Essay On Social Inequalities

As is the case with most public health dilemmas, there is no black and white solution to the issue of health inequalities. Health inequalities do persist in part because of economic disparities, but the issue cannot justly be reduced to an ideological debate. The examination of the social determinants of health paints a compelling picture to the contrary. The boundaries between the effects of race, gender and class are blurry at best. Such factors as education, social context, economic status, and access to services are deeply intertwined – further muddying the waters. Yet, we are compelled to study address determinants and factors because they seem to bear heavily on the quality of societal health. Race, class – both social and economic – and gender each play significant roles in
6). The role of the public health profession is to advocate for policy change that recognizes the impact that social inequality has on health and that poor health has on perpetuating the cycle of inequality (CDC, 2009, p. 6).

Although expensive, many innovations did greatly improve quality of care. Unfortunately, improving quality for some often came at the cost of reducing access for others. It was and still is the case that higher socioeconomic classes often benefit most from such innovations, which increases disparities (Link & Phelan, 2010, p. 7).

Presently, individuals over age 65 are almost universally insured, while children and adults between 18 and 65 still suffer from high uninsured rates (7.6% and 19.9%, respectively; Smith & Medalia, 2014). Whites have the lowest uninsured rate at 9.8%, followed by Blacks at 15.9%, and Hispanics at 24.3% (Smith & Medalia, 2014). Additionally, lower household income is associated with lower rates of insurance coverage (Smith & Medalia,