Sammendrag
Social inequalities in health have been observed in all countries with available data, and they are on the rise particularly in advanced welfare states. A number of theories have been proposed to explain this growth in health inequalities. This chapter argues that innovation could play a significant role. Well-developed welfare states are also characterized by being technologically advanced. As technological innovations become an increasingly important form of socioeconomic capital in modern society, it is important to understand the ways in which these resources are contributing to health disparities. However, current research has done little to systematically conceptualize or empirically test the dominant mechanisms through which technological innovations may be influencing the persistence and growth of social inequalities in health. This chapter presents a conceptual model, which demonstrates how technological innovations in health appear to have the power to either increase or decrease inequalities. However, the direction and magnitude of this relationship is shaped by a number of mechanisms at various levels of the social spectrum, which are dependent on important technological and sociopolitical contextual factors. Theoretical and empirical research supporting this model are also briefly presented. The implications of the model suggest that technological innovations are important mediators of mechanisms that influence the (re)production of systematic socioeconomic inequalities in health. These implications are then discussed in relation to issues of global health and how they may relate to low-, medium-, and high-income countries.
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