in their income that can have an impact on their health and the
environment around them, such as sickness, morbidity, and life expectancy. This is because
people in the higher classes can afford healthier, more nutritious foods as well as more
private health care check-ups, allowing them to better manage their health and obtain
better medical treatment. Since people in higher social classes can properly care for their
health than people in lower social classes, they are more likely to live longer lives because
they can treat their illnesses with fast and more efficient medical treatment. The less
privileged individuals that come from poorer backgrounds are unable to afford the healthier
food choices meaning they are not consuming the highly nutritious foods their body needs
to maintain a healthy lifestyle. As aa result this can lead to ill health such as different types
of cancers, malnutrition, and diseases that affect the heart. Additionally, individuals with
low incomes facing poverty may feel as if they do not belong in settings that have private
health care. This causes discrimination against those who are poorer as they are unable to
afford the same healthcare resources that the higher class can.
Gender inequality refers to the unequal power that males and females have as a result of
the varied roles that society has allocated to them. It usually has a detrimental impact on
women. Despite the fact that men and women share the same environment, they appear to
be from separate worlds. In terms of income, women have had less rights and opportunities
throughout history than men. Women continue to fall behind males in terms of earning
power, according to a 2001 Status Report on Gender Inequality in Canada. Gender
inequality restricts individual progress, development of countries, and social evolution, to
the detriment of both men and women. According to the United Nations Development Fund
for Women (UNIFEM), women account for 70% of those living in poverty. As gender
inequalities persist, more women are affected by the epidemic due to inadequate access to
education, health-care facilities, prevention and self-sufficiency.
P6: Explain how demographic data is used in service provision in a local health and social
care setting.
Demography is the statistical study of human populations. it examines the size, structure,
and movement of populations over space and time. Demography is important in health and
social care as it looks at behavioural changes in the population and how these might change
a populations structure and composition in the long term. Demographic data is used in
service provision as the configuration of the local population can help professionals to target
their initiatives. For example, if the data tells them there are high levels of smokers or
people with alcohol abuse issues in the area they could tailor a stop smoking or alcohol
awareness campaign.
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, Patient demographic data will assist care teams in communicating successfully with patients
as well as understanding their culture, which may have an impact on their health.
Professionals would be able to provide better services if they knew more about their
patients.
Birth rates are defined as the number of live births per thousand of the population over a
given period, normally a year. During the 20th century, birth rates declined from an average
of 6 children per household in 1870 to 1.7 children in 2007. The decrease in birth rate can
be explained by changing social circumstances, such as the availability of reliable
contraception for women beginning in the late 1960s, women pursuing their own careers
and opting for smaller families, the desire to have smaller families in order to enjoy a higher
standard of living, and the development of the welfare state, which meant that having a
large family was no longer necessary to ensure that parents were cared for in their old age.
According to the Office for National Statistics, birth rates in England and Wales reached a
record low in 2018. It says the trend could be driven by falling fertility rates and an ageing
population.
Death rates are statistical measurements of the number of deaths in a population, usually
stated in terms of fatalities per thousand. During the 19th and 20th centuries, morality rates
in the United Kingdom fell while life expectancy rose. This might be explained by a variety of
factors, including higher living standards. In the 1920s, more people were living in smaller,
warmer houses, with better diets and vaccination programmes.
As determined by the latest mortality figures issued by the Office of National Statistics for
England and Wales, the number of people dying of dementia is continuously growing year
after year. The number of individuals dying from heart disease and stroke, on the other
hand, has been decreasing. In 2015, dementia surpassed heart disease and stroke as the
leading cause of mortality in the United Kingdom. More individuals than ever before are
surviving heart disease, strokes, and a variety of cancers because of advancements in
medicine.
P7: Explain patterns and trends in health and ill health within different social groups.
Inequality between social groups is growing in the UK, primarily to poor living conditions
and social class differences. If a working-class person becomes ill or suffers from a disease,
they will receive poorer treatment than a middle-class person who can afford to go private.
Because they are on a low income, they will not be able to afford to go private, therefore
the working-class person will not receive quality care.
Depending on the social group, particularly the social class, health, ill health, and life
expectancy may vary. Individuals from higher social classes, for example, are more likely to
have a longer life expectancy and better health than those from lower social classes.
The black report looks into the links between social and environmental factors and health,
illness, and life expectancy in great depth. The black report also looks into four possible
explanations for the inequalities in levels of illness and life expectancy across various social
classes. The researchers believed that inequalities in health and well-being were caused by
people's levels of income, housing quality, and the environment in which they lived and
worked.
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