Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a socially deprived UK coastal town: a preliminary exploratory analysis of health and socioeconomic data

French, Maddy; Spencer, Mark F.; Walker, Mike; Patel, Afzal; Clarke, Neil D.; Hughes, Ross; Taylor, CA; Orwin, Margaret; Elliott, Alicia; Worsley, Karl; Casson, Julie; Milan, S. E.; Bowen, Mark; Sedda, Luigi

doi:10.48037/mbmj.v9i2.1369

Cited by 1 publication

(8 citation statements)

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“…Fleetwood is a coastal town in Lancashire home to approximately 30 000 people, many of whom were already experiencing poor health and living in disadvantaged socioeconomic circumstances prior to the pandemic 14. Almost half of neighbourhoods in Fleetwood are among some of the 10% most deprived areas in the country and, like other deprived areas, experience some of the associated poor physical and mental health outcomes 7 14 15. As a coastal community without a large employer or industry, Fleetwood is a place that is geographically and economically ‘on the periphery’ and particularly vulnerable to the impacts of financial crises and pandemics 7.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Almost half of neighbourhoods in Fleetwood are among some of the 10% most deprived areas in the country and, like other deprived areas, experience some of the associated poor physical and mental health outcomes 7 14 15. As a coastal community without a large employer or industry, Fleetwood is a place that is geographically and economically ‘on the periphery’ and particularly vulnerable to the impacts of financial crises and pandemics 7. It also has a population older than the English average, with 22% of its population aged over 65 years, compared with 18% nationally 7.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…informed because limited research exists that establishes to what extent different deprivation and demographic groups within these coastal communities have experienced continued or worsening health or well-being following the pandemic. 1 This work builds on our initial explorative analysis 7 to specifically address dynamics of food insecurity, health, well-being, demographics and deprivation within Fleetwood, a medium-sized, socially deprived, coastal town in Lancashire, UK, pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19. In doing so, we provide direction for research, policy and practice aimed at reducing the threat of worsening wellbeing and health in these deprived communities in the face of future health and/or socioeconomic crisis.…”

Section: Bmj Nutrition Prevention and Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, children receiving free school meals are likely to be living in low-income households, which is the predominant driver behind food insecurity 13. Children receiving free school meals are also more likely to suffer from food insecurity impacts such as poor dietary intake, poor physical and mental health, poor life satisfaction and educational outcomes,8 many of which themselves represent burdens of poor health in coastal communities 1 7 14. Nationally, the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals rose from 17.3% in January 2020 to 22.5% in January 2022, representing 1.9 million children (the equivalent of over twice the population of the city of Leeds), with household food insecurity now having reached crisis point 8 13.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This work builds on our initial explorative analysis 7 to specifically address dynamics of food insecurity, health, well-being, demographics and deprivation within Fleetwood, a medium-sized, socially deprived, coastal town in Lancashire, UK, pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19. In doing so, we provide direction for research, policy and practice aimed at reducing the threat of worsening well-being and health in these deprived communities in the face of future health and/or socioeconomic crisis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Food insecurity, mental health and in-hospital mortality following the COVID-19 pandemic in a socially deprived UK coastal town

Cain

French

Sedda

2023

BMJNPH

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BackgroundPublic health interventions are essential to prevent a long tail of costly, avoidable and worsening ill health in coastal communities following the COVID-19 pandemic, yet no research exists to guide policy and practice as to which groups within coastal communities are vulnerable and most in need of such interventions. Within this aim, we explore engrained and emerging vulnerabilities of food insecurity, health and well-being for different demographic groups within the deprived coastal community of Fleetwood, Lancashire, UK, before and after the pandemic.MethodsRoutinely collected data of free school meal eligibility, community mental health referrals and hospital admissions between 28 March 2016 and 31 December 2021 were aggregated by locality and deprivation within Fleetwood. Temporal autoregressive models, generalised linear mixed models and survival analyses were employed to compare trends and associations in food insecurity, health and well-being indicators against deprivation indices, demographics, comorbidities (including COVID-19), the COVID-19 pandemic period and locality.ResultsAreas with better housing and income, but higher health and disability deprivation, showed increased levels of free school meal eligibility following the pandemic. Mental health was insensitive to the first 14 months of pandemic yet is worsened by unemployment deprivation and cardiovascular and respiratory comorbidities, with a greater predisposition to poor mental health in adolescents and young adults. After accounting for the effect of COVID-19, hospital mortality risk increased with demographic influences in fitting with the typology of coastal communities having an older population, struggling healthcare and a greater prevalence of comorbidities.ConclusionsPublic health managers and policy makers seeking to prevent worsening health and well-being within coastal communities following the pandemic should focus on broader-scale patterns reflecting entrenched poor health typical of coastal communities, and emerging food insecurity within specific demographic and deprivation groups at finer scales.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%