Social status |
Social status describes an individual’s position in society and reflects material and immaterial resources such as education, income and the availability of such resources through the social position. It also refers to the particular societal group to which one belongs, such as migrants, single educated parents, working poor, etc. Low social status is one of the most important factors negatively affecting physical and psychic health through its association with unhealthy living conditions, higher environmental and occupational exposures, unhealthy behaviour, and lower propensity to seek and access health care. In the EPH department, many projects address the role of social status in disease occurrence and disease burden, and its relation to gender, culture, poverty, help seeking, resilience, and consider how to integrate findings in health policies in different contexts.