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Religion – 16/1/2017

It is impossible to say how many religions there are across the world from old age religions like christianity and buddhism to the increasing number of new ones evolving like the Jedi knights to humanists. This input really opened my eyes up to this and how religion is not as clear cut as it may … Continue reading Religion – 16/1/2017 →

Are Scottish people healthy?

In my own opinion, I find it hard to determine either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for the answer to this question. I am aware that Scotland is well known for its unhealthy foods such as irn bru, deep fried mars bars, tablet and shortbread, however this does not mean that we are totally unhealthy. Scotland has a lower life expectancy than other countries, but it has increased by about 7 years in the last 34 years, so surely this is evidence that we are trying to change our health habits. I believe that yes, some people’s diets may not be very good but I don’t think it’s fair to brand everyone as unhealthy as there will be many people who are very healthy and eat well.

The Glasgow Effect

The Glasgow Effect is the low life expectancy and poor health of people living in the area. Poor health is often related to low levels of income. A study shows that the most deprived areas of Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool are very similar, however in Glasgow, premature deaths are 30% higher. The life expectancy of men in Glasgow is almost 7 years below the national average and for woman it is 4 years below. alcohol consumption, smoking and obesity are all factors leading to poor health which is why the mortality rate is lower.

The Glasgow Effect

The Glasgow Effect was a measurement of the poor health, poverty and deprivation rates in Glasgow compared to that of two other cities in England. The study found that Glasgow did indeed have the highest rate of each aspect studied, thus showing that their hypothesis was correct. It was found that the gap between life expectancies in the most deprived and affluent areas was increasing due to the poor health and poverty. ‘SHeS’ data was used to investigate differences between dietary habits in Glasgow and other areas of Scotland. It was found that poor health was partly a result of poor diet, alcohol consumption, obesity and smoking. This showed why the mortality rate for those in Glasgow was lower than that of other areas in the UK.

Overall, researchers found that they do indeed believe there is a ‘Glasgow Effect’. However, they mentioned that they cannot be completely sure or rove that this is the case due to not having enough evidence to do so and there maybe being other explanations as to why the poor health rate, deprivation and poverty levels are higher.

Inclusion, equality and disability.

In the two inputs about inclusion, equality and disability, I learned a lot about what inclusion is and also the extent to which minorities are not included or treated as equals. We learned about the individual, relational and societal levels of inclusion and how each one is important. Inclusion, being the antidote to exclusion of people due to their sexual orientation, ethnical background etc, is closely linked with equality. Equality in the workplace, in society, in relationships/friendships etc is very important as everyone deserves to have a voice and give their opinion. Allport’s scale of prejudice and discrimination shows the extent to which some people are not included and not given a voice.

We also discussed disability in detail and how people are excluded due to having a disability. We looked into the attitudes towards disability and how people treat those with a disability differently. Examples of this were discussed in the tutorial as we looked at how teachers treated students with disabilities and in each case, it seemed to be discrimination.

Religion, Culture and ‘Unchurched’ Spirituality

Religion and culture are two aspects which influence each other, according to this input. We discussed religious culture as a form of identity and as a way of life. It is clear to see that a persons religion influences how they dress and how they act etc. The theories we looked at by Karl Marx and Max Weber showed the positive and negative aspects of being dependent on a religion. Karl Marx described religion as the ‘opium of the people’ (the drug that deadens the soul). The two theorists had opposite ideas about religion and its effect on the economy, population and society as a whole.

‘Unchurched’ Spirituality are the forms of spirituality which are not involved in a church i.e. people with beliefs not associated with any churches. The pros and cons of this were discussed. My opinion is that although there are negative aspects, unchurched spirituality allows people to express their beliefs and embrace their own spirituality rather than adapting to a religion which already exists.

Societies and Lifestyles – Week 5 – 20/2/17

As I said last week; this week was the beginning of a new unit on health and well being within cultures and societies. I found today very interesting as it was mainly focused on at risk behaviours for individuals. We began with an interactive quiz which got us all moving about on a Monday morning. […]

Religion, Society and Diversity

In this input, we discussed the true meaning of religion and what it means to be religious. The believer’s approach and the scholarly approach were looked at in detail. Upon researching these aspects and discussing the pros and cons of having a religion, I believe that it is important and beneficial to some people as it gives them hope and, in some cases, a reason to live. However, in terms of religious cults, which we looked at in detail, I feel that some religions cannot be considered healthy or of any great help to believers in any way as it is having such a negative impact on them and leading them to believe suicide is the only option they have to be pure and be with God.

