Glossary of terms
- Health inequalities - differences in health status or in the distribution of health determinants between different population groups.
- Health inequity - differences in health status or in the distribution of health resources between different population groups, arising from the social conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.
- Shifting work upstream - focusing on the root causes of health inequalities – the ‘causes of the causes’ or ‘wider determinants’ such as employment, housing, and education.
- Wider determinants of health - a diverse range of social, economic, and environmental factors that impact on people’s health. Such factors are influenced by the local, national, and international distribution of power and resources which shape the conditions of daily life.
- Proportionate universalism - the resourcing, commissioning, and delivering of universal services at a scale and intensity proportionate to the degree of need. Services are therefore universally available, not only for the most disadvantaged, and are able to respond to the level of presenting need
- Intersectionality - the acknowledgement that everyone has their unique experience of discrimination and oppression meaning we must consider anything that can marginalise individuals including gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, etc.
- Inverse Care Law - a term used to describe a perverse relationship between the need for health care and its actual utilisation, in that those who most need medical care are least likely to receive it, and those with least need of health care tend to use health services more (and more effectively). For example, rates of immunisation, and screening for cervical and breast cancer, are significantly lower in people from more deprived areas - areas where cancer mortality rates are highest. Taking a targeted approach and allocating more resources to deprived areas is necessary to improve poor quality services and reduce variation in service provision.
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