Task 2 - social inequalities 

Social inequality can refer to the lack or uneven distribution of life's neces-
sities for certain groups of people, it is found in all societies due to the divi-
sion of power and wealth. In some cases, social inequality is demonstrated
by social class and therefore social hierarchy. This social stratification
(which refers to the ranking of different groups of people within a society)
leads to some individuals of a higher perceived rank having more opportu-
nities and better ‘luck’ than an individual of a lower rank. These different
levels of power within a society can be dictated by wealth and discerned
power.

Different societies and social groups face a range of social inequalities,

these differences can be due to the culture, demographic and beliefs of the
social group concerned. These changes can cause variations in health pat-
terns across the world - for example, death rate and life expectancy can be
heavily affected. Within a higher social class, health trends and patterns
usually indicate there is a better level of overall health and well being - a
higher life expectancy and lower obesity rates, this is the opposite to a
lower social class, individuals within this group tend to suffer from more ill-
ness and higher death rates, along with lower life expectancy. This could
be due to a range of reasons - a lower level of wealth may lead to individu-
als struggling to afford healthy food options and have no choice other than
to live in inadequate housing (for example, with damp) An individual of a
lower social class may also have less ability to access the health care they
need, private healthcare may not be affordable for many people and so
they have no choice other than to wait. These differences exist within
many societies and social groups, they can vary dependent on different
factors such as: race, age, sex, disability, geographical location and sexual
orientation. 

Gender Inequality
One fact that can heavily influence social inequality is an individual's gen-
der, defined as the characteristics of men and women that are socially con-
structed, this includes norms, behaviours and roles that are associated
with being a man or woman as well as relationships with each other. Life
expectancy from 2018-2020 in the UK was 79 years for males and 82.9
years for females, this has increased steadily over the last 20 years - in
1980 the average life expectancy for a male was 70.91 and for females it
was 76.81. This increase can be due to a range of reasons, one of the
main ones being that healthcare quality has increased drastically, there are
many less people dying from curable illnesses and disease (such as HIV)
due to the developing knowledge in the area and developments in medical
treatments.  There is also a gap between the life expectancy of males and
females, one reason for this (back in the 1900’s) was that men did more
physically demanding jobs, such as working in mines - this caused respira-
tory problems for many men at the time, therefore decreasing life ex-
pectancy. In our current society, working conditions have improved and so
occupation related illness has decreased. 

Men are also more likely to develop a range of serious health conditions -
for example, a man is 10 times more likely to develop inguinal hernias than
women and 5 times more likely to experience an aortic aneurysm. Despite
this, women are more likely to report illness and get it checked out by a
medical professional, whereas men are less likely to come forward regard-
ing ill health. This can contribute to women generally living for longer as
many illnesses and diseases are not fatal when discovered early. Men
tend to leave illness concerns for longer due to the perceived stigma
around asking for help. Nearly two thirds of men said they hold off going to
the doctors as long as possible, 37% say they would withhold information
from the doctor due to the fcat they are scared of having to deal with a po-
tential diagnosis if they told the truth. These statistics exemplify why there
are higher illness related deaths in men. An example of a potentially treat-
able illness if caught early is prostate cancer, it can be detected with a sim-
ple exam - when detected early there is a much better prognosis and treat-
ment plan that can be discussed. When it reaches the later stages there
are limited options in which individuals can be treated and the chance of
death increases drastically. Prostate cancer accounts for 13% of all cancer
deaths in males in the UK, this statistic could be decreased with changes
in attitude to the doctors. Lifestyle choices also contribute to the difference
in male and female death rates within the UK - men tend to drink and
smoke heavily compared to women. This can cause a range of illnesses
such as liver disease, high blood pressure and lung cancer. Although
these problems can occur without drinking and smoking, they are predomi-
nantly caused by self inflicted fac-
tors. 

Another factor that can demonstrate social inequality with gender is the
way men and womens illness are perceived. There is evidence that
women are less likely to be taken seriously by doctors and other health
professionals compared to men. Women are much more likely to be
passed off as hysterical and overreacting when presenting to a profes-
sional with pain, they are often written off as psychiatric patients, overre-
acting to pain and prescribed anxiety drugs. There is the opposite treat-
ment for men, they are usually taken seriously, immediately. This inequal-
ity between men and women can lead to mental health issues within
women - due to many professionals brushing their medical issues aside
and instead blaming anxiety can lead to mental health struggles develop-
ing, which, in turn, makes the situation worse. Studies show that between
30% and 50% of women diagnosed with depression were in fact misdiag-
nosed. 

