Inequality, including that driven by disparities in literacy and numeracy, is known to be associated with poorer health. The Marmot Review (February 2011) emphasized the importance of addressing health inequalities. In England, the many people who are currently dying prematurely each year as a result of health inequalities would otherwise have enjoyed, in total, between 1.3 and 2.5 million extra years of life.
( Julie Parkes , Paul Roderick )
People in the criminal justice system are often a socially excluded group subject to substantial inequalities in health with poor literacy, complex health problems especially mental health and substance use, and are hard to reach through conventional health service routes. Offenders given non-custodial sentences are a significant and growing population.
Offender health needs and access to healthcare services.
A mixed method study to determine the knowledge perceptions and attitudes of Probation and NHS Commissioning staff towards health of those people supervised by Probation Service, and to explore the interface between Probation and Health Services and identify models of good practice. It incorporates a national survey (England and Wales) of probation staff, and offender health commissioning leads.
Improving the health of People with court orders supervised by probation services
A mixed methods study recruiting a prospective cohort of new probationers in Hampshire Probation Trust. Aims are to determine prevalence of health status, health literacy, changes in health assessed over a year, access to and use of health related interventions, and exploration of probationers' perceptions of their health. It will provide information on aspects of feasibility to inform development of an intervention study.
Southampton Offender Health Research Group (OHRG)
This is a newly formed cross sectoral/cross faculty group which is concerned with developing collaborations and research in the health of those in the criminal justice system. This group will work together to seek funding for, and conduct and support research in Offender Health.
Approximately eight percent of the UK population was born abroad, and an estimated 567,000 migrants arrived in the UK in 2009. These are a diverse group in terms of their reason for migration and their country of origin. Some ethnic groups are at higher risk of chronic disease such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease are often subject to health inequalities, issues of advocacy, with language, ethnicity and culture acting as barriers to accessing services.
Prevalence of and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in a Nepali community
A study to measure the prevalence and risk factors for of cardiovascular disease in the adult Nepali population in Rushmoor compared to a similar non Nepali population using evidence synthesis and primary research approaches. Quantification of these issues will increase health professional awareness as well as allow appropriate services for this population to be designed.
Studies of the associations of both abnormal liver and kidney function and ethnicity
A study to explore the cross sectional associations between ethnicity and abnormal liver function and kidney function tests in a large English population based cohort study, with 63 percent being Indian Asian.
Health literacy is the cognitive and social skills determining the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand, and use information in ways that promote and maintain good health. In the UK there has been increasing emphasis on the importance of participation of patients in their own health and health care. A low population level of health literacy has been identified as one of the important barriers to achieving this goal. This is particularly relevant in the context of the management of chronic disease
Health literacy and chronic disease
Plan to conduct a study to investigate the prevalence and associations of limited health literacy in a population of people with chronic heart disease in the UK and to determine the effects of low health literacy on self management of this disease.
Health literacy and arthritis
(Jo Adams, Claire Ballinger)
A systematic and qualitative review of the extent to which arthritis patient
education interventions are accessible and relevant for people with lower-literacy levels.
Health literacy research group, a cross University group involving academics from Medicine, Health Sciences and Human and Social Sciences and the Vice Chancellor Professor Don Nutbeam .
Socio-economic inequities in health care access
We are involved in two studies:
( Cyrus Cooper , Nicholas Harvey , Hazel Inskip )
Southampton is a relatively deprived city, ranking 81st out of 326 local authorities in the 2010 Index of Multiple Deprivation (where 1st is the most deprived). Data from the Southampton Women's Survey generated within the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit have shown great health inequalities across the City. The quality of mother's and children's diets is strongly linked to the educational attainment of the mother, and obesity, smoking, and lack of physical activity are all more common in the most deprived parts of the city.
Southampton Initiative for Health within the MRC LEU, intervention studies are being conducted to assess approaches aimed, in part, at narrowing these inequalities. The Southampton Initiative for Health is a project based in the Sure Start Children's Centres that involves training the Sure Start staff to have ‘healthy conversations' with the women who attend the sessions in the Centres. The aim is to enable the women to take control of their lives, enhance their self-efficacy and thus improve the diets and lifestyles of themselves and their children.
LifeLab Southampton A schools project, LifeLab Southampton, targets teenagers to enable them to understand the long-term effects of their lifestyles on their health, and, importantly, on the health of any children they may have in the future. Lifestyles, once established, are hard to modify, so targeting children in the schools of Southampton, across the whole range of deprivation, attempts to make an impact at an appropriate time.
Maternal Vitamin D/Osteoporosis The uptake of government Healthy-Start multi-vitamins in pregnancy is extremely low, with supplementation particularly low in more disadvantaged populations. The MAVIDOS Maternal Vitamin D Osteoporosis Study seeks to test whether supplementation of pregnant women with vitamin D will influence bone mineral accrual in the offspring, and may help to narrow inequalities relating to childhood skeletal development.