Understanding lay perspectives on socioeconomic health inequalities in Britain : a meta-ethnography
Smith, Katherine E. and Anderson, Rosemary (2018) Understanding lay perspectives on socioeconomic health inequalities in Britain : a meta-ethnography. Sociology of Health and Illness, 40 (1). pp. 146-170. ISSN 0141-9889 (https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12629)
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Abstract
The links between socioeconomic circumstances and health have been extensively studied in Britain but surprisingly few studies consider lay perspectives. This is problematic given popular efforts to reduce health inequalities appear to be based on assumption that public understanding is limited (this is evident in efforts to raise awareness of both ‘upstream’ causes of health inequalities and health-damaging behaviours). The results of this meta-ethnography, involving 17 qualitative studies, fundamentally challenge this assumption. We show, first, that people who are living with socioeconomic disadvantage already have a good understanding of the links between socioeconomic hardship and ill-health. Indeed, participants’ accounts closely mirror the research consensus that material-structural factors represent ‘upstream’ determinants of health, while ‘psychosocial’ factors provide important explanatory pathways connecting material circumstances to health outcomes. Despite this, people living in disadvantaged circumstances are often reluctant to explicitly acknowledge health inequalities, a finding that we suggest can be understood as an attempt to resist the stigma and shame of poverty and poor health and to (re)assert individual agency and control. This suggests that work to increase public awareness of health inequalities may unintentionally exacerbate experiences of stigma and shame, meaning alternative approaches to engaging communities in health inequalities discussions are required.
ORCID iDs
Smith, Katherine E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1060-4102 and Anderson, Rosemary;-
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Item type: Article ID code: 68563 Dates: DateEvent1 January 2018Published17 October 2017Published Online1 August 2017AcceptedSubjects: Social Sciences > Social pathology. Social and public welfare Department: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) > Social Work and Social Policy > Social Work and Social Policy > Social Work
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) > Social Work and Social Policy > Social Work and Social Policy > Social PolicyDepositing user: Pure Administrator Date deposited: 21 Jun 2019 08:23 Last modified: 08 Nov 2024 01:39 URI: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/68563