Another example being Ehlers Danlos Syndrome - a connective tissue dis-

order that is relatively hard to diagnose. The average time for a man to be
diagnosed and have his symptoms managed was four years, for a woman
it was 16. This difference in time of diagnosis can lead to potential irre-
versible issues (that could have been prevented if a diagnostic path had
been followed) This inequality within healthcare can lead individuals to be-
come hesitant about visiting the doctors over the fear of not being believed
or the fear of judgement. 

These inequalities can be reduced, the stigma around men visiting the
doctor should be spoken about more, this increased talk around the topic
of men visiting the doctor may make other men, who before have been
afraid or ashamed to visit a professional, may now do so. 

Another social inequality between men and women is opportunity within

the workplace, in 2000 the number of women in the UK workforce was only
at 47% This can be due to the expected norms of a woman there are for-
ever changing. Over the last century the expected roles of a woman have
changed and in our current society there is more freedom than ever - with
the % of women in the workforce at 78%. This dramatic increase can be
down to women having the freedom to do what they want to do without the
constraints of having to follow what was previously expected of them. How-
ever, although there is an ever increasing % of women in the workforce
there are still inequalities between female and male employees. An exam-
ple of this would be the gender pay gap - in April 2021 the pay gap stood
at 7%, a man and a woman doing the same job will not get paid the same.
Although this rate has fallen since 2000 (in which it stood at 10%) There is
still a way to go. Along with not being paid the same. The Equal Rights Act
(2010) prevents discriminatory acts within the workplace and wider society,
this helps limit discrimination however it cannot be fully prevented. This in-
equality may negatively affect someone's well being, if an individual is not
earning enough money to support themselves they may fall below the
poverty line, in turn, this may negatively impact the health of an individual.
Another effect of this is that an individual may drop social class. 

Discrimination and Labeling within Gender and Social Class - P5

Injustices and inequalities can lead to or be caused by  discrimintion - de-
fined as the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people,
especially on the grounds of race, age, sex, or disability. Discrimintion can
also occur on the grounds of stereotyping (defined as a generalised belief
about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might
have about every person of a particular group) and prejudice, a precon-
ceived idea of/about someone based off things that have been heard or
thought, not through an actual encounter or experiencing. This also links to
labelling, where individuals can become unfairly assigned to a category or
title due to their characteristics or traits - for example, someone may be
perceived and therefore labelled as a failure as they failed a test. Each of
these can have detrimental effects on an individual's wellbeing and mental
health. They can damage people's self confidence and self esteem ulti-
mately leading to mental illness but also physical illness as a result of po-
tential stress caused by the discrimination faced. 

Gender and Inequality

There are great differences between the treatment of women and men,
these differences highlight the inequality faced every day, particularly by
women. One of these inequalities is the gender pay gap, although the dif-
ference in pay is slowly decreasing, there is still a difference in between
men and women, women get paid (on average) 80p in comparison to a £1
when doing the same job. This is discrimination based on gender. This can
have a huge negative effect on women, they are having to work harder and
for longer in order to get the same pay as a man. Women and men are
also expected to work certain jobs due to the stereotyping around gender.
Men are seen to be stronger and more able to do manual work whereas
women are seen to be more fragile and are expected to go into more ‘laid
back’ jobs. There are stigmas around male nurses and female doctors - it
is seen that women should be the nurses and males should be doctors.
This stereotyping can have a negative effect on the mental wellbeing of an
individual. A oman may feel as though she is not good enough to do a job
that a is typically seen as a manly job. This can affect self-confidence and
lead to anxiety and depression. This stereotyping can also lead to labele-
ing, if a male were to train to become a nurse, the inequality and stereotyp-
ing around this may lead to him being labelled as gay for doing a typically
femenine job. 
Within healthcare, there are inequalitis between the treatment of men and
women - some of these are that during the diagnostics process, men are
taken more seriously, their pain is taken more seriously and so they are
treated quicker. This is because women are sometimes labelled as hysteri-
cal as they are seen to have a lower pain tolerance and are overexxagerat-
ing. These inequalities and discrimination can lead to detremental effects
on woemns health and in the worst case can lead to death.

