Poverty and Health Assignment
You are required to write a journal article that demonstrates your understanding of poverty and health.
Within the article you must include the following:
Describe two sociological approaches to poverty and health.
Explain how Social Scientists’ research and government initiatives have provided a greater insight into the link between poverty and health.
Explain how political perspectives used in medical sociology are linked to patterns of health by providing an example of one factor that can impact health chances.
Guidance
For guidance about layout, structure and style of writing used for a journal article you should refer to the study materials for the ‘Academic Writing Skills’ unit.
You are encouraged to use images within your article to support your written commentary.
Relevant theory must be referenced where appropriate and a references list provided. Remember that any images that you have used which have been taken from published sources must be referenced accordingly.
The article should be a maximum of 2,000 words in length.
Health and poverty share a significant relationship. According to the study, over 3 billion people live below the poverty line, which makes it challenging to save for future unpredictability and also pay for health services. Poverty leads people to live in pathetic areas where their income would afford them. Such areas include the slums where life is unbearable, ranging from poor sanitation and sewerage services. These conditions expose the residents to various health problems, and the victims may lack finances to afford medication for inclined illnesses. As a result, the poor people end up living in poor health while the rich are less prone to most of the diseases prominent in highly populated slums. This journal article demonstrates the understanding of sociological approaches to poverty and health. The journals further addresses the Social Scientists’ research and government initiatives’ perspective about the link between the two issues. The use of political attitudes in medical sociology in relation to the patterns of health is featured and the study is majorly based in the United Kingdom.
Poverty is widely described as the inability to afford basic needs as a regular individual. Various studies have indicated a connection between hunger, poverty, and poor child health. Hungry and sick children will likely perform poorly in school, which will later make them unable to find excellent job opportunities to support future generation. In this case, the future families are likely to fall in such a process, and the poverty line continues (Chaudry & Wimer, 2016, pg. 27). Children from deprived backgrounds also tend to eat poorly and lack most of the nutrients required for the proper functioning of their bodies. As a result, they become undernourished and hence, prone to a wide range of diseases.
Income disparities in the United Kingdom have increased drastically in the last few decades. Poverty heightens the probability of contracting various diseases due to the living conditions. People who live below the poverty line tend to live in slums which are highly populated and with poor living conditions such as lack of access to clean water, inadequate sewerage and sanitation services (Carter, 2018, pg. 84). Drinking unsafe water is linked to diseases such as typhoid and amoeba and is commonly found among poor people. Additionally, the costs for treating such conditions have also risen over the years due to the complications linked to the advanced effects of the diseases. With inadequate incomes, the poor people do not afford such medication. They may purchase over the counter drugs to curb the cases of headaches, stomachaches, and body pains associated with such diseases. This explains why the mortality rate for simple diseases is prevalent among the poor people than the rich who can afford medication even in abroad countries (Kuo et al., 2016, pg. 137). Poverty also increases the chances of contracting other diseases such as stress and depression, which are mostly associated with falling into deep worries. A poor person tends to worry about the source of the next meal, where to sleep, and what to clothe. As a result, such worries accumulate to cause depression, which in other cases, prompts them to engage in stimulant drugs, which further deteriorates the health of such people. Ideally, adequate income enables people to avoid stress since they are comforted by the financial security (Wickham et al., 2016, pg. 761). Being free from fear provides the zeal to search for opportunities to further better one’s life in terms of health conditions and living standards. With eloquent job opportunities and proper housing facilities, the self-esteem, mental and physical health are generally enhanced.
Sociological Approaches to Poverty and Health
Structural Theory of Poverty
The structural theory presents some factors at the macro level that present individuals and communities prone to poverty. Such factors include demographic environments and poor labor market circumstances that lead people to remain poor (Ghatak, 2015, Pg. 95). In this theory, individuals and communities have limited opportunities to develop their lives. For instance, in arid and semi-arid areas, people have limited means of agricultural development, which makes them susceptible to prolonged droughts. When people lack food, the little income they acquire is used for consumption and hence low chances to carry out other developments, making them poor (Benzeval et al., 2014, pg. 54). The circle continues making them prone to poor health since such food may be expensive based on their financial ability. In this theory, individuals’ high drive to raise their standards of living is relegated by lack of access to opportunities such as water availability, and other natural resources. The minority groups are majorly represented in this theory, which is ignited by the lack of political and influential powers.
