Discrimination and Health

I wanted to continue the discussion on the association between discrimination and health since I came across a good article that outlines five inequality variables that lead to negative health outcomes. This blog has talked about two major factors -- access to quality health care and social stress. This article mentions these two factors and notes additional factors that are important to consider.

These five variables are a result of a variety of inequalities found in lower socioeconomic brackets.

The first variable is economic and social deprivation. The author notes "residential and occupational segregation lead to greater economic deprivation...and increased likelihood of living in neighborhoods without good supermarkets, thereby reducing access to affordable nutritious diets; risk of hypertension is elevated by nutritional pathways involving high fat, high salt, and low vegetable diets."

Second, residential inequalities lead to higher exposure of toxic substances and hazardous conditions among those with a lower socioeconomic status. "Residential segregation increases risk of exposure to lead...contaminated soil..."

The third factor is socially inflicted trauma. This ranges from psychological stress caused by formal or informal discrimination to violence. These conditions "provoke fear" which can cause sustained levels of hypertension and high blood pressure, plus increasing the risk of injury as a result of violence.

The fourth factor is targeted marketing of legal and illegal substances, such as alcohol and junk food. Studies have found targeted alcohol beverage marketing in lower income communities. This type of marketing increases the "harmful use of alcohol" to cope with distress.

The fifth factor is one that this blog has talked a lot about--inadequate health care, including access to health care facilities. "Insufficient and inappropriate" medical can lead to undiagnosed or poorly treated conditions.

An abstract of the article, written by Nancy Krieger (Professor of Society, Human Development and Health at Harvard School of Public Health), can be found here.