Inequality in Lower Social classes

There are also differences in the treatment of individuals of higher and
lower class. People of a lower class are more likely to face discrimination
due to their economic status - this may be in the form of not being taken
seriosuly in education or jobs as individuals of a higher class may believe
they are not worthy. This can also lead to labelling ,people of a lower class
can be labelled as failures and useless - all due to their economic status
and  not be seen as good as higher class counterparts. This discrimination
can lead to server mental health problems starting as low confidence but
leading to deoression, axiety and suicide.
Within health care, individuals of a lower social class may be less likely to
afford private healthcare. This means they will have to contribute to the
wait times of the NHS. This can have a negative effect on individuals of
lower class health as if they are having to wait for longer in order to get
treatment for the health concerns, they may become worse, this can lead
to an increase in death rates within the lower class. 

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/
statistics-by-cancer-type/prostate-cancer
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/whats-happening-life-ex-
pectancy-england
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/why-so-many-men-avoid-
doctors#Shifting-the-way-men-view-medical-care
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200625-the-woman-with-a-100-year-
old-liver
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180523-how-gender-bias-affects-
your-healthcare

Social Class Inequality

Social Class is another factor that can influence social inequality. Social
class, defined as the division of a society based on their social and eco-
nomic status can have a huge effect on the way in which someone is
treated. Individuals in a higher social class, living in more affluent areas
live longer than those who are not as financially well off and live in more
deprived areas. In 2019-2020 a study conducted indicated that a male liv-
ing in a well off area of england had the life expectancy of 83.5 years, this
is significantly higher than what the study found of a make living in a de-
prived area - their life expectancy was 74.1 years - nearly  decade shorter
than those of a wealthier background. This can be for a range of reasons. 

One of these may be the living conditions - an individual living in a well off
area is more likely to have adequate heating all year round, they are also
much less likely to experience damp within their house. Due to some of
these factors, an individual living like this is much less likely to become ill
due to something that could have been preventable. The same cannot be
said for someone living in a less affluent area. There is a higher likelihood
of an individual living in a less well off area to experience damp conditions
within the home, this can lead to a range of issues, such as respiratory
health problems (such as asthma) and immune system issues. These can
develop into more serious problems that require hospitalisation, this can
refer back to the biomedical model of health, only the current health issues
that people are facing but the true cause of the disease is not being treated
- the social model of health would be more beneficial to use as the whole
person is taken into account rather than just their illness. A study con-
ducted from 2011 to 2016, including 190,000  children was set to look at
the hospitalisation rates for children within poverty, they found that within
low poverty, there were 87.7 per 1000 children per year being hospitalised,
medium poverty  there were 130.7 per 1000 children per year and in areas
of high poverty  there were 171.4 per 1000 children per year being hospi-
talised. This demonstrates a positive correlation between relative poverty
and hospitalisation rates. This can demonstrate that these individuals of a
lower social class also have a lower standard of health and consequently a
lower life expectancy if they continue to live that way. There has also been
a study into the care individuals receive when in hospital or A&E, one of
the studies found that 14.3% of England’s poorest had to wait more than
four hours in A&E in 2017-18, compared with 12.8% of the wealthiest.Both
of these factors combined further the idea that poverty is directly related to
ill health.

Opportunity is another factor affected by social class - people of a lower

social class may have had less options in terms of education. Diane Reay
found that students who were entitled to free school meals due to family in-
come, were 27% less likely to receive 5 or more GCSEs  than other stu-
dents who were not entitled to free meals. There was also a noticeable dif-
ference in the average attendance of students from higher and lower
classes - this could be for a range of reasons - as previously discussed in-
dividuals from lower social classes and under the poverty line, suffer from
increased ill health which means they may need to spend more time out of
education when they are unwell.

 A theory called the ‘class ceiling’ refers to the unacknowledged barrier

preventing many individuals from achieving the best they can. A study con-
ducted in 2019 by Matt Dathan found that working class kids are 50% less
likely to achieve good, well paying jobs, a further study concluded that
even when these children born into a lower class went on and achieved
top jobs, they were still being paid, on average, 17% less than their col-
leagues with a more privileged upbringing. There are a few ways in which
employers can reduce class discrimination - one of these is to relook at job
application process. By taking away the place of education there can be no
prejudgement on a person simply based on where they were educated and
if it were private or not. A way to reduce it in health care is to create aware-
ness of health issues and how to help them - how to avoid damp could be
useful for individuals who have previously become ill due to this issue.
https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/clinical-care/study-links-poverty-
higher-hospitalization-rates
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jan/23/englands-poorest-get-
worse-nhs-care-than-wealthiest-citizens
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/nov/21/english-class-system-
shaped-in-schools
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8969651/working-class-kids-are-half-as-
likely-to-end-up-getting-a-good-job-damning-report-reveals/