Individualistic Poverty and Health
The individualistic theory of poverty explains the shortcomings that are based on self- deficiencies. In other words, it is the poverty initiated by the individual through their actions and behaviors or lacks the capacity required to achieve higher socioeconomic status. In this theory, explanations of poverty focus more on family and behavioral level explanations, which lead some people to be responsible for their poverty, poor health, and suffering (Cooper et al., 2016, 145). Individual behaviors which depict moral failing and irresponsibility are linked with causing poverty. The welfare system in the U.K. government has also manipulated people to consent to its dependency and relax in working hard to provide their needs which increases the level of poverty (Davis & Cole, 2018, pg. 13) For instance, the areas that receive unreliable rain patterns are mostly stricken by hunger because of the inability to produce enough food. As a result, the government agencies and non-governmental organizations provide relief food and other basic needs to the affected people, whose efforts to look for better lives are decreased thereof. With such free items, people tend to relax because they are ‘full’ and eventually remain inadequate for lack of the will power and the ability to afford more for a sustainable life. In this regard, the poor people are unable to embrace practices that promote good health, such as eating balanced diets, since they end up with no choice but eat whatever is available to them for lack of resources. The poor people are also unable to access proper medical attention whenever they fall sick since their finances do not allow them. In any case, no government body can prosper or develop its country except through its people, and the people have to care for themselves first (Khullar & Chokshi, 2018). In this case, if the people are unable to work, the government will eventually run out of resources and the food to supply to the hunger-stricken individuals. Marxists believed that the best way to reduce poverty is by abolishing the dependence culture in the society (Loibl, 2018, pg. 421). The approach to achieve this is by reforming the welfare programs and developing the principles for the aptness of government benefits.
How Social Scientists’ Research and Government Initiatives Have Provided a Greater Insight into the Link between Poverty and Health
The study about poverty and health in the U.K. began in the early 1990s to examine the subtleties of childhood poverty. Understanding the relationship between poverty and health calls for looking into the social scientists’ research and government policies (Lucine Francis Ph.D. et al., 2018, pg. 10). According to social scientists’ research, poverty is caused by the changes that occur between the labor market and income. For instance, when a couple separates and the waged partner leaves the household, the household experiences a loss of income (Arcaya, Arcaya & Subramanian, 2015, pg. 80). In this regard, the non-earning partner is left to struggle in balancing the basic needs without a reliable source of income, which constitutes them into poverty. As a result, affording medical services becomes difficult for such a partner because other basic needs rely on him or her. In this regard, when the abandoned individual falls sick, he or she may fail to seek medical attention or take the pain killers to ease the body. Additionally, even when faced with severe sickness, he or she may not afford to find better health services, and the health continues to deteriorate.
According to the Black Report documents published in 1980, ill-health and mortality were unequally distributed among the UK population. The report indicated that although National Health Service (NHS) was established in 1948, inequalities in health conditions continued to increase (Carter & Reardon, 2014, pg. 7). Such inequalities were linked with differences in income, education, and working conditions. According to the report, the death rate was higher in men of social class V than those of social class 1. This explains why higher-income individuals tend to live healthily than the poorly-earning individuals. In this regard, a fall in labor earnings or job loss is associated with poverty. In the U.K. most of the poverty entries are caused by a decrease in earning which result from a shift from full time to part-time employment, or from high to low wages (Ngoma, & Mayimbo, 2017, pg. 7). The government initiatives concerning health services are meant to improve the health of individuals. Ideally, a healthy nation is a wealthy nation. The U.K. government values the health of the citizens by the notion that healthy individuals are likely to be energetic enough to work and venture into income-generating activities (Tzeng, 2016, pg. 313). This will reduce the number of individuals who may require government aids and other support initiatives. Ideally, an unhealthy individual is unable to work and will tend to rely on other people for financial support, which further stretches the number of dependents (Ngoma & Mayimbo, 2017, pg. 6). The extended source of income limits the range of developments an individual can do with the available income. In this regard, the U.K. government has invested a lot in providing medical services to the citizens to ensure a healthy nation.
How political perspectives used in medical sociology are linked to patterns of health by providing an example of one factor that can impact health chances.
