Including ‘inclusion health’? A discourse analysis of health inequalities policy reviews

The ‘inclusion health’ agenda aims to draw attention health disadvantages accompanying experiences putatively characterised by social exclusion, such as homelessness, problem substance use, or imprisonment. However, its increasing prominence has surfaced conceptual uncertainties and potential tensions with other understandings of inequalities.We undertook a discourse analysis how recent inequalities policy documents describe, explain, make recommendations relating inclusion health. Using the UK case study, reference public accounts multi-level governance theory, we selected five reviews covering Scotland, UK, European Union, World Health Organisation.All referred some concerns, though their relative emphasis differed between documents. Terms like inclusion, vulnerability were commonly used, but ill-defined often ambiguous. Explanatory discourses diverse, particular focus on intergenerational cycles disproportionate exposure risk, varying individual versus structural factors. Few provided coherent explanatory for relationship issues interest health, associations poor axes inequality.Our results suggest that policymaking in context may benefit from comprehensive frameworks which encompass diverse forms stratification, advantage, disadvantage, acknowledge trade-offs different understandings. This necessitate further theoretical empirical work definitions, bounds, scope interacts inequality.