Impacts of social inequality - M3

There are a range of impacts and effects of social inequality in healthcare -

one of the main ones is life quality and expectancy. Individuals with a
learning disability have a median age of death of 59 years, comparing this
to the data collected from 2016-2018, where the median life expectancy is
83 for males and 86 for females. This demonstrates the vast difference be-
tween the two groups. This is further exemplified when looking at data col-
lected regarding homeless individuals - the age of death was only 44 years
- there are a range of inequalities that can contribute to the drastic differ-
ence in the average life expectancy for an individual who isn't homeless.
One of these could be the class divide and the inequalities that come with
that, there may also be bias when it comes to job and education opportuni-
ties for a homeless individual as employers can become hesitant due to
the perceived characteristics of a homeless person. The image above rep-
resents the inequality and effect of it through life expectancy just in London
- there are large differences shown within a relatively small area of Eng-
land.

LGBTQ+ individuals also face inequality in the way in which they are
treated, although the world is becoming more accepting of how individuals
choose to identify there is still discrimination that these people face. Due to
this, people who identify as LGBTQ+ are more likely to have mental health
issues and disorders. 52% have experienced depression compared to 20%
of the overall population. This drastic difference can contribute to the sui-
cide rates and other mental health related hospital admissions. People can
lose self confidence and feel out of place in society. 

Effects of social inequality on individuals of a lower social class can affect

them both emotionally and physically - self confidence can be heavily af-
fected due to the lack of oppurtunity, some people may feel out of place
and worthless due to the discrimination when it appears there are strug-
gles to get a job. There is also data that shows individuals of a lower social
class are more likely to suffer mental ill health and have higher rates of de-
pression and anxiety - this is seen to be related to psycophtholgy. The
stereotyping of an individual of a lower class can also affect an individual's
behaviour as they feel as though they need to conform to what is expected
of them through perceived characteristics.

Gender inequalities can also affect an individual's emotional and physical

wellbeing,  women may feel as though they are overlooked and ignored in
society through the difference in pay, job opportunity and expectations -
this can contribute to depression, anxiety and low self esteem, however,
men also face inequalities where they can sometimes feel invalidated
through their emotions and feel as though they cant get the help they
need. THe effect of women not being as able to land top job opportunities
along with the gender pay gap can cause financial problems for them that
men do not have to face. The expected roles of a man and a woman are
different - if either group do not conform. They can become outcast and
seen as deviant. They can be prejudiced against and judged based on the
fact that they do not completely fit in with societies changing norms. 
 https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-in-a-nutshell/health-inequalities

Demographic data - P6
The term Demographic data refers to the size and structure of a popula-
tion, this could be of a smaller group such as a single area within a country
or it could be the whole world. The people that research this are called de-
mographers, they look at evaluating changes in the population, birth rates,
death rates, employment levels etc. When looking at population they ana-
lyse natural population change (in birth and death rates) along with
changes due to immigration and emigration. This is very important in
health and social care, with the information gathered, individuals can use
this to ensure there are enough facilities and provisions needed to main-
tain the population, for example, if there are more children being born,
there may be a need for more primary and secondary schools to ensure all
children have access to an education.

 Due to our society being ever changing, up to date demographic data is

important, it will ensure that the service provisions are able to cope with
the amount of individuals needing care and then ensure they are able to
provide the best care they can. Without this data, accessing care may be-
come more difficult - for example, if the birth rates were increasing rapidly,
maternity wards may need to increase capacity, have more staff on duty
and so on, with these factors added, it would allow the ward to continue
running smoothly. However, if these new measures were not added, the
number of people who require this service would outweigh the capacity of
the service. This can then cause more problems. When there is a lack of
beds available, some patients may not be able to receive the treatment
they need, this could potentially cause higher death rates. 

