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Showing results for tags 'Health inequalities'.
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Content ArticleDiabetes UK are calling on government for a recovery plan to tackle 'devastating’ diabetes care delays – before it’s too late Diabetes is serious and people living with diabetes have been ‘pushed to the back of the queue’ during the coronavirus pandemic and a national recovery plan is needed to support front-line healthcare teams in getting vital services back on track. Diabetes UK warn that despite the tireless efforts of the NHS through the pandemic, many people living with the condition are still struggling to access the care they need, putting them at risk of serious complications, which can lead to premature death. This new report published by Diabetes UK as part of our Diabetes Is Serious campaign, shows the scale of the problem and sets out a series of calls to UK Government to tackle it.
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Content ArticleEpistemic injustice occurs when a person is not given authority and credibility as a 'knower' in a conversation, due to negative stereotypes associated with their identity. These stereotypes might relate to their age, gender, ethnicity, social class, education, sexual orientation or health. Young people with unusual experiences and beliefs are particularly at risk of experiencing epistemic injustice, and this can have a negative impact on their health outcomes. In this blog Joe Houlders, Matthew Broome and Lisa Bortolotti from the University of Birmingham talk about the risks of young people with unusual experiences and beliefs experiencing epistemic injustice in clinical encounters. This is the first in a series of blogs reporting outcomes from a project on Agency in Youth Mental Health, led by Rose McCabe at City University.
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Content ArticleHealth literacy is about people having enough knowledge, understanding, skills and confidence to use health information, be active partners in their care and navigate health and social care systems. Health literacy levels in the UK are low, with 43% of 16 to 65-year-olds in England struggling with text-based health information and 61% unable to understand health information that includes both text and numbers. This e-learning resource by Health Education England and NHS Scotland aims to help people working in health and social care understand and promote health literacy.
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Content ArticleIn this article in the journal Public Health, Göran Dahlgren and Margaret Whitehead, the original authors of the Dahlgren and Whitehead model of the main determinants of health, sometimes known as ‘The Rainbow Model', reflect on how the model has been used over the past thirty years. They tell the story of the model’s journey from initial rejection to worldwide acclaim, and reflect on why it has proved illuminating in many different settings. The authors also outline how they use the model with the complementary Diderichsen Framework to explain the how the known determinants of health bring about health inequalities. They then discuss what else needs to be done to gain insight and take action on determinants of health and growing inequalities in the post-pandemic world.
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Content ArticleThis report by the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RCOG) examines the real-life impact of long gynaecology waiting lists on women and on the wider health system. It highlights the problems that existed in accessing NHS gynaecology services before the Covid-19 pandemic, and reveals how the situation has become far worse due to the backlog of care: Gynaecology waiting lists across the UK have now reached a combined figure of over 570,000 women across the UK – just over a 60% increase on pre-pandemic levels Gynaecology waiting lists in England have grown the most in percentage terms of all elective specialties The number of women waiting over a year for care in England has increased from 66 before the pandemic to nearly 25,000 RCOG recognises that gynaecology has often been overlooked, and calls for the specialty to be given parity in recovery plans.
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Content ArticleIn this blog for NHS Confederation, Kadra Abdinasir talks about how mental health services have failed to engage with young black men, and describes how services need to change to overcome the issue. She argues that delivering effective mental health support for young black men requires a move away from a crisis-driven response, to investment in system-driven, community-based projects. Kadra looks at learning from Shifting the Dial, a three-year programme recently piloted in Birmingham as a response to the growing and unmet needs of young black men aged 16 to 25. A recent report on the project found that most young men involved in Shifting the Dial reported good outcomes related to their wellbeing, confidence, sense of belonging and understanding of mental health.
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Content ArticleThis report presents the findings and conclusions of an independent review into clinical governance arrangements within maternity services at The North West London Hospitals NHS Trust. The independent review was set up following three maternal deaths in one year and two other serious untoward incidents (SUIs) in the Trusts's maternity unit.
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Content ArticleThis report by the Health and Social Care Commons Select Committee examines why cancer outcomes in England remain behind other comparable countries. For example, 58.9% of people in England diagnosed with colon cancer will live for five years or more, compared to 66.8% in Canada and 70.8% in Australia. The report identifies key issues in early diagnosis, access to treatment, variation in services and research and innovation, and makes recommendations aimed at improving cancer survival rates in England.
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Content ArticleIn the 1790s, François Marie Prevost, a young French surgeon fresh from his medical training in Paris moved to Port-de-Paix, Haiti. “Of course at that time Haiti was France's most economically valuable colony”, says historian Deirdre Cooper Owens. “So there he began some experimental work on enslaved Haitian women, trying to perfect the caesarean section.” Prevost's sojourn coincided with the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, who had been born a slave, the fight for Haitian independence, and the abolition of slavery. And so Prevost left Haiti for Louisiana. “He moved to a little town outside of Baton Rouge, and began experimental surgery on enslaved women there, perfecting the caesarean section, and he did this in the 1830s, the era before the civil war that ends slavery.” It was also an era in which Louisiana surgeons were reluctant to attempt the experimental surgery on white women. Of the 15 caesarean sections done by Prevost and others in Louisiana between 1820 and 1861, all were performed on enslaved women. “At the time, in the 19th century, during the time of slavery, they couldn’t consent”, she explains. “But this is the really interesting thing: from the 1830s all the way to the 21st century, Louisiana has been in the top three states with the most caesarean sections on Black women patients…So what's going on, did all of these women need to have caesarean sections?”
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Content ArticleThis statement from Hugh Alderwick, Director of Policy, outlines the Health Foundation's response to the House of Commons votes on the Health and Care Bill on 30 March 2022. He highlights the potential for the policies voted through to increase health inequalities, and to stall attempts to improve health and care workforce planning.
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Content ArticleWhen people already negatively affected by unfavourable social determinants of health seek care, healthcare itself may make health inequalities worse, rather than tackling them. This is seen in certain demographic groups experiencing disproportionate levels of harm. This article in The BMJ argues that focusing on patient safety in terms of specific health inequalities will help make healthcare more equally safe. It looks at interpersonal and structural factors that shape care experiences for people from marginalised backgrounds, including poor communication, basing treatment on models built around majority norms and healthcare worker bias. It highlights the importance of having a clear line of accountability for unequal harms so that individuals and organisations are given responsibility for taking action to overcome issues.
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Content ArticleJail can never be a safe place to be pregnant but the flouting of rules makes things worse. No woman should suffer as I did, writes Anna Harley in this Guardian article.
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Content Article1 in 5 women are affected by maternal mental health problems, which are the leading cause of maternal death in the first postnatal year. This report by the Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) estimates the costs and benefits of a model of care which could give women’s mental health the same priority as their physical health during the perinatal period. The model focuses on the essential role of midwives and health visitors and would allow for women’s mental wellbeing to be accurately assessed at every routine contact and suitable treatments to be offered. It is based on research commissioned by MMHA and conducted by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), which estimates that making changes to standard practice could mean £52 million in NHS savings and quality of life improvements worth £437 million.
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Content ArticleCore20PLUS5 is NHS England's national approach to reducing healthcare inequalities. In this blog, Paul Gavin, Deputy Director of the Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme, reflects on learnings from a recent online survey about Core20PLUS5 in which healthcare professionals and voluntary sector organisations shared their views on the approach. NHS England have also produced an infographic summarising the survey results.
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Content ArticleThe East of England share their race strategy.
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Content ArticleSadly, we live in a world where racism, misogyny, ableism and other forms of discrimination and prejudice exist. As an organisation that is rooted in and serves our community, we are not exempt from such discriminatory beliefs and behaviours, writes Solent Trust’s Anna Rowen in this HSJ article.
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Content ArticleGender bias in healthcare is a well-recognised issue. From diagnosis to drug development and treatment, the modern healthcare system has been shown to advantage men over women. Responsibly designed artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms have the potential to overcome gender bias in medicine. However, if machine learning methods are implemented without careful thought and consideration they can lead to the perpetuation and even accentuation of existing biases. How can we develop technology in a way that prevents rather than perpetuates bias? This blog from Babylon highlights 4 key principles that can help.
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Content ArticleThis briefing by The Health Foundation Improvement Analytics Unit looks at recent data around patient preferences for online and face-to-face consultations and examines the impact of the increasing use of online tools on patient access to primary care. The Improvement Analytics Unit examined 7.5 million patient-initiated requests for primary care made using the askmyGP online consultation system between March 2019 and September 2021 at 146 general practices in England. These practices had a combined total list size of 1.35 million patients.
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Content ArticleRoger Kline, Research Fellow at Middlesex University Business School, comments on the Government “Action Plan” on racism.
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Content ArticleIn October 2021 the UK Government launched a review of leadership in health and social care, led by former Vice Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Gordon Messenger. In this article, the NHS Confederation - the membership organisation that brings together, supports and speaks for the whole healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - looks at the key issues for NHS leadership that NHS Federation members would like to see addressed in Sir Gordon Messenger’s final report, expected to be published in April 2022.
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Content Article
Animation - Help (20 August 2020)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Staff safety
This short animation provides a commentary on stigma about mental healthcare for doctors, highlighting that a culture change is needed in the way we talk about and approach mental health in the healthcare community. -
Content ArticleThis analysis by the Health Foundation examines the mismatch between the public’s perceptions of what influences health (namely individual behaviour and access to care) and the clear evidence base that demonstrates the significance of wider determinants of health. The authors explore the reasons behind public perceptions and look at how public health professionals can use communications techniques to improve public understanding of evidence about health inequalities.
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Content ArticleThis report by Healthwatch highlights barriers and delays that people with little or no English can face when trying to access healthcare. Based on research conducted by Healthwatch, it examines the difficulties that patients with little or no English encounter at every stage of their healthcare journey, including registering with a GP, accessing urgent care, navigating healthcare premises, explaining their problems and understanding what the doctor says. It highlights system-, staff- and patient-related barriers that must be tackled in order to achieve equal access to care.
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Content ArticleWhile inequalities in health have always been a problem, the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on inequalities, and created an opportunity for change. In this long read by The King's Fund, the authors look at the importance of developing a long-term approach to tackling health inequalities. They examine at historical attempts to tackle health inequalities and argue that we need an enduring national mission to tackle inequality. They highlight that action is needed at national and local levels if this mission is to succeed.
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Content ArticleThis article in The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine looks at the issue of systemic racism in long-term services and supports (LTSS) including nursing homes and home- and community-based care in the USA. The authors highlight segregation and disparities, with Black, Indigenous, and persons of colour (BIPOC) users having less access to quality care and reporting poorer quality of life. The authors make a number of policy recommendations to address these health inequalities in LTSS: Targeted increases to Medicaid reimbursement tied to direct care, and targeted enhanced Medicare and/or Medicaid reimbursement to LTSS providers that serve a disproportionate share of Medicaid or underserved older adults. Pay for performance incentives should focus on improving care among LTSS providers who serve individuals with disadvantaged status because of systemic racism and that operate above and beyond a person's clinical severity and comorbidity. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should develop an overall health equity measure which would help capture how well providers meet the needs of diverse populations. Care Compare quality scores by race and ethnicity should be used internally and shared with states to develop culturally appropriate policies. Race and ethnicity-specific quality measures should be included on state-level report cards to incentivise action among states and tailor solutions to the local context. Promote culture change in nursing homes, with an ultimate goal of creating a person-centred, homelike model of care. Expand access to Medicaid-waivered home- and community-based services. Ensure that home- and community-based services are culturally appropriate. Promote integrated home- and community-based programs that can be targeted to BIPOC users to address existing disparities in outcomes.
