[EQ] Inequalities in health in Scotland: what are they and what can we do about them

Inequalities in health in Scotland: what are they and what can we do about them

 

Sally Macintyre, Occasional Paper Number 17- October 2007

MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit

 

Available online PDF [19p.] at: http://www.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk/files/File/reports/OP017.pdf

 

In this paper she outlines key facts about socio-economic inequalities in health in Scotland. 

She recommends key principles for effective policies to reduce inequalities in health. 

 

These include:
 

·         Maintaining and extending equity in health and welfare systems

·         Levelling up, not down

·         Reducing inequalities in life circumstances, especially education, employment, and income

·         Prioritising early years interventions, and families with children

 

Summarising lessons learnt from research on how best to reduce inequalities in health,
the paper recommends putting a high priority on changes in the physical and social environment
(for example, building and planning regulations, fiscal policies, and reducing price barriers to health-promoting goods and services),
rather than information-based campaigns or interventions which require people to opt in.

 

Table of Contents

Inequalities in health in Scotland: what are they and what can we do about them? 1

What are inequalities in health, and what causes them?

Social gradients in health and health risks

Policy issues and principles

What do we know about what works to reduce inequalities in health?

What do we know about what is likely to reduce inequalities in health?

Possibly competing goals

Appendix 1: Chronology of selected reports and actions on inequalities in health in the UK

            References

 

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