Public Health

Current awareness updates

Restricting promotions of products high in fat, sugar or salt by location and by volume price.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2022.

[Outlines the provisions of the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021, and provides assistance in understanding and applying them.]

United against health inequalities: a commitment to lasting change NHS Providers, April 2022

(This survey of trust leaders shows high board-level commitment and strategic emphasis on tackling health inequalities and commitment to making action on health inequalities ‘core business’. However, they describe several barriers to progress with nearly two in three (65 per cent) saying that wider pressures on the system and operational challenges hinder their ability to progress work on reducing health inequalities. Nearly half of trust leaders expressed concerns about the lack of access to data about health inequalities within trusts (49 per cent) and across the health system (48 per cent).)

Coronavirus Act 2020 two years on.
House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee; 2022.
[This report sets out concerns about parliament’s lack of ability to scrutinise and amend emergency provisions in the Coronavirus Act over the past two years and draws out the lessons that can be learnt in legislating for future emergencies.]


Covid-19: The public inquiries.
House of Commons Library; 2022.
[The Covid-19 pandemic was a severe test of the state’s preparedness, resilience and co-ordination. The response from the UK Government and devolved administrations has raised broader questions about how effectively the challenges have been met. There have been longstanding calls for a public inquiry to be held into the UK’s pandemic response. Two public inquiries have been set up: one by the UK Government and one by the Scottish Government.]

Shifting the Dial: evaluating a community programme to promote young Black men’s mental health.
Centre for Mental Health (CMH); 2022.
https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/publications/shifting-dial
[Young Black men are overrepresented in restrictive mental health settings, but are less likely to get early community-based mental health support. This report shares learning from a three-year project to promote the mental health and wellbeing of young Black men in Birmingham. The project built upon the findings from CMH’s evaluation of an earlier pilot, Up My Street. Shifting the Dial has worked with more than 500 young Black men.]

Can fermented foods boost mental health? Medscape: March 22, 2022

(Commentary by Dr Drew Ramsey)


Podcast

Tackling health inequalities

Source: The King’s Fund Podcast

Helen McKenna talks with Dr Bola Owolabi, Director of Health Inequalities at NHS England and NHS Improvement, about the NHS’s spheres of influence, the power of gathering around a common cause, and whether the experience of the pandemic will lead to a step change in tackling health inequalities.

Listen to the podcast here

Health Inequalities

Equity and endurance: how can we tackle health inequalities this time?

Source: The King’s Fund

The case for tackling health inequalities is clear and overwhelming, and yet attempts to do so in recent decades have had mixed success. Crucially, none of these efforts have translated into the enduring focus on addressing health inequalities that is needed.

Read more here.

Podcast

What women want: addressing women’s health inequalities

Source: The King’s Fund

Host Helen McKenna speaks with Professor Dame Lesley Regan and Dr Janine Austin Clayton about women’s health journeys from start to finish. They explore why women can struggle to get medical professionals to listen to them and the impact this has on diagnosis and treatment, as well as the mental and physical effects on women themselves.

Listen to the podcast here

Public Health

Identifying The Gap: Understanding The Drivers Of Inequality In Public Health

This report aims to provide insights into the historical challenges and approaches taken to tackle the problems affecting public health. Key findings include the need for: longer-term funding and commissioning cycles, investment in the public health workforce; and for public health to be recognised and valued as an integral part of the integrated care system.

Covid 19

Current awareness updates

Protecting Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care Facilities From COVID-19: A Rapid Review of International Evidence.
Dykgraaf SH. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 2021;22(10):1969-1988 .
[High-quality evidence of effectiveness in protecting LTCFs from COVID-19 was limited at the time of this study, though it continues to emerge. Despite widespread COVID-19 vaccination programs in many countries, continuing prevention and mitigation measures may be required to protect vulnerable long-term care residents from COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. This rapid review summarizes current evidence regarding strategies that may be effective.]

Coronavirus: lessons learned to date.
House of Commons Library; 2021.
[This inquiry looked at six key areas of the response to the pandemic in England: the country’s preparedness for a pandemic; the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as border controls, social distancing and lockdowns to control the pandemic; the use of test, trace and isolate strategies; the impact of the pandemic on social care; the impact of the pandemic on specific communities; and the procurement and roll-out of covid-19 vaccines.]

The Big Ask: The Big Answer.
The Children’s Commissioner; 2021.
[The Children’s Commissioner’s Big Ask set out to hear the voices of as many children in England as possible, to amplify them, and to deliver improved life chances for this generation and beyond, following recovery from the pandemic.]

The digital divide: Amplifying health inequalities for people with severe mental illness in the time of COVID-19. [Editorial]
Spanakis P. British Journal of Psychiatry 2021;219(4):529-531.
[People with severe mental illness face profound health inequalities (eg. a >20-year mortality gap). Digital exclusion puts this population at risk of heightened or compounded inequalities. This has been referred to as the ‘digital divide’. For new digital means introduced in clinical practice to augment healthcare service provision, issues of accessibility, acceptability and usability should be addressed early in the design phase, and prior to implementation, to prevent digital exclusion.]

Time use and mental health in UK adults during an 11-week COVID-19 lockdown: A panel analysis.
Bu F. British Journal of Psychiatry 2021;219(4):551-556.
[To examine the associations between specific activities (or time use) and mental health and well-being among people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: These results are relevant to the formulation of guidance for people obliged to spend extended periods in isolation during health emergencies and may help the public to maintain well-being during future lockdowns and pandemics.]