We also considered religious diversity as a positive and negative aspect in society. I believe religious diversity is important as it allows everyone to expand their knowledge of other peoples religion and helps them to learn to respect other peoples beliefs.

Overall, this input gave a really good insight into the good and bad of different religions as it showed the ways in which religion helps people but also how it hinders them.

Society and Lifestyles

In this weeks lecture we focused on ‘Risk Behaviours’ that have had an effect on society. I found this lecture very interesting and enjoyable, as when I become a teacher I would like to be able to spot behavioural differences in the children, for multiple reasons and do my best to help that child. Some … Continue reading Society and Lifestyles →

Behaviours leading to intentional and unintentional injuries.
Tobacco use
Alcohol and drug abuse
Sexual behaviours resulting in unintended pregnancy and STDs
Dietary patterns leading to disease
Lack of physical activity

Throughout the lecture we were also talking about the four levels of influence, which are Individual/family, school/ peers, community, policy and society. We learned that these factors can have and impact on our health and wellbeing and can increase our mortality rates.

In the tutorial we were asked to read the ‘Glasgow Effect’ document, which was very interesting to read. This document focused on three main cities, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow. It looked into the strong links that income have on morality and poor health. The document focuses on the rates of income in the cities previously mentioned, however it highlights what the rates are in Glasgow.

For example in Glasgow the percentage of premature deaths was 30% higher than in Manchester and Liverpool. For men under the age of sixty-five, early deaths were seen as a result of alcohol and drug abuse.

After reading this document I came to the conclusion that Scots are not the healthiest people and this is having bad consequences on our nation as a result. As linking with the income rates in the ‘Glasgow Effect’ document, people who live in more deprived areas, (34%), are more likely to have poor health. There are many factors which can link with Scots having bad health, however a significant one would be people who don’t live a physical lifestyle. For example only 26% of all adults meet the criteria for completing vigorous physical activity.

References:

Glasgow Centre for Population Health (2010) Investigating a ‘Glasgow Effect. Glasgow: Glasgow Centre for Population Health.

The Glasgow Effect

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The Glasgow Effect refers to the unexplained poor health and low life expectancy of those living in Glasgow , Scotland, compared to the rest of the United Kingdom and Europe. This investigation was put in place to look at and compare Glasgows socio-economic state and mortality rates. This then challenged the question ‘Why does Glasgow have similar levels of deprivation as other cities but appear to have the highest mortality rates?’ The cities that were compared of equally deprived areas around the UK to Glasgow were Liverpool and Manchester.

After completing research on all three of the cities the researchers came to the conclusion that each city was equally income deprived. It highlighted that 1 in 5 potential workers in Glasgow are on incapacity benefit showing the high level of deprivation state in Glasgow. In addition to this, the research suggested that the mortality rates for people under 65 years old was almost 30% higher than those living in cities like Liverpool and Manchester. This proves that it is not only the poor level of deprivation that is causing the mortality rates to be higher.

Following on from this, it appears that the higher mortality rates could be in connection with bad diets and lack of exercise which leads to an unhealthy lifestyle for those living in Glasgow. From looking at the death rates in Glasgow it shows that the death rate caused by suicide in is 70% more than Liverpool and Manchester. Due to lung cancer the death rates in Glasgow are 27% more than the other cities. A figure of great importance is death rates due to alcohol and drug related are almost 50% higher in Glasgow than the other cities mentioned. I find this statistic completely shocking, we now live in a society where people swear by the saying drink to get drunk or not drink at all. Scotland’s culture has now been redeemed for their drinking state and the amount of people who binge drink is becoming increasingly worrying. Poor health choices in this culture are spreading through generations, children and young adults are looking up-to their parents and ultimately copying and coping with their choices.

Scotland has now been named ‘The sick man of Europe’ and I personally feel to have this title over my head is intimidating. The Glasgow Effect may well be related to socio-economic status however, unhealthy lifestyles and the alcohol consumption plays a huge role in the high mortality rates Scotland receives.