Although there are many positives to using demographic data, there are
also some negatives, it can be very expensive to be constantly changing
what certain provisions can provide, due to the constant changing of soci-
ety and population this is inevitable, provisions are also based on a larger
area of society as a whole, although it does focus on more direct areas
than the entire country, it is not based on individual needs. Despite this,
demographic data can be used to effectively reduce social inequalities due
to the fact that the data collected can be used to see which areas are
needing more support and care in order to keep them healthy - this re-
duces inequality as it can provide support for areas that are disadvantaged
simply due to their geographical location. For example, the birth rate has
decreased over the last 8 years (as shown in the graph below) This may
mean that primary school/nursery capacity doesn't need to be increased as
there will not be any more students joining than the previous years. Mater-
nity wards in hospitals may not be as busy meaning some beds will be free
and no more will have to be provided - if there were higher birth rates than
previous years, new staff may need to be hired in order to cope with the
new increase of individuals needing
care. 

Although Birth rates have decreased, the number of elderly (65+) individu-
als living in poverty has increased to 2.1 million individuals in 2020 - this in-
crease may suggest that the elderly are one group of individuals facing in-
equality - there may need to be a higher allocation of funds to these groups
of vulnerable individuals to help support them (through the benefit pension)
There may also be an increased need for residential care homes as some
of these vulnerable individuals may not be able to support themselves in
the community. Many elderly people past retirement age live busy lives
and contribute to society by continuing in paid employment or voluntary/
practical support for family/community however, growing older comes with
the decline in mobility, hearing and functioning which requires support from
health and social care. The fall in death rate means people living longer
are presenting new issues for health and social services - within a hospital
setting, this may lead to an increase of individuals requiring a hospital bed,
demand for beds may outweigh the supply and so the hospital may strug-
gle 
A negative of demographic data is that it is not always completely accurate
, the phenomenon called ‘The clinical iceberg’ refers to the huge number of
illnesses that go unreported to healthcare professionals and so are not
known to individuals studying the demographic information and so records
cannot be fully accurate. Using the example of mental health - women are
much more likely to step forward and reach out for help over their mental
health and wellbeing, there is less of a stigma around women needing
some extra support to help deal with their emotions and feelings however,
the same can't be said for men. There is still a huge stigma around men's
mental health and so many males who may be suffering will not step for-
ward due to what they perceive society will think of them as it will break
their ‘masculinity’ Due to the assumption that there is judgement there,
there are not as many reported mental health problems in men as there
actually in throughout England. In 2013 there was 6233 suicides registered
in the UK, in 2017, 5821 were reorded in the UK. (children under the age
of 15 are not included in these statistics) For both men and women, the
age group of 45-59 has the highest suicide rates however, Men tend to be
accountable for over half of the propised statisitics - in 2017 the suicide
rate for men was 3.5 times higher than it was for women, the suicide rate is
highest amongst middle aged white men who accounted for nearly 70% of
all suicides in 2017. 

One positive advancement is that suicide rates are slowly decreasing - this
may be due to the topic of mental health being talked about more, help is
becoming more assesible and more normalised within society. There are
hopes that this should carry on as more people feel as though they are
able to ask for help. However, there is inequality in the provision of mental
health support - it is one of the most underfunded NHS provisions in the
entire UK and it is struggling for the new numbers of people needing sup-
port. IT is proposed that once being referred, adults should expect a four
week wait before receiving help; however in 2020 the waiting time was re-
ported as 18 months. At current, the mental health provision of the NHS re-
ceives 11% of the budget however, with mental health issues contributing
to 23% of the hospital admission rates it is clear that there needs to be a
step up in order to maintain the level of care needed for the capacity of the
service.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/281981/live-births-in-the-united-king-
dom-uk/
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/aug/18/elderly-poverty-risen-
fivefold-since-80s-pensions
https://www.verywellmind.com/men-and-suicide-2328492

Demographic data in Warwickshire P6 +M4

The main purpose of demographic data is to assess and act on the needs
of the changing population by collecting data and then plan and predict the
most effective ways in which to make health and social care provisions the
most effective for the size of the provision needed. In the case of a general
hospital ward, demographic data is key in order to implement the most ap-
propriate courses of action to implement the most effective health care. 

A general hospital ward in our local area, Warwickshire, will need a differ-
ent allocation of resources and provision than a different area within the
UK. Being a rather affluent area, the demography of the area may indicate
there is a higher life expectancy than those in less affluent areas in the UK
as there are more people with higher incomes and lower unemployment
rates. Life Expectancy at birth in Warwickshire for 2020 was 84.6 years for
males and 67.6 years for females. This compares with life expectancy at
birth in England of 63.4 years for males and 91.5  years for females - this
compares with Leeds with the average life expectancy for a male being
78.2 and for a female, 82.1 years. This may be because, as previously
mentioned, Warwick is an affluent area with less people in poverty and
less pollution. These factors can contribute to people leading healthier
lives. The fact that there is a higher life expectancy may mean there is a
higher influx of individuals over the age of 75 needing health care. This is
because, as people get older they are more prone to health issues, along
with increased fall risk. This will increase the likelihood of geriatric patients
needing hospital care in a general hospital ward. Within a ward there will
need to be features added to ensure the safety of each individual staying
there, - these could be things like handrails along the walls, seats in the
showers etc. 