Both conservative and labor parties in the UK have demonstrated plans to promote equality regarding health and income distribution. The two have manifestos that regard such plans. For instance, the Labor party has implemented a policy that invites people to transform the country for the benefit of all, but not for a few (Shildrick & Rucell, 2015). In regard to this manifesto, the political campaigns are based on the plans to deliver numerous affordable homes and jobs for all the citizens. The conservative party also promotes policies to reduce government spending. Such plans have the impact of reduced tax that the citizens should pay and hence adding value to their income. In most of the countries, the national government is further subdivided into smaller regulatory authorities headed by local authorities. In the U.K., there are government subdivisions such as municipal councils, county governments, and constituencies (Krumer-Nevo, 2015, pg. 1800). These subdivisions are meant to ensure that public services are made available to as many people as possible. Ideally, if all public services were regulated at the national level, it would be difficult for most of the citizens to ever access them (Howel et al., 2019). An example of a factor that impacts health chances includes poor sewerage and sanitation services. In reference to a corrupt local leader, such services will be given less or no attention, and the local people will be susceptible to water-borne and air-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and amoeba (Thompson, Goldberger & Elias, 2019). In this regard, the chances of raising healthy children are such a situation is also limited as they play and grow in a pathetic environment. Therefore, the residents of such areas will have limited chances of having good health compared to the people whose local leaders have dedicated their efforts in serving the community indefinitely.
Generally, health shares a strong link with poverty. The essay has provided significant insights into the interrelation between health and poverty in the U.K. and also in other countries. Both poverty and health are the causes of each other. A poor person will less likely afford medical services and hence will survive on poor health. Additionally, an unhealthy individual lacks the capacity to look for resources and also spend a lot of medical services, a condition that attracts poverty. Individualistic and structural theories are the main sociological approaches to health and poverty discussed. Individualistic theory features poverty as a result of the individual’s behavior and probably lack the zeal to work and look for opportunities. Structural theory claims that poor labor markets and demographic environments cause poverty.
References
Arcaya, M.C., Arcaya, A.L. and Subramanian, S.V., 2015. Inequalities in health: definitions, concepts, and theories. Global health action, 8(1), p.27-106.
Benzeval, M., Bond, L., Campbell, M., Egan, M., Lorenc, T., Petticrew, M. and Popham, F., 2014. How does money influence health?.
Carter, B., 2018. Inequality and poverty: Toxic issues that impact on children’s health and opportunities.
Carter, P.L. and Reardon, S.F., 2014. Inequality matters. William T. Grant Foundation Paper, New York: William T. Grant Foundation.
Chaudry, A. and Wimer, C., 2016. Poverty is not just an indicator: the relationship between income, poverty, and child well-being. Academic pediatrics, 16(3), pp.S23-S29.
Cooper, R.S., Kennelly, J.F., Durazo-Arvizu, R., Oh, H.J., Kaplan, G. and Lynch, J., 2016. Relationship between premature mortality and socioeconomic factors in black and white populations of U.S. metropolitan areas. Public Health Reports.
Davis, R.R. and Cole, S., 2018. Healthcare in Appalachia and the Role of the Federal Government. West Virginia Law Review, 120(3), p.13.
Ghatak, M., 2015. Theories of poverty traps and anti-poverty policies. The World Bank Economic Review, 29(suppl_1), pp.S77-S105.
Howel, D., Moffatt, S., Haighton, C., Bryant, A., Becker, F., Steer, M., Lawson, S., Aspray, T., Milne, E.M., Vale, L. and McColl, E., 2019. Does domiciliary welfare rights advice improve health-related quality of life in independent-living, socio-economically disadvantaged people aged≥ 60 years? Randomised controlled trial, economic and process evaluations in the North East of England. PloS one, 14(1), p.e0209560.
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Loibl, C., 2018. 26 Living in Poverty: Understanding the Financial Behaviour of Vulnerable Groups. CENTRE FOR DECISION RESEARCH, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS, U.K., p.421.
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Ngoma, C. and Mayimbo, S., 2017. The Negative Impact of Poverty on the Health of Women and Children. Annals of Medical and Health Sciences Research, 7(6).
Poverty and Health: Prospective Evidence From the Alameda County Study, American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 185, Issue 11, 1 June 2017, Pages 1161–1170, https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwx112
Shildrick, T. and Rucell, J., 2015. Sociological perspectives on poverty. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Thompson, J.R., Goldberger, R.B. and Elias, T.I., 2019. Poverty Simulations With Health Professional Students: Evidence of Impact. Pedagogy in Health Promotion, p.2373379919859035.
Tzeng, W., 2016. Poverty and Patents: Intellectual Property Policy and Economic Inequality. Ind. J.L. & Soc. Equal., 5, p.313.
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Wickham, Sophie & Anwar, Elspeth & Barr, Ben & Law, Catherine & Taylor-Robinson, David. (2016). Poverty and child health in the U.K.: Using evidence for action. Archives of disease in childhood. 101. 10.1136/archdischild-2014-306746.