More recently Wilkinson (1996) has proposed that income inequality has a greater impact on individual health than income itself. Income inequality may have some self-sufficient impact on health, or it may function through problems of control and stress this relates to the example from Brown and Harris, 1978, “Parenting on low incomes has been shown to be associated with stress and depression among women” (Citied in Acheson, 1996; 76).
Low incomes may lead to withdrawals of essential services such as water and electricity, as a consequence making people vulnerable to cold conditions causing onset problems such as respiratory infections. These types of conditions in poorer circumstances have effect on early life for families and their children, “Damp housing, poor heating and unsafe play spaces for children are among the problems people on low incomes face when trying to make a healthy environment for their children” (Baldock, 2012; 267). A provisional report from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister Committee’s Inquiry into child poverty in Northern Ireland noted that “100,000 children were living in relative poverty in Northern Ireland and that 44,000 children were living in severe child poverty” The Combat Poverty Agency has described this as ‘unacceptable in the 21st century’ (2008). The relationship between gender and health is complex. …show more content…
Similarly with sexual characteristics, gender has a philosophical influence on health and well-being. As stated by John Moriarty in his lectures, “Biological differences between men and women cannot be used in isolation to explain the influence of gender on health” (2014). While women tend to live longer than men they tend to experience more acute and chronic sickness than men throughout their lives. The socio economic circumstances of women are “often difficult to identify as they are frequently hidden in more general analyses, which either focus on the family as the unit of interest” (Millar and Glendinning, 1992). Consideration of gender inequality, societal roles, health behaviour and help seeking behaviour must be included when concerning gender to health predictions. Gender differences in the experience of mental health and in the use of mental health services have been subject of intensive academic research and debate. A gender approach to mental health delivers management to the documentation of appropriate responses from the mental healthcare system, along with public policy. It is possible that depression and anxiety are under-diagnosed in men. However, “Women are more likely to report, consult for and be diagnosed with depression and anxiety” (Moriarty, 2004). The measure of gender stereotypes concerning emotional difficulties can impose barriers towards the identification, diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders for both males and females. The connection between mental health and suicide is more common in men than women. In his lectures, Moriarty put forward, “There is a national strategy for women’s mental health but no equivalent for men, although there is a focus on the prevention of young male suicide” (2014). Women consult their doctor or GP more often than men do, but as Graham (1993) notes, this can be accounted for by the fact that it is “usually mother who take their sick children to the doctor”. It can be believed that health services for women have a tendency to focus on their reproductive functions, neglecting the needs of women external to reproductive ages. “Menstruation, contraception, pregnancy, childbirth and the menopause are subject to increasing medical interventions which demand that women engage with the healthcare system” (Hardey, M, 1998; 118). It may perhaps be proposed that female morbidity is socially constructed. One probability is that, ‘masculinity’ leads men to be in denial of illness conceptualising the fear of feebleness, and as a result they may less willing to use health services than women. The association from gender to health and well-being draws upon the condition of cancer between both males and females. Morbidity and mortality are consistently higher in men for fundamentally all cancers that are not sex specific. A study conducted by Cancer Research UK highlights, “Malignant melanoma mortality rates have increased overall in the UK since the early 1970s”… From the late 1980s onwards, “mortality rates have increased much more quickly in males than in females, causing a divergence of the rates between the sexes” (Cancer
Low incomes may lead to withdrawals of essential services such as water and electricity, as a consequence making people vulnerable to cold conditions causing onset problems such as respiratory infections. These types of conditions in poorer circumstances have effect on early life for families and their children, “Damp housing, poor heating and unsafe play spaces for children are among the problems people on low incomes face when trying to make a healthy environment for their children” (Baldock, 2012; 267). A provisional report from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister Committee’s Inquiry into child poverty in Northern Ireland noted that “100,000 children were living in relative poverty in Northern Ireland and that 44,000 children were living in severe child poverty” The Combat Poverty Agency has described this as ‘unacceptable in the 21st century’ (2008). The relationship between gender and health is complex. …show more content…
Similarly with sexual characteristics, gender has a philosophical influence on health and well-being. As stated by John Moriarty in his lectures, “Biological differences between men and women cannot be used in isolation to explain the influence of gender on health” (2014). While women tend to live longer than men they tend to experience more acute and chronic sickness than men throughout their lives. The socio economic circumstances of women are “often difficult to identify as they are frequently hidden in more general analyses, which either focus on the family as the unit of interest” (Millar and Glendinning, 1992). Consideration of gender inequality, societal roles, health behaviour and help seeking behaviour must be included when concerning gender to health predictions. Gender differences in the experience of mental health and in the use of mental health services have been subject of intensive academic research and debate. A gender approach to mental health delivers management to the documentation of appropriate responses from the mental healthcare system, along with public policy. It is possible that depression and anxiety are under-diagnosed in men. However, “Women are more likely to report, consult for and be diagnosed with depression and anxiety” (Moriarty, 2004). The measure of gender stereotypes concerning emotional difficulties can impose barriers towards the identification, diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders for both males and females. The connection between mental health and suicide is more common in men than women. In his lectures, Moriarty put forward, “There is a national strategy for women’s mental health but no equivalent for men, although there is a focus on the prevention of young male suicide” (2014). Women consult their doctor or GP more often than men do, but as Graham (1993) notes, this can be accounted for by the fact that it is “usually mother who take their sick children to the doctor”. It can be believed that health services for women have a tendency to focus on their reproductive functions, neglecting the needs of women external to reproductive ages. “Menstruation, contraception, pregnancy, childbirth and the menopause are subject to increasing medical interventions which demand that women engage with the healthcare system” (Hardey, M, 1998; 118). It may perhaps be proposed that female morbidity is socially constructed. One probability is that, ‘masculinity’ leads men to be in denial of illness conceptualising the fear of feebleness, and as a result they may less willing to use health services than women. The association from gender to health and well-being draws upon the condition of cancer between both males and females. Morbidity and mortality are consistently higher in men for fundamentally all cancers that are not sex specific. A study conducted by Cancer Research UK highlights, “Malignant melanoma mortality rates have increased overall in the UK since the early 1970s”… From the late 1980s onwards, “mortality rates have increased much more quickly in males than in females, causing a divergence of the rates between the sexes” (Cancer