Nursing
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Socioeconomic status is the measure of a person’s or a family’s socio and economic position in relation to others based on occupations, education, and income (Imperial College London, 2017). Moreover, ongoing studies are attempting to relate low socioeconomic status with significant health risk factors. Socioeconomic status is often used in describing the economic differences experienced by society as a whole.
Additionally, socioeconomic status is subdivided into three categories that are the low, middle, and high socioeconomic status. The three categories describe the region within which an individual or a family may fall into. The following three variables are used in placing an individual or a family in the three levels of socioeconomic status; education, occupation, and income. There is usually a strong emphasis on education in the families that belong to the high level of socioeconomic status, which happens both within the household and at the local community level (Winkleby et al., 1992). On the contrary, families that come from a low socioeconomic status, where food, safety, and shelter are the priority, tend to place education in the back seat. Further, the paper will discuss the relationship between socioeconomic status and disparities in healthcare.
Health disparities are higher burdens of disability, illness, mortality experience, which is experienced by a particular group relative to another group or the burden of injury. Additionally, health care disparity refers to differences among groups in access and the utilization of care, healthcare insurance coverage, and access to quality health care. Usually, healthcare and health disparities refer to the differences not explained by the variations in patient preferences, health needs, and treatment recommendations (Artiga et al., 2020). More still, healthcare and health disparities are usually associated with environmental, social, and economic disadvantages.
Socioeconomic status (SES) is identified as a significant cause of illness. Individuals who are powerless and living in poverty tend to have worse longevity in health than those who have power, money, and prestige. However, this situation was factual when infectious diseases were the major killers, more so there was overcrowding and poor sanitation. Despite infectious disease not posing a threat in the United States, other lifestyle diseases such as heart diseases and cancers are currently causing mortality and morbidity. Nonetheless, individuals with a low SES continue to face the highest risk of age-adjusted mortality and morbidity from modern diseases (Flaskerud et al., 2012). This situation is accelerated by risk factors such as lack of adequate exercise, poor nutrition, and smoking, which are social vices that are prominent in lower SES groups.
Link and Phelan (1995, as cited in Flaskerud et al., 2012) proposed that the utilization of socio-cause theory in explaining the persistence of diseases across time, specifically within the low socioeconomic status groups. According to the proponents of social cause theory, social conditions are the significant causes of health disparities experienced within the social groups with inadequate socioeconomic resources and those who have these resources. Moreover, according to different research in Washington DC, it was discovered that most people believe that the conditions under a person were born, brought up, lived, worked and aged, also referred to as social determinants of health, amalgamate to affect the well-being of the individuals or communities (Washington Nursing Action Coalition, 2017). Lastly, it is essential to note that social determinants of health are responsible for the health inequalities seen between and within countries.
Lantz et al., (1998 as cited in Pampel et al., (2010)Scholars have brainstormed on the question as to why low SES individuals and groups usually act in a manner that harms their well-being as the high socioeconomic groups? For example, health behaviors such as poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking, and lack of exercise contribute significantly to SES differences in well-being and mortality. Additionally, these behaviors possess certain traits which make them of special interest to researchers. According to scientists, these behaviors involve more than just the typical purchase of goods and services which promote a healthy lifestyle (Pampel et al., 2010). For example, the use of tobacco such as smoking is an expenditure of funds buying unhealthy products.
More still, walking is a form of exercise that costs little, but groups from low SES do not bother to participate in it. Due to poor diet and lack of exercise in the low SES groups, these individuals tend to have a higher disease rate than the high SES group. Additionally, their health outcome in case of cancer or heart diseases, the low SES people tend to experience a high mortality rate due to their inability to access high-quality healthcare services. Cutler & Lleras-Muney (2010, as cited in Pampel et al.,( 2010) claim that low socioeconomic groups’ habit of engaging in unhealthy behaviors despite the health and monetary cost is a riddle which various studies have investigated for decades. Yet, they have not established a comprehensive explanation; hence the issue remains a mystery.
Rogers et al.; (200, as cited in Pampel et al.,(2010), participating in exercise and other forms of physical activities, maintenance of an appropriate diet and weight, and avoidance of smoking are some of the behaviors which account in promotion of well-being and also extend longevity. However, these behaviors are different from other forms of conduct which are more directly dependent on the capacity to having sufficient finances for purchasing health necessities. For example, people from high SES have funds for buying health insurance, unlike those in low SES.
Moreover, if an individual from high SES contracts a chronic illness such as diabetes, they can pay for health insurance to continue receiving quality care for a lifetime. Simultaneously, the people from low SES are unable to afford the premium funds required for access to such a health service (Pampel et al., 2010). Apart from not affording health insurance services, some of the individuals from low SES are not aware of health insurance due to the inability to assess education since education is not perceived as their priority, as mentioned earlier.
Some of the recent top healthcare trends are; Medicaid expansion, the affordable care act, and prescription drug prices. According to the recent Medicaid policies, more people will have access to quality healthcare services than before. For example, the expansion of Medicaid has enabled people from remote areas in the United States to gain access to quality and affordable healthcare services in 2019 and 2020. On the other hand, the primary goal of the prescription Drug price act is to develop incentives for over-the-counter drug buyers to manage the cost through all the phases of Medicare part D. Lastly, the affordable act was the top 2019 healthcare trends. The act is responsible for ensuring that US citizens get a low cost in short-term health insurance plans and expanding the utilization of health savings accounts (Health Catalyst, 2020). With all this in mind, it is clear that in the future, all three socioeconomic status levels will have equal opportunities when it comes to access to quality healthcare services.
References
Artiga, S., Orgera, K., & Pham, O. (2020, March 4). Disparities in Health and Health Care: Five Key Questions and Answers. KFF. https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/disparities-in-health-and-health-care-five-key-questions-and-answers/#:~:text=A%20%E2%80%9Chealth%20disparity%E2%80%9D%20refers%20to
Flaskerud, J. H., DeLilly, C. R., & Flaskerud, J. H. (2012). Social Determinants of Health Status. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 33(7), 494–497. https://doi.org/10.3109/01612840.2012.662581
Health Catalyst. (2020, February 18). 2020 Healthcare Trends and How to Prepare. Health Catalyst. https://www.healthcatalyst.com/insights/2020-healthcare-trends-and-how-to-prepare
Imperial College London. (2017, January 31). Early death and ill health linked to low socioeconomic status | Imperial News | Imperial College London. Imperial News. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/177249/early-death-health-linked-socioeconomic-status/
Pampel, F. C., Krueger, P. M., & Denney, J. T. (2010). Socioeconomic Disparities in Health Behaviors. Annual Review of Sociology, 36(1), 349–370. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.012809.102529
Washington Nursing Action Coalition. (2017, February 21). Social determinants of health: What nurses need to know. WSNA. https://www.wsna.org/news/2017/social-determinants-of-health-what-nurses-need-to-know
Winkleby, M. A., Jatulis, D. E., Frank, E., & Fortmann, S. P. (1992). Socioeconomic status and health: how education, income, and occupation contribute to risk factors for cardiovascular disease. American Journal of Public Health, 82(6), 816–820. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.82.6.816