Health inequalities and health disparities: A sociological perspective

Abstract

While Americans have often believed that the United States has the best health care system in the world and that, as one of the wealthiest nations, we therefore must have the best health care available to our citizens, researchers in medical sociology, public health and health services research have emphasized for decades that America tolerates extremes of wealth and poverty much greater than in many European countries. This toleration of extremes extends to the approach to the delivery of social and health services, as well as to consumer goods. Over 40 million Americans do not have health insurance and thus have limited access to expensive health care services (Morone & Jacobs, 2005b). Even more may have very poor health coverage, so that if a serious illness were to occur, the person would have a very hard time finding care and paying for that care. Even if people have coverage for major health care problems, many people do not have insurance that covers areas of health care such as vision care, dental care and audiology services. While these are not life threatening health care concerns, they are health care concerns that impact quality of life and even ability to achieve. A child who cannot see well has trouble succeeding in school. A person in pain from tooth problems has trouble concentrating on tasks, and poor oral health is one contributor to nutrition concerns among the elderly. Lack of access to hearing aids increases the social isolation of the elderly, but these services are not covered by Medicare, the federal program that does provide access to health care services for most of the elderly in the United States.

Citation

Jacobs Kronenfeld, J. (2007), "Health inequalities and health disparities: A sociological perspective", Jacobs Kronenfeld, J. (Ed.) Inequalities and Disparities in Health Care and Health: Concerns of Patients, Providers and Insurers (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 25), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 3-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0275-4959(07)00001-4