Health inequities in rehabilitation and recovery services
A report by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy aims to raise awareness of health inequities in rehabilitation and recovery services across the UK.
It says prevention campaigns are badly targeted and referral rates for those who do develop a health condition are inconsistent. Other key findings include:
- Marginalised communities face barriers to accessing high-quality recovery and rehabilitation services at every stage. Reasons include societal discrimination, lack of cultural competence or communication barriers.
- A lack of consistent data is damaging the ability of health services to provide rehabilitation that meets needs.
- Without high-quality rehabilitation a patient experiences a downward spiral and the prevalence of one long-term condition can often lead to multiple conditions.
Ethnic discrimination and racism in healthcare
A new report, centred on the experience of black people in the UK, outlines the scale of discrimination.
The Black Equity Organisation research found black people face considerable discrimination and exclusion, especially in public services such as healthcare.
Sixty-nine per cent of black Africans said they were discriminated against by healthcare professionals because of their ethnicity. This rose to 75% among 18-34 year olds.
Around 60% of black participants did not see systemic change coming from the institutions discriminating against them.
Respondents said they were more likely to seek support on issues of discrimination from friends and family than these institutions.
However, 36% would look for support from charities or community groups.
New guide to large datasets published
Understanding Patient Data (UPD) has published a new resource – What happens to health data: A guide to large datasets.
UPD identified a lack of public awareness about the way large datasets are used in healthcare.
The new guide, developed in collaboration with health data experts and members of the public, aims to address this topic.
It explains key terms related to large datasets, contextualises the subject and addresses core questions commonly posed by the public.
The guide is available under a creative commons license and can be hosted on external websites.
Study: Social media news use and COVID-19 misinformation engagement
A new study published by JMIR found those who frequently used social media for news consumption were more likely to believe and share COVID-19 misinformation.
An online survey of 500 people also suggested low cognitive users were the most vulnerable.
The authors make a series of recommendations to help limit the spread of misinformation.
These include targeted interventions to understand and check patterns in everyday behaviour that could amplify individual risk of encountering or sharing misinformation.
What is digital health technology?
A NIHR collection aims to explain the role of digital health technology and what it means for users.
It outlines the key benefits of digital health technology, as well as the concerns surrounding it.
The collection also draws together key NIHR research on digital health technology.
View the collection in full here.
Tackling regional variations in healthcare
The Medical Technology Group (MTG) has published its Ration Watch report for 2022 – Tackling Regional Variation in Healthcare: Inequalities, Innovation and Integration.
Analysis of NHS England’s Monthly Referral to Treatment (RTT) data shows widespread variation at national, regional and local levels, as well as for disease-specific waiting times.
At a regional level, the Midlands, London and the East of England performed more poorly than South West, North East and North West.
Variation trends were present in cardiology, orthopaedics, gynaecology and general surgery.
As well as visual representations of the data, the report also includes case studies and examples of best practice.
Key challenges affecting the safety of health and social care
The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care has published a report highlighting some of the biggest challenges affecting quality and safety across the UK.
The report considers four key themes: tackling inequalities; regulating for new risks; facing up to the workforce crisis; and accountability, fear and public safety.
It highlights how the sector needs to get better at hearing diverse voices and improve the way data is collected, analysed and shared.
Download the executive summary and full report here.
Living with Long Covid – an anthology
The ALLIANCE has published an anthology of opinions about people's experiences of Long Covid.
In Spring 2022, the ALLIANCE invited a range of people to contribute to an opinion series focused on Scotland’s support for people living with Long Covid.
The series spanned from people with lived experience of Long Covid, to researchers and third sector employees.
Those opinions have now been compiled into an anthology to further inform discussion about how Scotland supports people with Long Covid.
Improving access to mental health support for refugees
A British Red Cross report explores access to and experience of mental health support for refugees and people seeking asylum in England.
It finds a need for a person-centred, trauma-informed approach where the specific needs of the individual are considered and the most appropriate mental health support is offered.
It says there are opportunities to improve communication with refugees and people seeking asylum in the provision of mental health support, including:
- Longer appointment times to overcome language barriers
- Preference for face-to-face appointments
- Written and translated communication
- Consistent access to professional interpreters
The full report can be downloaded via the Red Cross website here.