Program Overview

Course Overview

Course Description

The course Social Inequalities in Health (SOS2021) provides a description of how health in Norway and other European countries are distributed by various measures of social status and for various measures of health. It will show how health inequalities are measured, how they evolve over time, and compare and explain the magnitude and variation of health inequalities between countries. Explanations will be discussed at both the individual and contextual level, and it will be clear that there are complex processes behind.

Course Details

• Course Code: SOS2021
• Credits: 7.5
• Level: Intermediate course, level II
• Language of Instruction: English and Norwegian
• Location: Trondheim

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge

• The student shall be familiar with the key discussions and recent research in the Norwegian and international health sociology.

Skills

• The student shall demonstrate the ability to apply relevant theories independently.

Learning Methods and Activities

The program is based on a combination of lectures, field trips, and seminars. If few students attend the course in the first two weeks of teaching, the course will be given as an individual study course with supervision.

Compulsory Assignments

• Presentations

Evaluation

• Form of Assessment: 3-day home exam.

Recommended and Required Previous Knowledge

• None.

Course Materials

To be decided at the start of the course.

Credit Reductions

• Course Code: SOS3608
• Reduction: 7.5 sp
• From: Autumn 2019 This course has academic overlap with the course SOS3608. If you take overlapping courses, you will receive a credit reduction in the course where you have the lowest grade. If the grades are the same, the reduction will be applied to the course completed most recently.

Subject Areas

• Sociology

About the Course

The lectures are based on the research from CHAIN, which is a research group at the Department of Sociology and Political Science. There have been major changes in the health of Norwegians, Europeans, and in the world within a fairly short historical perspective. Life expectancy in many parts of the world has increased drastically, which can be attributed to increasingly better living conditions and healthcare. However, some groups of the population have not taken part in this improvement to the same degree. The improvement has been greater for people with higher education and high incomes as compared to people with less education or income. Thus, there are large disparities in depression, physical chronic conditions, subjective health, life expectancy, and all other measurements of health when we compare people's level of education, income, or occupational status. It is possible, in principle, for groups that have fewer resources to achieve the same health as those with the most resources. Consequently, there is an enormous potential for improving public health if we were able to reduce inequalities in health between the rich and the poor.