Health Inequalities Essay
ASSESSMENT AIM
The aim of this assessment is for you to select a particular health inequality and to evaluate the factors that contribute to that inequality. This assessment is an opportunity to gain a more in-depth understanding of health inequalities experienced by a particular group of people and to demonstrate your knowledge of that topic, critical thinking skills, and ability to express yourself in writing.
BACKGROUND
As you will learn in this unit, there are many factors—biological and psychosocial—that contribute to health and health inequalities in society. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health inequality as “differences in health status or in the distribution of health determinants between different population groups” (WHO, 2017, para. 2). While some health inequalities may be the result of biological factors that may not be modifiable, others are the result of differences in the distribution or allocation of important resources that have an effect on health (e.g., differences in access to education or healthcare). Inequalities that are avoidable are termed health inequities. For example, thinking globally, life expectancy in Australia is over 80 years, while in Sierra Leone, it is only 50. Disparities also exist here in Australia. Recent statistics indicate that the life expectancy of Indigenous Australians is 10 years lower than that of non-Indigenous Australians (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2016).
There are typically a number of explanations as to why a health inequality exists and also how it might be reduced. For example, social (e.g., financial resources, education, housing, governmental policies); behavioural (e.g., help-seeking behaviours, substance use); biological (e.g., genetics, hormones); cultural (e.g., cultural or religious beliefs or practices); and historical and sociopolitical factors should be considered.[unique_solution]
References
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2016). Life expectancy. Retrieved from http://www.aihw.gov.au/deaths/life-expectancy/#indigenous
World Health Organization. (2017). Health impact assessment. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/hia/en/
ESSAY REQUIREMENTS
In order to complete this assessment, you are required to:
- Select a topic for your essay. You will choose one of the four groups listed below, all of whom are known to experience health inequalities, and focus your essay on investigating the health inequalities experienced by that group. • Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples
- People who are sexual minorities (i.e., sexual orientation or gender)
- People who experience low socioeconomic status or homelessness
- People who reside in rural/remote areas
- Describe health inequalities associated with the population of interest. Conduct a literature review with the aim of evaluating the impact of various factors that have been identified as contributing to a health inequality/inequalities for the group you have chosen. Various questions specific to your group of choice may be explored. For example, are there differences in life expectancy? What about differences in rates of mental health diagnoses or certain diseases? Are rates of health-risk behaviours (e.g., smoking, alcohol consumption) different? Is healthcare access or utilization higher or lower (e.g., utilization of mental health services, rates of mammograms)? Historical and sociopolitical factors that may have contributed to the existence or perpetuation of the inequality must be discussed (this will be especially critical for certain topics).
Note that the relationship between any health inequality and the factors that contribute to it are complex. For instance, lack of access to healthcare can be considered as a health inequality, as well as a factor contributing to a health inequality (e.g., life expectancy). It is up to you as to how you evaluate those relationships, though some integration of psychological factors/outcomes should be discussed. Your literature review should be critical, such that you consider the strengths and limitations of the research you cite and identify gaps and inconsistencies in the existing research. This task builds upon the skills you practiced in Assessment #1 (Article Critique).
- Discuss what is being done and what the future may hold. Describe any current efforts to address the inequality (e.g., efforts by mental health programs, policy changes) and speculate about whether current trends are likely to continue into the future. What has the general trend been? For example, have differences in life expectancy narrowed or gotten wider? Specifically, based on the current literature, is the health inequality likely to improve, get worse, or remain stable in the future?
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Submission of this work will be via Turnitin. The submission portal will be located in the Assessments section of Blackboard. Instructions on how to submit the assignment can be found on the Assessments page on Blackboard.
Sections of the essay
- Title page (including a declaration)
- Essay
- Reference list
Title page
Include the title of your essay, your name and student number, your institution, the due date of the assignment, and a declaration. Formulate a succinct, descriptive title for your essay that does not exceed 12 words.
Essay
The essay should provide a succinct review of the literature relating to the topic. Chapter 5 in Findlay (2015) provides an overview of essay writing, which you may find useful. Essays at a university level require you to be more evaluative in your writing, but standard structure should be used: introduction, body, and conclusion (Findlay, 2015). Please do not provide an abstract. Remember to address the topic directly and to follow the instructions provided in this handout.
It is essential that your essay is well-organised and structured effectively. A judicious use of subheadings can help the reader follow an essay plan, but headings are not compulsory and may or may not be useful in an essay of this length. You have a tight word count and will need to write concisely and in a focused manner. Allowing time for several revisions spread over several days or, ideally, weeks will enable you to refine your writing, to improve the clarity of your arguments, and to produce a stronger paper. Please be very careful when writing that you avoid plagiarism. Swinburne puts all submissions through a plagiarism detection program (i.e., Turnitin), and breaches of academic integrity will be treated severely.
The essay must be formatted according to the specifications outlined by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition). Accordingly, the essay must be typed in 12-point font (Times New Roman) and double-spaced. The maximum word limit is 2,000
words. If your essay exceeds this limit, a 5% penalty will be applied. The title page and reference list do not count towards the word limit, but in-text referencing does. There is no minimum word count, but it is likely that you will need to use the full amount of words to produce an essay of a high standard.
References
Content of the paper must be supported by a minimum of eight peer-reviewed references (i.e., journal articles), though most Distinction and High Distinction papers will likely include more. In addition to those eight, you may include data from governmental agencies, as appropriate, such as when discussing statistics associated with certain health inequalities. Your textbook cannot not count as one of your references, though it may be cited. There is not a limit on the maximum number of references you can include. Using information taken from websites, such as Wikipedia, is not appropriate and will result in penalties! You will read more articles than you ultimately cite in the essay, which is part of the process of identifying and selecting appropriate sources for academic writing. For those of you who do not feel confident conducting searches using electronic databases, there is a Library Tutorial in the Assessments section of Blackboard to aid you in learning how to access such materials. Page 4 of 5
The reference list must be formatted according to APA style, should be positioned at the end of your essay, and does not count toward the overall word count. References that are cited in-text, must also follow APA style conventions (e.g., Jones & Jones, 2012). In-text citations do count toward the word limit. Direct quotations should be used sparingly, if at all, and must follow APA style guidelines.
The reference list must contain all the references that are cited in the essay and, likewise, all references included in the reference list must be cited in the body of the essay. Please note that you can only directly reference a source if you physically have the entire book/chapter/article. You cannot reference an article if you only have an excerpt from a chapter or the abstract. Do not use “as cited in” references in this essay. If you need assistance obtaining a particular article, the library will be able to assist. Students may be asked to provide their references if plagiarism is suspected. For further information, see your Unit Outline.
MARKING CRITERIA
Your essay will be assessed according to the following criteria:
- Organisation and structure (including introduction and conclusion): 15%
- Quality of the research included and critical evaluation of that material: 35%
- Submission of a logical and well-supported essay that includes the required italicised elements outlined on page 2 of this document: 35%
- Calibre of writing (e.g., spelling, grammar, clarity) and accurate referencing and formatting according to APA 6th edition guidelines: 15%