COVID-19 vaccination: women of childbearing age, currently pregnant or breastfeeding.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[Information for all women of childbearing age, those currently pregnant or breastfeeding on coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination. 8 October 2021: Updated ‘COVID-19 vaccination: a guide on pregnancy and breastfeeding’ and links to translated versions of the poster and social media cards.]

Delivering safe, face-to-face adult day care.
Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE); 2021.
[The latest updates to the guidance include: Isolation and vaccination info; Lifting of restrictions (Step 4); Webinar recording on day care; How to access testing; What to do in case of an outbreak; Free provider PPE until March 2022.]

Webinar

The truth about mental health inequality, 8th October 2021

Join the Centre for Mental Health to mark World Mental Health Day by putting the spotlight on mental health inequalities. A year on from their ground-breaking report Mental Health For All?, this webinar looks at the hard facts surrounding inequality in mental health: why some people are so much more likely to face mental health difficulties, or struggle to get the help they deserve.

Read more and register for this event here.

Podcast

‘If you’re not counted, you don’t count’: what can be done to tackle LGBTQ+ health inequalities?

Source: The King’s Fund

People who identify as LGBTQ+ experience disproportionately worse health outcomes and have poorer experiences when accessing health services. Three years on from the Government’s LGBT action plan, Helen McKenna sat down with Dr Michael Brady, National Advisor for LGBT Health at NHS England, and Michelle Ross, Co-Founder and Director of Holistic Wellbeing services at cliniQ to explore the health inequalities LGBTQ+ people face and what needs to happen to make sure health services are inclusive.

Listen to the podcast here.

Covid 19

Current awareness updates

Characterisation of in-hospital complications associated with COVID-19 using the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK: a prospective, multicentre cohort study.
Drake TM. The Lancet 2021;:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00799-6.
[Complications and worse functional outcomes in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are high, even in young, previously healthy individuals. Acute complications are associated with reduced ability to self-care at discharge, with neurological complications being associated with the worst functional outcomes. COVID-19 complications are likely to cause a substantial strain on health and social care in the coming years.]

COVID-19 and the digital divide: Supporting digital inclusion and skills during the pandemic and beyond.
Centre for Ageing Better; 2021.
[This report offers examples of good practice and recommendations for organisations that deliver services to users and help digitally excluded people with skills training. The report finds that the key to building digital inclusion isn’t only about getting more people online, but also building skills and confidence.]

Alcohol consumption and harm during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public Health England (PHE); 2021.
[A report collating data on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm in England during the COVID-19 pandemic and comparing it to data from previous years. The report improves our understanding of how alcohol consumption and harm changed in England while physical and social restrictions to prevent and control coronavirus were in place. The findings help to understand whether pandemic-related changes have affected rates of alcohol hospital admissions and deaths as well as health inequalities.]

COVID-19 vaccination of children and young people aged 12 to 17 years: JCVI statement.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2021.
[Statement from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on COVID-19 vaccination of children and young people aged 12 to 17 years.]

NHS COVID Pass Verifier app.
NHS England; 2021.
[A fast, secure and easy way of allowing people to demonstrate their COVID pass is valid, giving staff confidence in the legitimacy of what is being presented to them. It is a fast, secure way to scan the 2D barcode on an individual’s NHS COVID Pass and verify whether or not they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, had a negative test, or have recovered from the virus – allowing staff to check the legitimacy of what is being presented to them.]

JCVI issues advice on COVID-19 vaccination of children and young people.
Public Health England (PHE); 2021.
[The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is today advising that children at increased risk of serious coronavirus (COVID-19) disease are offered a vaccine.]

The impact of Brexit and COVID-19 on nursing in the UK. [Comment]
Carvalho F. British Journal of Nursing 2021;30(13):822-823.
[Over the years, many experts have stated that nursing in the UK is in crisis and nurses are struggling owing to the increasing number of older and sicker patients, staff shortages and budget cuts that have affected working conditions (Beech et al, 2019). With the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented levels of pressure were placed on an already strained nursing workforce.]

A healthy recovery – Acting on findings from the COVID-19 impact inquiry
The Health Foundation; 2021.
[Launched in October 2020, the COVID-19 impact inquiry has been carefully exploring the pandemic’s broad impact on health and what this means for improving health and reducing health inequalities in the UK – now and in the future. The inquiry launched its final report on 6 July 2021. This webinar, held on the same day, discussed key issues raised in the report – the impact of the pandemic and what needs to be done in recovery to create a healthier, fairer society.]

Unequal pandemic, fairer recovery: The COVID-19 impact inquiry report.
The Health Foundation; 2021.
[By mid-March 2021 the pandemic had led to 119,000 excess deaths in the UK and in 2020 caused a 9.9% drop in GDP. Behind these overall figures lie the unequal burdens carried by different population groups and regions. Although the pandemic is still ongoing, this report explores these impacts and the range of different, intersecting factors influencing them. It provides an initial assessment of the effects of the pandemic using evidence available up to May 2021.]


Podcast

What is the role of the NHS in tackling health inequalities?

Source: The King’s Fund

What is the role of the NHS in tackling health inequalities? | The King’s Fund

Helen McKenna talks with Dr Bola Owolabi, Director of Health Inequalities at NHS England and NHS Improvement, about the NHS’s spheres of influence, the power of gathering around a common cause, and whether the experience of the pandemic will lead to a step change in tackling health inequalities.

Listen to the podcast here.