Poverty, parenting and mental health

How the pandemic has impacted upon families

Source: The King’s Fund

Jo Davies, CEO at WILD Young Parents’ Project, discusses how the pandemic has shone a spotlight on health inequalities and impacted young families and their mental health in Cornwall.

She also shares the important role that charities and voluntary organisations have played during Covid-19 in providing practical and emotional support. Jo challenges leaders to be courageous in their ongoing response to the pandemic and to listen to the voices of local communities.

Watch her 4 minute video here:

Public Health

Current Awareness Updates

Asthma: diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2021.

(This guideline covers diagnosing, monitoring and managing asthma in adults, young people and children. It aims to improve the accuracy of diagnosis, help people to control their asthma and reduce the risk of asthma attacks. It does not cover managing severe asthma or acute asthma attacks. In March 2021, we highlighted the importance of including advice in the personalised action plan on minimising indoor air pollution and reducing exposure to outdoor air pollution.)

Support for people with a learning disability.
House of Commons Library; 2021.

(A description of recent changes to policy and services for people with a learning disability in England. Briefing paper.)

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: a year like no other.
Office for National Statistics (ONS); 2021.

(Analysis of data from a variety of sources on the way life, society and the economy changed during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and how the period compares with other years.)

Coronavirus and the different effects on men and women in the UK: March 2020 to February 2021.
Office for National Statistics (ONS); 2021.

(Brings together different sources to examine how men and women have been affected differently throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Includes information on physical health, mental health, paid work, unpaid work, home-schooling, and loneliness.)

Every action counts.
NHS England; 2021.

(Persuading everyone – staff, patients and visitors – to follow good practice in COVID-19 infection prevention and control is key to keeping healthcare settings as safe as possible. Every Action Counts draws on behavioural expertise to support local NHS organisations with resources on awareness, leadership, morale and wellbeing, training, and operational interventions.)

Global report on Ageism World Health Organisation (WHO); 18th March 2021

(The Global report on ageism outlines a framework for action to reduce ageism including specific recommendations for different actors (e.g. government, UN agencies, civil society organizations, private sector). It brings together the best available evidence on the nature and magnitude of ageism, its determinants and its impact. It outlines what strategies work to prevent and counter ageism, identifies gaps and proposes future lines of research to improve our understanding of ageism.)

Inclusive and sustainable economies: leaving no-one behind Public Health England (PHE); 25th March 2021

(A report and data catalogue from PHE supporting place-based action to reduce health inequalities and build back better. It addresses the social, economic and environmental determinants of health and wellbeing to help achieve healthy people, thriving communities and increased prosperity.)

Saving and improving lives

The future of UK clinical research delivery

Source: The King’s Fund Health Management and Policy Alert

This policy document outlines the government’s vision to unleash the full potential of clinical research delivery to tackle health inequalities, bolster economic recovery and improve the lives of people across the UK.

The future of clinical research delivery sets out the vision for a more patient-centred, pro-innovation and digitally-enabled clinical research environment, which builds on the successes and the lessons we have learned in response to COVID-19 and harnesses the UK’s potential to capitalise on cutting-edge innovations across all treatments and technologies, all phases of research and all conditions.

Their vision puts clinical research delivery front and centre of our plans to build back better so we can tackle the healthcare challenges of the future and patients across the UK and around the world benefit from better health outcomes.

The 5 key themes underpinning the vision are:

clinical research embedded in the NHS
patient-centred research
streamlined, efficient and innovative research
research enabled by data and digital tools
a sustainable and supported research workforce

The goal is to create a clinical research delivery ecosystem which will shape the future of healthcare and improve people’s lives for years to come.

The IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities

A new year’s message

Source: The King’s Fund Health and Wellbeing Bulletin

This report examines the impact of the pandemic on educational, economic, social and health inequalities in the UK. It outlines data and evidence on the groups that have been most heavily impacted by widening inequalities and Covid-19.

The IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities: a New Year’s message

Key findings include:

The COVID crisis has exacerbated inequalities between the high- and low-paid and between graduates and non-graduates.

The crisis has hit the self-employed and others in insecure and non-traditional forms of employment especially hard.

Educational inequalities will almost certainly have been exacerbated by the crisis

Between March and July, mortality rates from COVID-19 were twice as high in the most deprived areas as in the least deprived.

The crisis has had very different impacts on different ethnic groups.

Through 2020, pensioners have on average reported becoming financially better off, whilst the young have borne the brunt of job and income loss. (The IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities)

To find out more click here.

King’s Fund Free Event

What’s in store for health and care in 2021?

This free online event, taking place Thursday 28th January 2021 (10am -11am), will provide insight into the wider UK health and care landscape in 2021 and will explore how recent trends, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and future developments could affect people working in the sector, patients and the wider population.

Their speakers will discuss some of the big issues that we hope to see progress on in 2021, including health and care staff wellbeing, social care reform, population health and health inequalities, and legislative changes to support the integration agenda.

To register for a place click here.

Digital technology and health inequalities

A scoping review

Source: King’s Fund Digital Health Digest

This report, published jointly by Public Health Wales and The King’s Fund, explores how a lack of access, skills and motivation for using digital technologies could contribute to inequalities in health and other outcomes. It considers approaches to reduce the widening differences between groups.

Mental health for all

Commission for equality in mental health

Source: King’s Fund- Health Management and Policy Alert

This final report of the Commission finds that mental health inequalities mirror wider economic and social inequalities. Wealth and power inequalities put at risk the mental health of people experiencing poverty, racial injustice and discrimination. This creates sharp social divisions, meaning that many groups of people face two or three times the risk of mental ill health. Yet the same groups of people find it harder to get help for their mental health, and in some cases also get poorer outcomes when they do. This report highlights, however, that effective action is possible. It sets out what a system designed for equality would look like, and how communities, local organisations, public services and national government can work together to generate change at scale.

Key contributors to mental health equality

For more information click here.

Health Inequalities

Hidden Figures: health inequalities faced by LGBT communities

This report from the LGBT Foundation analyses research and data to assess the health inequalities faced by LGBT people throughout their lives.

Read the report here.

Institute of Health Equity

Health equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 years on

Ten years since the publication of The Marmot Review, for the first time in more than one hundred years life expectancy has failed to increase across the country, and for the poorest ten per cent of women it has actually declined. Over the past decade health inequalities have widened overall, and the amount of time people spend in poor health has increased since 2010. Because health is closely linked to the circumstances in which we are born, grow, live, work and age, large funding cuts, under the banner of austerity, have had an adverse effect.