The demographic data could also be used to monitor any increase in spe-
cific disease and illness rates. For example , flu infections requiring hospi-
talisation will be monitored over the year to ensure there will be enough ca-
pacity within a hospital for those who may need it. There will also be data
based on flu immunisation rates. This can be used to further predict the
possibility people may become ill and need inpatient treatment. Demo-
graphic data needs to be kept up to date as planning of service provision
would become inaccurate as people's needs will have changed and their
care should be at the center of importance.

 The data shown below indicates the statistics for Warwickshire, which in-
dicates that, as an affluent area, the levels of health are much better than
the England average. There are more people eating healthy and exercising
more and less individuals who smoke and are admitted to hospital over al-
cohol related issues. This data can be used in for the local area as it
demonstrates that there are more people living for longer - this can in-
crease the need for residential care homes or hospital beds for elderely in-
dividuals but it can also indicate that people are living healthy lives for
longer before they start to become unwell in some way - the men's healthy
life expectancy average throughout england is 63.4 years, comparing this
with warwickshire at 68 years it is obvious there is a considerable differ-
ence - funding that previously could have been spent on hospitals and care
facilities may be able to be designated to somewhere else within the war-
wickshire area that may need more funding or further development. This
graph shows the inequality between an area of higher socioeconomic sta-
tus and a lower one such as Manchester: it is clear through the graph to
the right that Manchester is of a lower social class - the healthy life ex-
pectancy is much lower, there are a large number of people who smoke
and a huge increase in people admitted to hospital over alcohol related ill-
ness. This % of people eating their 5 a day in Warwickshire is 55.2% but in
Manchester it is only 41.4%, this difference can further demonstrate how a
healthy lifestyle and habits contribute to life expectancy and how social in-
equality can lead to drastic changes in nearly every re-
gard. 
Migration and emigration rates can be used in demographic data, the data
collected can be very useful for hospitals - when there is an increase in the
number of individuals within the UK, hospitals will have to prepare for this.
This may be through an increase in the capacity of a car park outside the
hospital. An increased population may also lead to the NHS budget suffer-
ing - when there are more individuals needing the service of the NHS but
there is no increase in the budget, the level of care may decrease, wait
times may become longer and therefore this has the implications of in-
creased death rates due to the fcat some illness may not be discovered as
early as they would have been 

An example of the government using demographic data is through the

BCG vaccine for Tuberculosis  - TB has previously had high case rates
and infections however by 2005, the recorded TB infections throughout the
whole country was at such a low rate that it was a waste of NHS budget to
vaccinate the entire population and so they stopped it - the only individuals
who still have a vaccine are those who are clinically vulnerable or more
likely to become exposed to it. This vaccine was then replaced by the HPV
vaccine as it was becoming more prevalent. 
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocial-
care/healthandlifeexpectancies/articles/whataffectsanareashealthylifeex-
pectancy/2018-01-18

Patterns and trends of health - D3 

There are patterns and trends of health that can be explained through sta-
tistical data - often found in the Census (which is completed every 10
years) The government produces these statistics that provide information
over the population and how it is spread out. There is also information pub-
lished by researchers and scientists as well as authors who have made de-
velopments in the exploration of health and illnesses. This data can be
used to help explain trends and patterns that develop through the years
and therefore how to help stop these from developing further. 

The Office of National Statistics produces the data relevant to health care
issues (such as birth and death rates, suicide rates and hospital admis-
sions. There are also many charities that also provide information and pub-
lish data. For example, there is Pain UK - this is a charity who helps indi-
viduals suffering from functional pain (pain with no direct or obvious cause)
The information they publish would be useful in my setting as within a gen-
eral hospital ward there are many patients with different illnesses who don't
fit into a specific category of care. This information can help impact their
support systems so they don't feel as alone and isolated. 

