NHS Library and Information Service North Staffordshire

Health Inequalities Bulletin

Issue no. 40 August - September 2013
About this Bulletin: Aims to draw attention to some of the key documents and reviews of research in health inequalities that have been published in the two previous months. Where possible, links to the full text documents are included. If the article is in a journal, NHS and Public Health staff in Stoke and North Staffordshire can contact the Health Library for a copy. Link to request form: http://www.keele.ac.uk/healthlibrary/usingthehealthlibrary/interlibraryloans/#d.en.27437 [A charge of 2 per request is payable for most copies] If you need further assistance in obtaining any of the resources listed in the bulletin or have other information needs, please contact the Outreach Librarians or the Health Library, details below. The bulletin can be e-mailed to colleagues who may also find it useful. A list of websites that are checked in the production of this bulletin is given on the first page. Please suggest others that may be useful. Feedback is welcomed to inform future issues of the bulletin.

Contact information
Bulletin produced by NHS Outreach Librarians Tel: 01782 679564 or 0300 123 1535 ext/FeatureNet 8429 E-mail: Andrew.Hough@northstaffs.nhs.uk or clareh.powell@northstaffs.nhs.uk Health Library Tel: 01782 679500 E-mail: health.library@keele.ac.uk

Topics reviewed in this issue: Health Inequalities Bulletin ..................1 Disability .................................................2 Ethnicity ..................................................2 Inequalities..............................................3 Mental Health..........................................4 Migrants .................................................. 4 Multiple Inequalities ................................ 5 Older people ........................................... 5 Travellers ................................................ 6

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Sources checked for this bulletin Please suggest further sites that should be monitored in the production of this bulletin CRD Centre for Reviews and Dissemination http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/crdweb/ - DARE (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects) - NHS Economic Evaluation Database Daily Health Bulletin http://www.sheffield.nhs.uk/healthbulletin/ Department of Health http://www.gov.uk/dh Department of Health bulletins http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Bulletins/ Social Care Institute for Excellence http://www.scie.org.uk/ Inside Government local government alerts https://www.gov.uk/government/email-signup Joseph Rowntree Foundation http://www.jrf.org.uk/ Kings Fund http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/ Better Health http://www.better-health.org.uk/ NICE http://www.nice.org.uk SIGN http://www.sign.ac.uk/new.html Disability Facing Blindness Alone: what the government needs to do to stop the isolation of blind people Royal National Institute of Blind People This report argues that within the next ten years, local support for blind and visually impaired people will be drastically reduced. The research shows that although care and support has declined for all adults with a physical disability (30%), people with sight loss have been the worse affected (43%) http://www.rnib.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/healthsocialcare/Documents/Social-carereport.pdf Ethnicity Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Communities, mental health and criminal justice Centre for Mental Health This briefing argues that community groups are key to engaging BME groups that are disproportionately represented both in mental health care and in the criminal justice system. It discusses examples of some services making excellent progress in this area but argues that there is a lot of room for other services and commissioners to build on such examples of good practice. http://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/pdfs/Bradley_Commission_briefing1_BME.pdf The Bradley Commission: Black and Minority Ethnic Communties, mental health and criminal justice. Saunders et al This report is an appraisal of best practice provision of those services working with black and minority ethnic communities at critical points of the criminal justice pathway http://www.better-health.org.uk/resources/research/bradley-commission-black-andminority-ethnic-communities-mental-health-and-crimin

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Inequalities European Health Inequalities European Commission The report indicates that the wide variation in life expectancy and infant mortality historically found between EU countries is narrowing. The gap between the longest and shortest life expectancy found in EU-27 decreased by 17% for men between 2007 and 2011 and 4% for women between 2006 and 2011. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-823_en.htm?locale=en Health inequalities through the lens of health capital theory: issues, solutions and future directions RAND This paper explores what health-capital theory has to offer in terms of informing and directing research into health inequality. It argues that economic theory can help in identifying mechanisms through which specific socioeconomic indicators and health interact. http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/WR1000/WR1011/RAND_W R1011.pdf Personal Stories on the health and social care divide Kings Fund Included in the Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care call for evidence are a number of stories illustrating how the divide between health and social care affects peoples lives. http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/commission-future-health-and-social-careengland/patient-stories Reducing health inequalities: the challenge of public health Innovation Unit This think piece suggests that a solution to tackling inequalities in public health lies with creating co-produced services which utilise the assets within people. It draws from findings of the People Powered Health project, as well as horizon scans from around the world to explore the capacity within people and communities to help themselves and each other. http://www.britishcouncil.org/dk_d160_book_5_reducing_health_inequalities_john_craig.p df Review of Health Determinants and the health divide in the WHO European Region: Final Report World Health Organisation This report builds on the global evidence and recommends policies to reduce health inequities and the health divide across all countries, including those with low incomes. http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/215196/Review-of-socialdeterminants-and-the-health-divide-in-the-WHO-European-Region-final-report-Eng.pdf The Shifting Nature of the Health Care Divide Nicholas Timmons/Kings Fund This presentation explores the shifting nature of the funding divide in England's health and social care systems, from pre-NHS to the current day. http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/nicholas-timmins-shifting-nature-health-andsocial-care-divide

