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Lookup NU author(s): Kate Bernard, Dr Vic McGowanORCiD, Professor Clare BambraORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2024People in the North of England live shorter, less healthy lives than those in the South. Despite the significance of this ‘North South health divide’, regional health inequalities in England are under-researched qualitatively. Existing literature on geographical inequalities in health is largely confined to the neighbourhood level, is quantitative, and consists of very little lay knowledge. The current study is the first to examine lay perspectives of health inequalities on a regional level: exploring how people living in two urban areas of the North and South of England experience and perceive the North South health divide – including its causes and solutions. Using three focus group discussions with a total of 34 participants, and conducting participatory analysis, we identified three key themes: ‘inequalities of power’, ‘lack of control over lived environment’ and ‘communities under strain’. Findings align with existing research on lay perspectives of health inequalities at the neighbourhood level – identifying a network of material-structural and psychosocial factors. Participants across both regions discussed political and economic structures as central to understanding regional health inequalities, supporting calls to adopt a political economy approach in understanding health and place. Deindustrialisation, unemployment, loss of community facilities, and disengagement from politics were more present in Northern narratives than Southern. Findings add important ‘social meaning’ to emerging research on the North South health divide, reinforcing the urgency of public health professionals' recommendations for fair redistribution of power, wealth and resources to reduce regional health inequalities. In the context of government policy which diverges from public health evidence, this study sparks questions of how health inequalities research can intersect with wider social and political movements organising for systemic change.
Author(s): Bernard K, McGowan VJ, Bambra C
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Social Science and Medicine
Year: 2024
Volume: 355
Print publication date: 01/08/2024
Online publication date: 08/07/2024
Acceptance date: 01/07/2024
Date deposited: 29/07/2024
ISSN (print): 0277-9536
ISSN (electronic): 1873-5347
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117089
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117089
Data Access Statement: The authors do not have permission to share data.
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