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SUMMARY:Behaving badly? Perspectives on health inequalities in two sociall
 y contrasting neighbourhoods in North East England - Kayleigh Garthwaite\,
  Department of Geography\, Durham University
DTSTART:20160310T130000Z
DTEND:20160310T140000Z
UID:TALK63416@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr. P MR Howell
DESCRIPTION:It is widely accepted that health inequalities – unfair\, un
 just differences in health determinants and outcomes within and between po
 pulations – have serious immediate and long-term negative impacts on ind
 ividuals and societies. But what do lay people think about the social patt
 erning of health? Stockton Borough\, North East England\, has the greatest
  inequality in male life expectancy in the country - and the gap is wideni
 ng. A man living in the most deprived ward will live\, on average\, 17.3 y
 ears less than a man living two miles away in the least deprived ward. Thi
 s paper presents emerging findings from ongoing\, longitudinal multi-site 
 intensive ethnographic research examining how health inequalities are embo
 died in lived experiences in two contrasting wards within the borough of S
 tockton-on-Tees. The project is focused on providing an interrogation of t
 he nature of locality\, place and community (both as a physical space or a
  social network) in the two contrasting areas\, as well as an extensive an
 d detailed examination of the physical\, social and cultural context withi
 n which health inequalities manifest themselves and are experienced.\n \nO
 verall\, participants tended to explain health inequalities and the subseq
 uent gap in life expectancy in terms of individual behaviours and attitude
 s\, rather than social/structural conditions. Generally\, participants fro
 m the affluent neighbourhood tended to focus on lifestyle choice\, educati
 on\, and generational transmission of values and ‘faulty’ behaviours. 
 These findings are variable\, however\, in terms of an emphasis on structu
 re versus individual agency. Although health behaviour was initially given
  initially as a potential explanation\, particularly during ethnographic o
 bservation\, participants did offer wider\, structural explanations for in
 equality during in-depth interviews. Discussions amongst people living in 
 the most deprived neighbourhood showed that they were very aware of the ef
 fect of relative poverty on their health\, physically\, emotionally\, and 
 socially. Some participants expressed anger and frustration when talking a
 bout their experiences\, but equally\, a sense of fatalism and hopelessnes
 s was present in the accounts of people living in the most deprived areas.
LOCATION:Room 101\, Hardy Building\, Department of Geography
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