Health is influenced by a plethora of factor whereby the social status is one of them. Various studies have been conducted to decipher the relationship between the social elements and health hence proving their influence. Among the studies, the Acheson and Black reports set the grounds for research and discussions into this concept. From the reports, it was found that there exists an indirect influence of the social class on the health and illness of individuals or generally a society. People can be categorized by their income and wealth whereby there are the wealthy, middle class and the poor which primarily refers to their social level or status. Their social condition consequently affects their health. For example, a study in the UK showed that mortality rate among the high social class was low as compared to the high mortality rate in the poverty class. Social class differences lead to health gaps among a population or a community. The rich people have the resources to access to the preventive measure of some diseases while the poor are left vulnerable. Moreover, in the event both classes have an illness, the poor lack the necessary capital to access quality healthcare services. In this case, the poor will have good health status as opposed to the poor which is all influenced by their social status. Also, theories have been postulated to put forth this concept. Among them is the normative model of social exclusion. The model explains the health disparities created among people because of their social status. From the Black and Acheson report, there were developed some theories that underpin the same concept of health being socially influenced. The activities associated with particular social class affect the health of such a group. For example, smoking that is high among the low social class people predisposes them to ill health conditions hence. On the other hand, the rich engage in activities that enhance their health, for example, enjoying a balanced diet that boosts their health.
Health is Socially Determined
Numerous elements join together to influence the soundness of people at individual and community or society levels. The determinants of the health of a people are reliant on the prevailing conditions and the environment in which they thrive (Maslach and Jackson, 2013, p.227). To a considerable extent, elements, for example, place of residence, the status of the surroundings, innate attributes, income and educational status, and our relationships all affect an individual's health (Selingman and Csikszentmikalyi, 2014, pp.279-298). The more regularly considered factors, for example, access and utilization of social insurance benefits frequently have less of an effect on the health status (Stoddart and Evans, 2017, pp.27-64). Moreover, in recent times there is a developing assemblage of relevant research demonstrates that postulates human wellbeing and lifespan aren't just matters of qualities and propensities (Courtenay, 2000, p.1). Or maybe, they appear to have a considerable measure to do with our relative status or position in the public arena which is referred to as social determinant of health. Factors such as ethnicity, gender, age and the social status all have a bearing on the health of an individual or a population (Perreira, 2017). In this article, the effect of the social status on individual's or a society's illness and health will be discussed.
Definitions
The dictionary definition of the term health is the condition of being free from illness (Boorse, 2013, pp.30-41). At a first look, this definition is by all accounts immediate and basic. However, the significance of the word 'wellbeing' these days is significantly more intricate. The above definition practically aggregates up our perspective of wellbeing in the primary portion of the twentieth century. In recent decades, the definition and idea of wellbeing have advanced to include a bigger number of components than simply the physical well-being of an individual. This is halfway credited to different studies and researches that have occurred over the most recent 60 years (Stoddart and Evans, 2017, pp.27-64). Implying that the external factors have an impact on health, therefore, for the sociological perspective, health is defined as a condition whereby the emotional, mental and physical elements of a person are harmoniously functioning correctly (Aneshensel, Phelan and Bierman, 2013, pp.1-19). Illness, on the other hand, entails the poor condition of the soul, mind, and the body (Chopra, 2015). Essentially, it is the sentiment of being unwell or debilitated. Illness involves the response mechanisms of the body to a status that can negatively influence the ramifications on a person's wellbeing. The body can present these reactions in various ways such as fever, fatigue, muscular weakness and impaired vision (Conway, 2012, pp.441-449).
Another critical definition to decipher is the social class, which is the presence of similitudes in a populace about status, impact, and riches. In sociology, the social level can be controlled by the utilization of notoriety, subjective and target techniques (Oakes and Rossi, 2003, pp.769-784). Taking a gander at the numerical values, apparently the level of riches and pay separates the general public for example in the USA about 1% of its population is considered wealthy, about fifty per cent is classified as the middle class while 20% is regarded as inferior (Lopez-Calva and Ortiz-Juarez, 2014, pp.23-47). The figure distinguishes various categories of people into distinct courses which form their social class.
