When we talk about health, we as practitioners need to understand health inequalities. Health inequalities are strongly linked with poverty and wider determinants of health.
Health inequalities are ultimately about differences in the status of people’s health. But the term is also used to refer to differences in the care that people receive and the opportunities that they have to lead healthy lives - both of which can contribute to their health status. Health inequalities can therefore involve differences in:
- Health status, for example, life expectancy
- Access to care, for example, availability of given services
- Quality and experience of care, for example, levels of patient satisfaction
- Behavioural risks to health, for example, smoking rates
- Wider determinants of health, for example, quality of housing.
Long-term conditions are a major cause of poor quality of life in England. People in lower socio-economic groups are more likely to have long-term health conditions (external link), and these conditions tend to be more severe than those experienced by people in higher socio-economic groups.
Deprivation also increases the likelihood of having multiple long-term conditions at the same time, and on average people in the most deprived fifth of the population develop multiple long-term conditions than those in the least deprived fifth.
People from ethnic minority groups (external link) are more likely than white British people to report limiting long-term illness and poor health, with those identifying as white Gypsy and Irish Traveller reporting the poorest health.
Physical wellbeing is the ability to maintain a healthy quality of life that allows us to get the most out of our daily activities without undue fatigue or physical stress.
Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Being physically active can:
Individuals who sit less and do any amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity gain some health benefits. Only a few lifestyle choices have as large an impact on your health as physical activity. Everyone can experience the health benefits of physical activity a age, abilities, ethnicity, shape, or size do not matter.
The following resources will provide guidance in relation to “Improved Physical Health”:
There are a number of organisations that can support families with improved physical health: