Health leaders are being urged to make policy changes to safeguard the mental health of unpaid carers as new evidence reveals the negative effects of taking on the role – including those who do so at a young age. The research is featured in a new Parliamentary report which also highlights an ‘urgent need’ for…
Tag: Equality
What do we know about the health of young carers – and is it enough?
Care systems in many countries are underpinned by the efforts of huge armies of informal carers, many of whom are children. And while there is official recognition in some countries that these young carers suffer poorer health than their peers, there have been few studies highlighting the particular effects of caring on this group. Rebecca…
Evidence for change: how do we improve the long term outcomes of children in care?
In a Child of our Time blog last year, a team of researchers from University College and Kings College London said it was time for ALL policy to consider the needs of care leavers. The call was based on research findings that have now fed into the just-published Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. The findings from…
Time for change: the NHS needs to take better care of ethnic minority mums and babies
There has long been evidence of the stark health inequalities faced by ethnic minority people in England and elsewhere. Despite this, there has been no significant change. One major area of concern is around pregnant and new mothers, in particular where discriminatory or racist treatment can affect their mental and physical health as well as…
Better housing and employment are key to preventing long-term mental health effects of the pandemic
Ministers have announced extra funding for mental health services and suicide prevention amid concerns over a surge in cases among young people during COVID-19. New research by Thierry Gagné, Alita Nandi and Ingrid Schoon looks more closely at the issue and finds strong differences in mental health responses to the pandemic with deprivation. Resources need…
Is it time for all policy to consider the needs of care leavers?
Every policy should take into account the needs of care-leavers, participants at the launch of a major new research report on outcomes from a childhood in care were told. The Nuffield Foundation funded study, which pushes forward the boundaries of knowledge by looking at what happens in mid-life to those who have been in care…
Breaking the cycle – how active travel to school could help tackle childhood obesity and inequality
There are a host of reasons, many of them highly publicised in recent years, as to why we should encourage young people to be more physically active. Now a team of London researchers has shown how the time spent travelling to and from school is important in helping children, particularly those from more disadvantaged backgrounds,…
Time to diagnose autism: why earlier diagnosis could be key to children’s wellbeing and happiness
When the Government two years ago launched a review to improve the lives of autistic children, it said it was committed to giving them “the same start in life as any other child”. Key to the review was the development of services that would diagnose autism earlier. A year after it was due to be…
Do sexual minority teenagers have greater health risks?
People who identify as gay or bisexual have long been known to be more likely than others to be at risk from behaviour which can affect their health, such as drug-taking, drinking and not doing enough exercise. But how does this affect today’s teenagers? In an era of greater social liberalism might these differences be…
Off the scales: time to act on childhood obesity
By 2050, it is said that obesity could cost the NHS almost £10 billion a year, with the full economic cost rising from around £27 billion today to £50 billion by then. Today, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) publishes its report, Off the scales: time to act on childhood obesity. It calls on the…