Health is socially determined
There have been much-heated discussions on how social inequalities can lead to illness and consequently affect an individual's health or the health of society since the release of the findings of studies by Black and Acheson (Bartley, 2016). Investigations into this matter have shown, for example in the UK that through the unequal sharing of resources different social classes are created. Overly, the social classes created have negative or positive implications for the health of individuals or the society. A report by Sir Douglas Black proved that the social inequalities are behind the increasingly poor health in the UK (Mackenbach et al., 2002, pp.25-49). The states of work, business, diet, housing, education, and social status form part of the elements identified in the report to be leading cause of the health inequalities among the English (Sim and Mackie, 2006, pp.185-186).
The Acheson report, additional research to the Black description linked the social elements and their effect on health in the UK. The specification further, provided prove that social inequalities were translated to the health disparities among different social classes. The report showed that the upper social class encountered moderately lower mortality when contrasted with different social levels in the general public. Such findings led to the government of UK and other stakeholders to aim at reducing health inequality to boost the health status of the whole population of the country (Mackenbach, 2012, pp.761-769).
The social status influences another evidence of health is a journal article by Friel (2018). In this manuscript, income disparities are postulated to be the significant elements shaping the political, economic and the social welfare of humanity. Its impact is then reflected in the health and general social well-being of the society. Further, the article shows that the social status determines the accessibility to quality healthcare whereby the rich or those in high social class successfully use their wealth to prevent diseases and cure them. On the contrary, those with low social level are incapacitated by the lack of necessary resources to improve their health hence the health is a reflection of their social status.
Theories have also been postulated to support the concept of the social status determining the health of an individual or that of the society. These believe can on wellbeing and social class can be arranged comprehensively as realist and social. As indicated by the UK Black report, the social endeavor of by individual can imply how ailment and poor health influenced the people. The behavioral hypothesis portrays that a portion of the exercises that people share have the immediate repercussions on the spiritual, mental, and physical wellbeing. Individual activities, for example, physical endeavors, diet, liquor consumption, and tobacco smoking all focus out to the social standards that can affect a person's wellbeing. Then again, materialist realist hypotheses build up an alternate clarification of a similar idea. The theory makes more accentuation on how wealth status incorporating riches are the crucial elements that decide the well-being or disease amongst individuals. As indicated by this argument, social class is an essential determinant of individual health since it regulates the simplicity to procure assets or civilities. Well, of people will have the capacity to have perfect work condition, bear the cost of appropriate housing and sustenance, and look for the proper health administrations that may effectively handle to their unique needs (Eikemo et al., 2017, pp.137-153).
Another example of a model explaining health as being determined by the social status is the Wilkinson's Model that endeavors to clarify how social variables can be converted into people's practices. The theory trusts that components, for example, being stationary, substance misuse, being overweight, and smoking would all be able to be identified with social variables. The recorded wellbeing status or causation factors are for the most part connected with the poor people in the general public. In principle, Wilkinson investigates the social conduct in the capitalist nations such as the U.K and the U.S. The results of the overview supports the concept exhibited in the model that wellbeing or ailment of a person or a populace limits to the appropriation of pay and other social factors (Ford et al., 2018).
Another model is the "Normative theory of social Exclusion" which illustrates the social coherence and social classification that is apparent in the world. The theory explains that social status further widens the health disparities among the rich and the poor (Friel, 2018).
Conclusion
The health of an individual or that of the society is influenced by a consortium of factors which include ecological, economic and social factors. The discussion above has focused on the social status and its shreds of evidence of how they influence health. Defined as the availability of similarities in a populace regarding wealth, state, and influence, social class, has been proven by the various studies to affect illness and the wellbeing of the UK people. For example, the Black and Acheson reports that were financed by the government of UK prove the relationship between the social class and health of people. Along with these reports, some theories have been constructed to decipher how the social elements translate into the health of the society. For example the normative model of social exclusion.
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