The relationship between wealth and health (Wealth-health gradient)
Economists argue that wealth determines the health outcome of a person or the society. The World Health Organization (WHO) uses the idea of money to implement its health agendas especially in developing countries of Africa (Anonymous, 2008). Money determines the quality of health care offered to a person. Income acts as the driving force that helps people and societies overcome health disparities experienced by many minority groups. According to Woolf et al. (2015), the relationship between wealth and health forms a gradient that places people at different levels of the economic ladder depending on their wealth.
People earning low incomes report poor health outcomes and stand higher risks of diseases. For example, low-income Americans record higher preferences of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke among others. Low-income Americans cannot afford quality health care services and health insurance bearing in mind the high cost of health care in the United States. On the other hand, wealthy families enjoy the quality and safe health care because they can easily afford high-class health services and home-based health benefits (Woolf et al., 2015).
The influence of social policy on health
Social policies are intended to improve the outcomes of health care. The United States concentrates more on medical care and insurance when developing social policies for its people. The cost of care continues to affect most low-income earners despite the presence of many policies calling for universal access to health care. American political and policy analysts concentrate more on reducing the cost of health but to not take into considerations social factors such as growing populations and spending methods of the people. Social policy influences health outcome by striking a balance between wealth and health, in that every American has the right and privilege of access quality and safe health care irrespective of the socioeconomic status, ethnicity, or cultural background. Moreover, modern social policy approaches focus on strengthening the scientific understanding of different determinants of health and establish evidence-based approaches to deal with health disparities in different communities.
References
Anonyumous. (2008). Health and wealth. The Economist. Retrieved September 07, 2016, from
http://www.economist.com/node/12637080
Woolf, S., et al. (2015). How are income and wealth linked to health and
longevity? Income and Health Initiative: Brief one. Urban Institute: Center for Society and Health.
