DESCRIBE AND DISCUSS HOW INCOME (AS A HEALTH INEQUALITY) IMPACTS ON PHYSICAL AND/OR MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR INDIVIDUALS IN THE UK/SCOTLAND

DESCRIBE AND DISCUSS HOW INCOME (AS A HEALTH INEQUALITY) IMPACTS ON PHYSICAL AND/OR MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR INDIVIDUALS IN THE UK/SCOTLAND
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Introduction
It is undeniable that there are differences in health outcomes between different countries, genders, ethnicities and communities. Most of the health outcomes have a strong correlation to socioeconomic status, geographical area and other social factors. The difference in health outcome between peoples in different areas reflect historic and current social inequalities. In most cases, these inequalities are avoidable and must be rooted out to ensure that everyone has a fair chance to enjoy life as any other individual from a different ethnicity, gender or geographical area.
Definition of health inequalities
CITATION NHS20 \l 1033 (NHS, 2020) defines health inequalities as, ‘unfair and avoidable differences in health across the population, and between different groups within society.’ Differences in where someone is born, worked, grown up influences how they think, feel and act which shapes their mental health, physical health and wellbeing. These factors among others also influence the opportunities an individual has to access good health.
Immigrant population in the UK gives a good contrast on how health inequalities play out in the country. CITATION Afu20 \l 1033 (Hirsch, 2020) reports that ‘Pakistani, black Caribbean and black African families have twice the rate of infant mortality as white people; black women have been dying in childbirth at five times the rates of white women; and black men and women have lower life expectancy than men and women from white and other ethnic groups.’ East London area has the highest proportion of fat year six children compared to 20 per cent across the rest of England CITATION Jam19 \l 1033 (Hockaday, 2019). These statistics give a glimpse into how chances of healthy living are either influenced by your locality or ethnicity.
Common causes health disparities are pegged on socio economic status. For example, immigrants socioeconomic standing is very low relative to whites in England. They are more likely to be unemployed, have low income, live in deprived areas etc. These factors affect their life choices and their everyday decisions affect their health hence predisposing them to poor health. I.e, They are less likely to enjoy good healthy diet every day, they are more likely to work manual jobs and for long hours with little pay which predispose them to poor mental health. The macro sociopolitical factors indirectly affect the health outcomes of communities. For example, if politics dictate how many hospitals a certain area will have irrespective of the population and other key factors, these issues will affect the quality of care accessible to the individuals living in that area. If the number of hospitals are too few, and the area served is big and highly populated, the quality of care dips.
How income as a health inequality impacts on physical and/or mental health
Health as a health inequality affects physical development of an individual especially children. Children from poor households may not afford balanced diet everyday and they are predispo...