Health Management and Policy Alert

The mental health emergency: how has the coronavirus pandemic impacted our mental health?

Mind -
The findings of this survey of more than 16,000 people during lockdown reveals the scale of the impact of the pandemic on people with mental health problems. Two out of three (65 per cent) adults over 25 and three-quarters (75 per cent) of young people aged 13-24 with an existing mental health problem reported worse mental health.

• Report
• Mind - news

Gambling regulation: problem gambling and protecting vulnerable people

House of Commons Public Accounts Committee - 

There are an estimated 395,000 problem gamblers in the UK, with a further 1.8 million people ‘at risk’. The effects can have devastating consequences on people and their families, including financial loss, relationship breakdowns, criminality and suicide. This report finds that the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Gambling Commission have failed to adequately protect consumers at a time of considerable change in the sector, as gambling increasingly moves online and new games become popular.

• Report
• Press release

 

Supporting residents in retirement housing and extra care housing who experience loneliness: an A-Z of examples

Housing Local Improvement Network (Housing LIN) - 

This briefing sets out who is deemed 'extremely vulnerable' and, in the light of latest government guidance on shielding, provides a section with an A-Z of examples of practice of how residents in retirement/sheltered and extra care housing are experiencing loneliness and isolation, and the creative ways in which operators have organised a range of scheme-based and virtual activities to support these residents' independence, health and wellbeing, and to help keep them connected during the pandemic.

• Briefing
• More detail

Covid-19: understanding inequalities in mental health during the pandemic

Centre for Mental Health - 

This briefing paper, supported by 13 other national mental health charities, explores the mental health inequalities that are associated with the pandemic in the UK. It finds that the virus and the lockdown are putting greater pressure on groups and communities whose mental health was already poorer and more precarious.

• Briefing
• More detail

Life after lockdown: tackling loneliness among those left behind

British Red Cross - 

The Covid-19 crisis has made loneliness worse, with some people more affected than others. This report shows that although social distancing and lockdown measures will continue to be eased, loneliness will remain and for those most left behind, it may continue to grow.

• Report
• More detail

 

The mental health effects of the first two months of lockdown and social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK

Institute for Fiscal Studies -
This report discusses the impact of Covid-19 on mental health. It finds that mental health in the UK has worsened substantially as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly for groups that already had lower levels of mental health before Covid-19, such as young adults and women.

• Report
• Institute for Fiscal Studies - news

Local delivery: protecting social infrastructure

Localis -
This report inisters must fund and empower local people to run vital community businesses and service hubs which can help neighbourhoods thrive beyond the immediate Covid pandemic. It calls on central government to show consistency and political will in supporting grass roots community ventures – or risk hampering recovery by sapping the energy and enthusiasm of capable volunteers.

• Report
• Localis - news

Spotlight on... the impact of Covid-19 on mental health trusts in the NHS

NHS Providers -
This briefing sets out the immediate challenge of Covid-19 for mental health trusts, how the sector has responded and what is needed to navigate the next phase. It argues that NHS trusts providing mental health and learning disability services have been playing a critical role, both to maintain services and to respond to the current environment alongside their colleagues in the acute, community ambulance and primary care sectors.

• Briefing
• NHS Providers - publications

The Covid-19 pandemic, financial inequality and mental health

Mental Health Foundation - 

This briefing discusses the mental health effects of financial inequalities in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. It draws evidence from the “Coronavirus: Mental Health in the Pandemic” research – a UK-wide, long-term study of how the pandemic is affecting people’s mental health. The study is led by the Mental Health Foundation, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, Swansea University, the University of Strathclyde and Queen’s University Belfast.

• Briefing
• Research Study

Girlguiding research briefing: early findings on the impact of Covid-19 on girls and young women

Girlguiding UK -
This report summarises research of 7,000 members and reveals how girls and young women aged 4-18 in the UK are coping with the changes to their daily lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. It reveals over half of girls aged 15 -18 feel lockdown has had a negative impact on their mental health – amidst high levels of worry, stress and loneliness.

• Report
• Girlguiding UK - news