Not everyone in Scotland enjoys the same health outcomes. The most vulnerable groups in our society have the worst health outcomes.

The short video below describes health inequalities in Scotland, using an example from Glasgow. The video shows there is a difference in how long someone can expect to live depending on where they are born, study, work and live.  This unfair difference in people’s health is referred to as a health inequality.

Health inequalities are due to factors such as access to and quality of care and the availability of treatments, how much money you have and the circumstances in which you live (for example, quality of housing or where you live). In short, they are avoidable, but rarely are they due to personal choices. People in difficult circumstances often have few choices available to them.  

Health inequalities not only affect how long you can expect to live. Here are some other examples.

• Homeless people are 14 times more likely than those in the general population to die by suicide. (Source: King’s Fund) 
• The life expectancy of people with learning disabilities is a lot shorter than the Scottish average. (Source: Public Health Scotland) 
• People in the most affluent areas of Scotland experience around 24 more years of ‘good health’ (before ill health or long term conditions) compared to those living in the most deprived areas. (Source: National Records of Scotland) 
• People are 2.3 times more likely to die from COVID-19 if they live in the most deprived areas in Scotland. (Source: Scottish Government) 
• Some ethnic minority groups face up to five times greater rates of death from COVID-19 compared with people of White British background. This is not related to genetic factors but due to the conditions people live and work in. (Source: National Records of Scotland) 

Many of these health inequalities cannot be fixed by you alone. There needs to be changes to government policy and improvements to the communities we live and work in. A recent example of a policy which aims to reduce a known health inequality is funding for annual health checks for people with learning disabilities.  

Being aware of health inequalities like this and what causes them, and understanding the unfair nature of them is really important. It will help you ensure that when you are caring for people you are doing so free from judgement, while also helping them to make healthy choices.  

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