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Health inequality in the United Kingdom

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My name is Hannah. I live in England. I like it here.

Ethnic Minorities Health Inequalities in the UK
There are various factors affecting the health of ethnic minorities within the UK due to health inequalities. The term ‘BAME’ is often used however, the use of this term can be problematic for various reasons, such as a indicating power relations and also having a focus on skin colour. Therefore, this article will use the term ethnic minorities.

Furthermore there are numerous factors that may be the cause for these inequalities. Amongst these factors are various social determinants which includes, living in socio-economic disadvantaged neighbourhoods which impacts on having a lack of finances and resources and poor-quality housing. Additionally, psychosocial determinants also have an impact. This includes impact on mental and physical health.

Socio-economic status
A gradient of inequalities in society exists, there is a relationship between health in England and Wales for those who have socio- economic status in comparison to those who do not. The better a person’s position in society, regarding a person’s occupation, housing condition and education, the better their health is likely to be. Unemployment has been associated with rates of morbidity and mortality as well as poor work settings. Health inequalities are influence by finances and resources. Inequalities in income impact on health inequalities. The financial situation of a person influences choices that impact on their health, food that they buy as well as choices that they make regarding their lifestyle, such as fitness and exercise.

Individuals living in poorer areas are likely to experience health inequalities which impacts on life span, not only is it likely to impact on life expectancy but it also has an effect on quality of life. Housing and neighbourhood conditions are also crucial determinants of health Factors including pollution and living in damp conditions contributes to respiratory health conditions

Psychosocial determinants
There are also direct and indirect effects of stress that contribute to health inequalities High income countries and the social hierarchy is linked to health outcomes

Individuals who experience poor quality of education, low paid occupations in poor settings, poor housing are more likely to suffer from stress. The longer they are in these situations of disadvantage the more likely they are to suffer mentally.

In contrast to this, there is also research conducted within the UK indicates that in fact ethnic minorities have better mental well-being due to cultural factors that enable individuals to have more support, including strong family relations.

However, due to vast research indicating the impact of social structural determinants on mental wellbeing and due to recent the social inequalities within the UK being further exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic this research is ongoing

Interventions
England aimed to introduce interventions to reduce health inequalities, the strategy was based on two steps. In 1999, the first step which involved the Department of Health issuing "Reducing health inequalities: an action inequalities in Health", which was the governments response to recommendations made in the "independent inquiry into inequalities in Health". This included various government policies such as introducing " Health Action Zones", higher pensions, urban housing regeneration and national minimum wage. This was followed by the second step of reducing health inequalities in 2003, "Tackling health inequalities: a program for Action" was published which consisted of targets that were aimed to be achieved by 2010. This programme included various interventions which were aimed at improving the quality of housing and managing risks of poor health by introducing interventions focusing on diet and physical activity. The interventions were effective however the health inequalities were not reduced in terms of infant mortality or life expectancy. Amongst some of the issues were that the interventions were not conducted on a large enough scale to have this impact.