The Relationship Between Ethnicity and Health Essay

Introduction

The policy makers are concerned with addressing or correcting imbalances that impact directly on ethnic minorities’ well-being, such as socioeconomic, health, housing, education, lifestyle and discriminatory factors. Aggleton (1990, p.5 as cited in Baggott, 2004) posited that health can be defined in two ways; ‘‘the positive approach, where health is viewed as a capacity or an asset, and the negative approach, which emphasises the absence of specific illnesses, diseases and disorders’’. The Relationship Between Ethnicity and Health Essay

Similarly the World Health Organisation (1946 as cited in Baggott, 2004) defined health as ‘‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’’. This definition is significant in that it highlights physical as well as mental aspects of health while emphasising the ‘positive sense’ as in Aggleton’s definition of health. According to Giddens (2009, p.633) ‘‘ethnicity refers to the cultural practices and outlooks of a given community of people which sets them apart from others’’. Ethnic groups have different traits that set them apart from other groups, such as religion, dress style, language, and history. However, ethnic differences are learned to an extent there have been associations made with health for most of these minority groups. While there is nothing innate about ethnicity, it is central to group and individual identity and similarly important to the health professions who suggest there is a relationship between health and ethnicity. Giddens (2009) argues that this relationship is partial at best but concedes that there is a rather high incidence of illnesses among individuals or groups of ethnic origins. This essay will critically examine and explain the relationship between ethnicity and health. The Relationship Between Ethnicity and Health Essay