POOR education often equals poor health and an early death, a major new national study commissioned by Catholic Health Australia (CHA) has found.
The report – Health Lies in Wealth, released on September 27 – found that Australians in the lowest socio-economic group die three years earlier than the rest of the nation.
CHA chief executive officer Martin Laverty said the report revealed a person’s socio-economic status was the biggest single indicator of life expectancy and health status, and that the discrepancy has little to do with access to health services.
“There is strong evidence that the social determinants of health – such as income level, housing status and education level – are the factors most responsible for health inequities,” Mr Laverty said.
“Those who are most disadvantaged are at least twice as likely to have a long-term health condition, and in some cases up to four or five times more likely.”
The independent report was commissioned by CHA and written by the University of Canberra’s National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM).
Other key report findings included:
•Up to 65 per cent of those living in public rental accommodation have long-term health problems compared with only 15 per cent of home owners.
•More than 60 per cent of men in jobless households report having a long-term health condition or disability, and more than 40 per cent of women.
•Rates of obesity are about three times higher for those living in public housing, compared with home owners.
•The likelihood of being a high-risk drinker for younger adults who left high school early is up to twice as high as for those with a tertiary qualification.
Mr Laverty said the report showed that government policies targeting behavioural change did not work.
“Health reform in the last term of (the Federal) Government focused on hospitals, not the drivers that cause people to end up in hospitals,” he said.
“With 75 public and private Catholic hospitals across Australia, we absolutely support the need for hospital reform – but we’d prefer to keep people out of hospital.
“As a sophisticated nation, health reform needs to also consider the social determinants of health by linking education, housing and welfare policies to health outcomes.”
