Health inequality and disabled people in South Korea

Barriers to healthcare utilisation - Hanna Lee (PhD student, School of Sociology and Social Policy) will be presenting as part of the SSP lunchtime seminar series.

The purpose of this study was to understand the health status of disabled people, their health inequality and the impacting factors in South Korea. This study adopted a mixed methods approach: secondary analysis of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and qualitative data with 24 participants (4 focus groups and 6 individual qualitative interviews with disabled people). Descriptive analysis, concentration index analysis, and concentration index decomposition analysis were applied to the quantitative data.

The results demonstrated that disabled people’s health status is significantly lower than that of non-disabled people. There is, however, heterogeneity within impairment groups. This pattern was then explored in the qualitative data using thematic analysis. Two main themes were identified: secondary impairment and barriers to healthcare utilisation. This paper will present findings on the latter. It will examine how the social determinants of health reinforced health inequality of disabled people before using services, during the trip to hospitals and healthcare service centres, inside and outside hospitals, during consultations and in the ward, and after using the service.

Barriers to healthcare service utilisation and the environments that make disabled people less “healthy” were categorised as physical and structural barriers to access health services; financial barriers; and health services staff related barriers. The paper will conclude that health inequalities and social and economic inequalities are intertwined in complex ways and underpinned by a disablist society.

All welcome. Booking not required.

Location details

Room 12.21 and 12.25
Social Sciences Building
University of Leeds
Leeds
LS2 9JT

View campus map