Health inequality - Mel Bartley

This book provides all you ever wanted to know about healthinequality but did not dare to ask. We know from many studies thatthere are large differences in life expectancy between the mostprivileged and the most disadvantaged social groups in industrialsocieties. But we need to look beyond the figures to the social andbiological processes that underlie them in order to understand whythis is so. This book provides a key to understanding the four mostwidely accepted theories of what lies behind inequality inhealthcare: behavioural, psychosocial, material and life-courseapproaches.

The methods most commonly employed by health inequalityresearchers are carefully explained in simple terms in a way thatenables readers to judge for themselves how good the evidence isfor each theory. It makes concepts and methods more widelyavailable which can be applied to any area of study that seeks totake account of social and biological factors.

Health Inequality will be essential reading for studentstaking courses in the sociology of health and illness, socialpolicy and welfare, health sciences, public health and epidemiologyand all those interested in understanding the consequences ofsocial inequality for health.