Health inequalities

Kevin Dew and Sarah Donovan

Chapter 7 in Handbook on the Sociology of Health and Medicine, 2023, pp 110-123 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Sociology provides a range of concepts and theoretical orientations that help us understand health inequalities and their association with social factors. In this chapter explanations are provided grouped into a focus on structures, resources and interactions. Structural approaches include Marxist, systemic racist and gender perspectives that focus on the ways in which health inequalities relate to macro-sociological features of society. A focus on cultural and social capital, drawing on the work of Bourdieu, indicates the influences these resources have on health outcomes. An ethnomethodologically informed interactional perspective highlights ways in which everyday sense making activities can impact on health outcomes. These different levels of analysis, going from the macro to micro, shed light on the multiple ways in which people’s health chances are shaped by social forces, and can be insightfully used to consider the impact of novel events, such as with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Economics and Finance; Sociology and Social Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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