Join Professor Steve Field and others in DH's health inequalities and inclusion webinar on Thursday 7 June 11.30am – 12.30pm.

Best laid plans

Soon after its planning policy for travellers sites was published, the Department for Communities and Local Government has issued a progress report on tackling inequalities amongst gypsies and travellers. Children and Young People Now casts a critical over its provisions as regards education. A report from the Council of Europe considers this population’s experiences within a human rights framework.

School to work

Charlie Taylor, the Government’s Expert Advisor on Behaviour, was asked last autumn by the Education Secretary to review policy on school attendance. His report has now been published and highlights the evidence that children who have had poor school attendance are more likely to be not in employment, education or training (NEET) after leaving school. While trends in attendance continue to improve, there is still a significant minority who regularly do not attend and truancy is not the only reason for this. A paper from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation asks whether changing aspirations and attitudes amongst parents and children can improve educational attainment, finding that the emphasis should rather be on keeping aspirations on track. From the employment side of the NEET question, a discussion paper from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) promotes innovation in engaging employers in tackling youth unemployment. A report from the Work Foundation also highlights the difficulties faced by NEETs: Lost in transition stresses that transition into work for young people is becoming increasingly difficult. The Government’s social mobility advisor, Alan Milburn, has reported on progress towards fair access to professional careers, indicating that there’s still considerable room for improvement.

Out in the cold

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults features a group of articles on inequalities amongst older people in Ireland.  These include studies on the relationship between age and social exclusion in rural areas, the effects of recession on older people in Northern Ireland and the Republic and the relationship between cold housing and health and wellbeing.  A survey for Age UK found that "the number of older people owing money has risen sharply over the last year."  The latest figures on fuel poverty from the Department of Energy and Climate change recently reported a fall in numbers of households in fuel poverty for 2010, but predicted a rise for subsequent years.

Leaves on the line

Ahead of the (now noticeably delayed) Government reponse to the Dilnot report on social care funding, the Centre for Social Justice argues that ministers should clearly prioritize the needs of the poorest elderly people.  Richard Humphires, writing for the King's Fund blog, anticipates the content of the forthcoming social care White Paper (due out by the end of May but also likely to be delayed), in the light of the challenging message about funding offered by Dilnot.

Value judgements

The Journal of Health Organization and Management devotes an issue to the question of social values in health care decision-making, the idea that health priorities are set not merely by clinical and economic criteria, but also by social value judgements.  Amongst the highlights is an article that examines the role of social values in NICE's priority-setting and decisions.  There's also a study of the relationship between social values and health priority setting in Germany.

Map of Europe

A study from the European Health Observatory analyses the complex relationship between health systems, health and wealth.  It considers the latest data on cost pressures on health systems in an unclement economic climate and assesses the economic costs of ill-health in Europe.  The paper also looks at the economic argument for public health interventions and the effectiveness of policies and interventions to reduce health inequalities.  A European survey of access to healthcare for vulnerable groups by Medecins du Monde (MdM) reports data drawn from MdM centres in Brussels, Amsterdam, London, Munich and Nice.  Primary concerns are lack of access to primary healthcare, antenatal care and vaccinations for destitute EU nationals as well as migrants and asylum seekers.