Face to faith

A study of religious differences as represented in the Health Survey for England reveals patterns of health inequality and their relation to socio-economic status and ethnicity. Another article in Ethnicity and Health looks at how faith affects communication between healthcare professionals and Pakistani Muslim patients, focusing particularly on long-term conditions.

Home and Health visiting update

The government's commitment to increasing health visitor numbers is afirmed in the Health Visitor Implementation plan, covering 2011-2015. Health and Social Care in the Community provides a report on the effectiveness of Family Nurse Partnership interventions mediated by an interpreter.

Because it's worth it

Early years intervention to reduce inequalities is the current mantra. The Greater London Authority's Economics unit has published a report setting out the economic case for early intervention, designed to underpin the Mayor's health inequalities strategy. Amongst the programmes highlighted as effective interventions include the US Nurse Family Partnership (a model currently being trialled in the UK as Family Nurse Partnership) and early years education programmes. There's also an emphasis on the need to target programmes. The Cabinet Office early intervention review team has issued an interim report on financing early intervention, following on from Graham Allen's review issued in January. The final report is due out in May.