dr rocal 4113 final project proposal

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4113 project Module

The main difference between absolute and relative measures of the health of a state lies in inequalities. An absolute standard is used to measure the level of poverty in a country to determine the health status (Merson 89). For instance, a state draws a line based on absolute threshold such as the percentage of the populace that lives below the extreme poverty line to determine the health status. A relative measure is used to measure an association between two variables. For instance, the relationship between education level and poverty can be determined to measure the health status of a country.

Improving the overall health of a population may no lead to a reduction in inequities in the health sector because, in contemporary society, social issues such as the level of education, employment status, income level and housing are closely associated with poor health (Merson 78). An overall improvement of health without closing the gap between the wealthy and the have-nots will not end inequity. For instance, measuring the inequity between the rich and the poor child mortality, the poor children continued to suffer. It is because wealthy families use public-sector and private-sector to protect their children but the poor cannot afford both (Merson 88). Therefore, when the general health is improved with the social issues being dealt with, people will still continue to have poor health as those individuals with low income might be able to afford the improved health system thus a continuous health iniquity.

Most conventional measures of social differences include; education, occupation, and income based on expenditure level and consumption or wealth (Merson 88).

Life course is a series of events that are socially defined and the duties that a person enacts over a period in the context of socioeconomic status (Merson 96). It is important because the cumulative events produce health state of a person at any point in time.

Work Cited

Merson, Michael H., Robert E. Black, and Anne J. Mills. Global health. Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2011.