scholarly journals Is it unjust that elderly people suffer from poorer health than young people? Distributive and relational egalitarianism on age-based health inequalities

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-164
Author(s):  
Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen

In any normal population, health is unequally distributed across different age groups. Are such age-based health inequalities unjust? A divide has recently developed within egalitarian theories of justice between relational egalitarians focusing on the egalitarian nature of social relations and luck egalitarians focusing on the distribution of goods such as welfare or resources. I argue that the most plausible versions of these two theories – ‘whole lives’ luck egalitarianism and time-relative relational egalitarianism – imply conflicting answers to the opening question. Under realistic conditions, the former implies that, from the perspective of luck egalitarian justice, it is better that old people are disadvantaged by bad health than that they are not, whereas the latter theory implies that many age-based health inequalities involve unjust, non-egalitarian social relations and are therefore unjust. Hence, I contend that different egalitarian concerns must be balanced against one another, suggesting that the relational concern has greater weight in this particular case. Along the way, I propose a social model of old age analogous to the social model of disability and suggest that a whole lives version of relational egalitarianism might also be attractive.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamila Albin

This paper gives critical consideration to the so-called disability simulations, a widespread practice during disability awareness trainings, conducted in different age groups: for students of primary schools, high schools, administrative staff, cultural institutions, etc. It is commonly believed that „embodiment” into a person with disabilities can have a positive impact on attitudes towards people with disabilities. On the other hand, some activists and researchers claim that such disability simulations can reinforce prejudices and negative stereotypes, portraying disability as an individual experience and personal tragedy. This stands against the notion of the social model of disability. Using an autoethnographic perspective, the author, basing herself, among other things, on her own experience as a trainer, analyses the practice of disability simulations trainings. The aim of the analysis is not only to take a critical look at what is becoming a common method of teaching about disability, but also to look for alternatives that promote social understanding of disability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-63
Author(s):  
Angela Makris ◽  
Mahmooda Khaliq ◽  
Elizabeth Perkins

Background: One in four Americans have a disability but remain an overlooked minority population at risk for health care disparities. Adults with disabilities can be high users of primary care but often face unmet needs and poor-quality care. Providers lack training, knowledge and have biased practices and behaviors toward people with disabilities (PWD); which ultimately undermines their quality of care. Focus of the Article: The aim is to identify behavior change interventions for decreasing health care disparities for people with disabilities in a healthcare setting, determine whether those interventions used key features of social marketing and identify gaps in research and practice. Research Question: To what extent has the social marketing framework been used to improve health care for PWD by influencing the behavior of health care providers in a primary health care setting? Program Design/Approach: Scoping Review. Importance to the Social Marketing Field: Social marketing has a long and robust history in health education and public health promotion, yet limited work has been done in the disabilities sector. The social marketing framework encompasses the appropriate features to aligned with the core principles of the social model of disability, which espouses that the barriers for PWD lie within society and not within the individual. Incorporating elements of the social model of disability into the social marketing framework could foster a better understanding of the separation of impairment and disability in the healthcare sector and open a new area of research for the field. Results: Four articles were found that target primary care providers. Overall, the studies aimed to increase knowledge, mostly for clinically practices and processes, not clinical behavior change. None were designed to capture if initial knowledge gains led to changes in behavior toward PWD. Recommendations: The lack of published research provides an opportunity to investigate both the applicability and efficacy of social marketing in reducing health care disparities for PWD in a primary care setting. Integrating the social model of disability into the social marketing framework may be an avenue to inform future interventions aimed to increase health equity and inclusiveness through behavior change interventions at a systems level.


Medicne pravo ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 86-94
Author(s):  
R. B. Hobor

In spite of all the short-comings, the level of protection of rights and capabilities of people with disabilities has become a good indicator of nation’s development, and such a trend is nothing but hopeful. At the same time, one can hardly imagine that this high attitude would be attainable without the influence of left liberal ideologies, that among omnibus achievements granted the shift from medical to social disabilities model.This situation cannot stand but to resemble in a certain state of rights and capabilities exercise, and even the availability of access to the key resources is impossible to bring to the point of marginalization of the mental and physical health problems. As the analyzed material shows, left liberal ideologists,being responsible for shaping the current International Law on Persons with Disabilities, finally succeeded in promoting their principle ideas in the nation case-law. The right to water, lay down on the ship’s practice, as you will look lower, you can use the clever illustration of that relief flow, as the national judiciary can fix the development of the rights and capabilities of individuals from the same basis.The article further develops the idea, that national courts sometimes tend to use realistic approach (as invented by R. Pound, J. Llewellyn, O.W. Holmes) for the sake of implementing the social model of disability. It has been concluded that legal realism is a transmitter for left liberal values in the modern western societies.


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