Question

how to measure SES - occupation, income, education and how it affects health ?

What is the poverty line for family of 4 in US? =25000/poverty cycle?

Importance of language access in health care?

Answer 1

The socio-economic status can be measured by using the following factors and there is no standard scale for income as the federal government releases poverty line chart every year and each research differs the score card.

Occupation (on a score of 1-9)

Professionals, Executives, Professionals - 9

Administarators - 8

Managers, Entertainers, Artists - 7

Technicians, Semi-professionals - 6

Sales and Clerical workers - 5

Craftsmen, Skilled manual workers - 4

Semi-skilled workers, Machine operators - 3

Unskilled workers - 2

Service workers, Farm laborers - 1

Income (score varies)

more than $50,000

$35,000 to $49,999

$25,000 to 34,999

$20,000 to $24,999

$15,000 to $19,999

$10,000 to $14,999

Less than $10,000

Education (on a score of 1-7)

Graduate degree - 7

College - 6

Specialized training or partial college (atleast one year) - 5

High school graduation - 4

Partial high school - 3

Junior high school - 2

Less than 7th grade - 1

The socio-economic status directly impacts on physical and mental health. This can be due to work place or occupational stressors and the accessibility of healthcare related to inequity of health resources. Some of the examples in work related diseases are sleep deprivation, fatigue, hypertension, musculoskeletal problems and work related accidents.

The poverty line differs in some states with other states and the federal government releases poverty chart for each year. Based on the year 2018, the poverty level for family of 4 is $25,100 (in 48 states and DC) $31,380 (in Alaska) $28,870 (in Hawaii). This shows a family of four with $25,000 income comes under below poverty line.

It is vital to have a two-way communication for patients and healthcare team for explaining of symptoms, understanding the treatment procedures and to convey the prognosis. Language accessibility plays a crucial role in healthcare as it is the only way to deal with patients from different demographics. Lack of language access leads to communication barrier and may cause medical errors.