What are health inequalities in Scotland?

Health inequalities are the unfair and avoidable differences in people’s health across social groups and between different population groups. They represent thousands of unnecessary premature deaths every year in Scotland, and for men in the most deprived areas nearly 24 fewer years spent in ‘good health’.

What are the main health inequalities in the UK today?

Inequalities in avoidable mortality In England, in 2019, women in the most deprived areas were 3.5 times more likely to die from an avoidable cause than those in the least deprived areas. Men in the most deprived areas were 3.6 times more likely to die from an avoidable cause than those in the least deprived areas.

What are the measures of health inequalities?

Measuring health inequalities

  • gender.
  • ethnicity.
  • social class.
  • area deprivation.
  • employment status.
  • educational attainment.

What types of evidence can be used to show inequalities in health?

Main results: Five types of evidence for policy on health inequalities were felt to be particularly persuasive with policymakers: observational evidence showing the existing of a problem; narrative accounts of the impacts of policies from the household perspective; controlled evaluations; natural policy experiments; …

What caused the Glasgow effect?

Factors include the “lagged effects” of overcrowding and the former practice, in the 1960s and 1970s, of offering young, skilled workers social housing in new towns outside Glasgow; this, according to a 1971 government document, threatened to leave behind an “unbalanced population with a very high proportion of the old …

What are the determinants of health Scotland?

Social determinants of health Those conditions in which people are born, grow up, live, and work, such as housing, education and environment and which therefore have an important influence on health. They are themselves shaped by economic, political and social policies.

How are health inequalities identified and monitored?

For any given health topic, the monitoring cycle can be broken down into five general steps: (1) identify relevant health indicators, (2) obtain data about the indicators, (3) analyse the data, (4) report the results, and (5) implement changes, when warranted, to improve relevant policies, programmes and practices.

Why did Glasgow fall into decline?

From the early 1970s, Glasgow continued its economic decline until the low point of the early to mid-1980s (Figure 2). The city has since experienced a slow and drawn out economic revival disrupted by the shock of the global financial crisis and economic downturn in 2008 followed by a weak recovery up to 2014.

What is the biggest health issue in Scotland?

The biggest public health challenge facing Scotland is the stall in life expectancy. Life expectancy has stalled across all socio-economic groups and in our poorest areas it has actually decreased.

What are the five main causes of health inequalities?

There is ample evidence that social factors, including education, employment status, income level, gender and ethnicity have a marked influence on how healthy a person is. In all countries – whether low-, middle- or high-income – there are wide disparities in the health status of different social groups.

Why is there healthcare inequality?

Health disparities are driven by underlying social and economic inequities that are rooted in racism. Addressing disparities is important not only from a social justice standpoint but for improving our nation’s overall health and economic prosperity.

What is social determinants of health inequalities?

Health inequalities are underpinned by the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. The broad social and economic circumstances which together influence the quality of the health of the population are known as the ‘social determinants of health’ [footnote 1] (figure 1).

What does our new report reveal about Glasgow’s health inequalities?

Our new report reveals widening health inequalities across Glasgow and the early impacts of Covid-19. The new report provides a comprehensive analysis of changes in population, socioeconomic, environmental and health factors over the last 20 years within Glasgow and in comparison with Scotland.

What are the indicators of Health and wellbeing in Glasgow?

The indicators we show include disability, life expectancy, healthy life expectancy and mental well-being . In March 2016 the GCPH published Glasgow: health in a changing city, a report that examined life expectancy trends and inequalities in the city over the last two decades.

What do we know about health inequalities?

Inequalities can be seen across the whole social spectrum such that all groups except the best off are disadvantaged. More complex statistical measures are applied to monitor these differences. Health inequalities within local areas are illustrated in the images below.

Where are the health inequalities in Edinburgh’s intermediate zones?

These data have been updated using the ScotPHO profiles published in June 2015 comparing the life expectancies in Broomhill (close to Jordanhill station) and Parkhead and Barrowfield (close to Bridgeton station) intermediate zones. The second image highlights continuing health inequalities across Edinburgh.