Health is defined by The World Health Organisation (WHO) as ‘a state of

complete physical, social and mental wellbeing and not merely the
absence of disease and infirmity. In social class, the trends discovered
through demographic data demonstrate that individuals with a higher social
class typically live longer than those of a lower social class. It is shown that
people of lower socioeconomic classes face more illness and poorer health
- this can be for a range of reasons. One of these may be that there is
typically less money able to be spent on luxuries and top market products
from more expensive retailers. For example - people of a higher social
class will be able to choose to invest in a gym membership and healthy
foods. 38% of women living in the UK of a lower social class and more
deprived areas are medically classed as obese compared to 20% from the
least deprived areas. Individuals who are of a higher socioeconomic class
are also more likely to be able to choose private healthcare. These
reasons lead to a healthier lifestyle and subsequently a longer life.
Individuals in the lower class are less able to afford healthy food, fast food
is cheap and so more affordable for many people however it contains a lot
of fat, salt and sugar. THis comes with increased risk of heart disease,
high cholesterol and
diabetes. 

Data collected in 2019 suggests that individuals of a lower socioeconomic

class tend to smoke and drink more too, along with a poorer diet this leads
to a decreased life expectancy and higher rates of cancer related deaths.
The government can step in and help reduce social inequality by changing
the way that society functions. For example, to tackle the issue of poor diet
and obesity there should be more, cheaper exercise programmes avail-
able, this along with increased education on the importance of healthy eat-
ing and the effect a bad diet can have on health. There is also a trend with
illness and ill health rates within housing. Lower class individuals usually
live in more affordable housing, this can usually come with bad insulation,
meaning it is very cold all year round - this has high risks of hypothermia
and recurring health issues. They may also come with damp and mould in
the walls and other items in the house - this can lead to respiratory issues
as the spores can easily be breathed in. Children who are born into de-
prived homes are much more likely to be born underweight and deficient in
nutrients. When infants lack the nutrients and vitamins they need they may
suffer issues with stunted growth and delayed development. In turn this
can increase the infant mortality rate. 

At current, the UK’s infant mortality rate is at 4 per 1000 babies born, in the
most deprived areas it is at 6.4 per 1000. However, this has decreased
dramatically from the 1900 where 150 infant deaths per 1000 per year.
This decrease can be due to the extensive developments in healthcare
and treatment available. 

There are also patterns and trends of health within Gender. Women tend
to live longer than men, on average around 4 years longer (depending on
the area) This may be due to the idea that women are more likely to report
their illness in early stages of experiencing symptoms this can lead to their
illness being discovered and therefore treated early - increasing chance of
survival and also life expectancy. Women are also much more likely to
reach out for support if they need it - this can be due to the stigma around
men asking for help, the expected role of a man is that they should be
‘tough’ and ‘manly’ this has the negative effect of some men feeling
ashamed to talk about their health, physical or mental and so many ill-
nesses go unnoticed until it is too late. Men who live in areas of lower in-
come are expected to live healthily for less time - one of these reasons
may be that men do more manual labour than women particularly in areas
of lower class and income, therefore they are more likely to sustain an in-
jury at work - such as a damaged back or bad knees, this can affect their
ability to work and further affect the low income. This links back to health-
care inequality due to the fact that people of a low socioeconomic class are
less likely to be able to afford private healthcare - the NHS waitlists are
commonly, quite long. If an individual were to sustain an injury or health re-
lated problem affecting their ability to work they may have to wait for longer
to be seen and treated. The longer someone is off work the less income
they will have coming in which in turn makes the inequality more preva-
lent.  
https://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/youngreporter/18071325.social-class-
determine-obesity/
https://ash.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ASH-Briefing_Health-In-
equalities.pdf

Social inequalities and sociological perspectives D2 + D3

Social inequalities also relate to sociological perspectives, one of the most
applicable would be interactionism. It is concerned with understanding hu-
man behaviour in face to face situations and how individuals within these
situations came to be there and how they have become defined are classi-
fied in particular ways, this is known as labelling. Within a health and social
care setting, in my case, a hospital there are a range of individuals, from
different social groups and backgrounds. 

When staying in a hospital ward, the individuals will all become a social
group for the time they are there, this means they may begin to view things
and become influenced by other individuals who are staying there at the
same time but they will also have the freedom to interpret and make deci-
sions on their own. This is where individualised care is very important -
there will be a ward of many people with their own views and beliefs they
need to follow. When each individual receives care that is tailored to them
and what they want then their self esteem and confidence can be raised -
they will be a part of the decision making for their personalised care. By
putting the service user at the centre of the decision making and discus-
sions, it can ensure that they are getting both what they need but also what
they want. The idea that all the service users within the ward are part of
one social group also promotes equal care for everyone, each person's
thoughts are considered and the impact of each person's actions on the
rest of the group will be considered.