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The transition mapping study: understanding the transition process for service personnel returning to civilian life Forces in Mind Trust This report is the result of a review which looked at how the entire transition process from military to civilian life currently works and how it is viewed by stakeholders and recent service leavers. One aspect of the transition process which is examined is the provision of mental health care for service leavers and how this could be improved. http://fim-trust.org/images/PDFs/FIMT_report_FINAL.pdf
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Mental Health Building Dementia Friendly Communities: A Priority for everyone Alzheimers Society This report concludes that up to 180,000 people with dementia surveyed felt trapped in their own homes and shows that one in three people with dementia surveyed only leave their homes once a week and one in 10 get out just once a month. http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/buildingdfcs Briefing for Commissioners of mental health, drug and alcohol services Centre for Mental Health This briefing urges commissioners to tackle the poorly integrated support received by those with overlapping needs. http://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/pdfs/recovery_dual_diagnosis_paper_2013.pdf Lethal Discrimination Rethink Mental Illness This report finds that people with serious mental illness die an average of 20 years earlier than the rest of the population, the majority from preventable causes. It calls on the Government to take immediate action. http://www.rethink.org/media/810988/Rethink%20Mental%20Illness%20%20Lethal%20Discrimination.pdf Smoking and Mental Health NHS Confederation This briefing provides the background to smoking prevalence and the consequences for people with mental illness. It examines the evidence of what works to reduce harm from smoking for this group, and how providers are implementing the smoking ban in practice http://www.nhsconfed.org/Publications/briefings/Pages/Smoking-and-mental-health.aspx
Items in the Ethnicity and Inequalities Sections may be of interest Back to topics

Migrants Interpreter Output in Talking Therapy. Towards a methodology for best practice Cambridge, J This thesis investigated current praxis among professional interpreters working in psychiatric outpatient clinics and highlights the complexity of need that faces the profession of public service interpreting especially in terms of standardising both training and praxis.

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http://www.better-health.org.uk/resources/research/interpreter-output-talking-therapytowards-methodology-good-practice Migrant access to health services in the UK Home Office This consultation seeks views on ensuring that migrants contribute fairly to the costs of their healthcare. http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/consultations/34healthcare/ Multiple Inequalities The Esteem Team Kings Fund This case study looks at the Sandwell Esteem Team, part of the Sandwell Integrated Primary Care Mental Health and Wellbeing Service (the Sandwell Wellbeing Hub) in the West Midlands. The hub is a holistic primary and community care-based approach to improving social, mental and physical health and wellbeing in the borough of Sandwell, supporting people with mild to moderate mental health conditions and complex social needs at an early stage to prevent deterioration and admission to secondary care services. http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/esteem-team Tuberculosis in Vulnerable Groups NICE This briefing summarises NICE's recommendations for local authorities and partner organisations on identifying and managing tuberculosis (TB) in vulnerable people who may find it difficult to access services for diagnosis and treatment in traditional healthcare settings. http://publications.nice.org.uk/tuberculosis-in-vulnerable-groups-lgb11 Older people Excess Winter Mortality 2012-13 Public Health England/Respiratory Diseases Department Excess all-cause mortality has been high among elderly people in 2012 to 2013. This document presents observations from routine mortality surveillance work carried out by the RDD within Public Health England. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/229819/Exc ess_winter_mortality_2012.pdf NICE Clinical Guidelines The Assessment and Prevention of falls in older people (CG161) http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG161 National Flu Plan Published Department of Health The flu plan provides information to support planning for the demands of flu this winter, including encouraging vaccine uptake in over 65s, those in clinical at-risk groups and pregnant women, taking account of lessons learned during previous flu seasons. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flu-plan-winter-2013-to-2014
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Travellers Guidelines for malaria prevention in travellers from the UK Public Health England These practical guidelines from the Public Health England Advisory Committee on Malaria Prevention for UK Travellers update the previous guidelines published in 2007. The guidelines are for use by healthcare workers who advise travellers but may also be of use to prospective travellers who wish to read about the options themselves. http://www.hpa.org.uk/Publications/InfectiousDiseases/TravelHealth/1308Malariapreventio nfortravellersfromtheUK/

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