In a general hospital ward, there will be a range of service users of differ-

ent genders, religions, ethnicities and social classes. This further rein-
forces that individualised care is very important. For example, there would
need to be a mixed gender team of people working on the ward, this is due
to the religious and cultural beliefs of some patients - individuals who are
practising Muslims, may need (if they are female) a fully female set of staff
who are working with them, unless it is an emergency. Another individual
may request a translator as they have some knowledge of English but are
struggling to fully understand. This slight change in care for each patient
promotes equality within healthcare as each individual can access what
they need in the way that suits them best. 

Similarly, the staff of a hospital can benefit from a multi gender workforce
as stereotyping of healthcare roles can be eradicated. For example, some
views previously were that being a nurse was for a woman and being a
doctor was for a man. In 2020, the % of men who are registered nurses is
at 10.8% (74580) but this is set to increase in the coming years. However,
our society is progressive and these sexist rules are slowly being less
prevalent but having a range of roles in health care will help speed up this
change in society's views. 

Marxists view ill health as led by the bourgeoisie. When you become ill the
main goal is to get back to work as quickly as possible and back to con-
tributing to society. Big companies run by the bourgeoisie are seen to
cause illness - oil companies are responsible for both destroying forests in
order to produce fuel, and polluting the water for use of oil rigs. These two
methods of fuel production lead to water and air pollution which have a
very negative effect on humans and other living organisms. Another exam-
ple of this is through tobacco companies, particularly cigarettes - there are
scientific links between smoking cigarettes and cancer and other related ill-
nesses, although these are proven to be true, the bourgeoisie still profit off
others' ill health. 

Feminists view the medical field as male dominated and how this has an
adverse affect on women. It is seen to be one of the reasons contributing
to the fact that women suffer more from anxiety, stress and depression.
Childbirth is still regarded as a medical issue rather than a natural process.
This inequality between the feelings of the male dominance in healthcare
can lead to the inequality of treatment of women. Finally, functionalists see
ill health as a very important part of society, to them, being ill is seen as
going against the norms of society and if everyone were to become unwell,
society would collapse. Those who become ill will have to play the sick role
- this is where the individual who is unwell will have to do the things ex-
pected of them in order to become well again in the quickest way possible
- for example, they would be expected to stay at home and take medica-
tion if required. They are expected to return back into their usual role in so-
ciety as soon as they are able to. If everyone were to be unwell, there
would be inequality within society and chaos would occur. 
https://www.statista.com/statistics/318922/number-of-nurses-in-the-uk/
https://michellebondonga.wordpress.com/2016/04/12/d1-evaluate-differ-
ent-sociological-explanations-for-patterns-and-trends-of-health-and-illness-
in-two-different-social-groups/

References 
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/
statistics-by-cancer-type/prostate-cancer
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/whats-happening-life-ex-
pectancy-england
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/why-so-many-men-avoid-
doctors#Shifting-the-way-men-view-medical-care
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200625-the-woman-with-a-100-year-
old-liver
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180523-how-gender-bias-affects-
your-healthcare
https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/clinical-care/study-links-poverty-
higher-hospitalization-rates
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jan/23/englands-poorest-get-
worse-nhs-care-than-wealthiest-citizens
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/nov/21/english-class-system-
shaped-in-schools
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8969651/working-class-kids-are-half-as-
likely-to-end-up-getting-a-good-job-damning-report-reve
https://www.statista.com/statistics/281981/live-births-in-the-united-king-
dom-uk/
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/aug/18/elderly-poverty-risen-
fivefold-since-80s-pensions
https://www.verywellmind.com/men-and-suicide-2328492
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-in-a-nutshell/health-inequali-
tiesals/
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocial-
care/healthandlifeexpectancies/articles/whataffectsanareashealthylifeex-
pectancy/2018-01-18
https://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/youngreporter/18071325.social-class-
determine-obesity/
https://ash.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ASH-Briefing_Health-In-
equalities.pdf
https://www.statista.com/statistics/318922/number-of-nurses-in-the-uk/
https://michellebondonga.wordpress.com/2016/04/12/d1-evaluate-differ-
ent-sociological-explanations-for-patterns-and-trends-of-health-and-illness-
in-two-different-social-groups/