OP86  Poor mental health after bereavement: analysis of population level linked administrative data

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is likely to exacerbate the symptoms of poor mental health in family caregivers. Aims To investigate whether rates of depressive symptomatology increased in caregivers during COVID-19 and whether the unintended consequences of health protective measures, i.e., social isolation, exacerbated this risk. Another aim was to see if caregivers accessed any online/phone psychological support during COVID. Method Data (1349 caregivers; 6178 non-caregivers) was extracted from Understanding Society, a UK population-level data-set. The General Health Questionnaire cut-off scores identified those who are likely to have depression. Results After adjustment for confounding caregivers had a higher risk of having depressive symptoms compared with non-caregivers, odds ratio (OR) = 1.22 (95% CI 1.05–1.40, P = 0.008) evidenced by higher levels of depression pre-COVID-19 (16.7% caregivers v. 12.1% non-caregivers) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (21.6% caregivers v. 17.9% non-caregivers), respectively. Further, higher levels of loneliness increased the risk of depression symptoms almost four-fold in caregivers, OR = 3.85 (95% 95% CI 3.08–4.85, P < 0.001), whereas accessing therapy attenuated the risk of depression (43%). A total of 60% of caregivers with depression symptoms reported not accessing any therapeutic support (for example online or face to face) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions COVID-19 has had a negative impact on family caregivers’ mental health with loneliness a significant contributor to depressive symptomatology. However, despite these detriments in mental health, the majority of caregivers do not access any online or phone psychiatric support. Finally, psychiatric services and healthcare professionals should aim to focus on reducing feelings of loneliness to support at-risk caregivers.

Download Full-text

The Impact of Linked Administrative Data on Community Development of Integrated Mental Health Hubs: a Case Study

International Journal for Population Data Science ◽

10.23889/ijpds.v3i4.927 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Naomi Parker ◽

Valerie Salt ◽

Allison N Scott ◽

Cathie Scott ◽

Jason Lau

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Service ◽

Health Service ◽

Administrative Data ◽

Community Context ◽

Community Members ◽

Environmental Scan ◽

Design And Implementation ◽

Integrated Service Delivery ◽

Linked Administrative Data

IntroductionIncreasingly, communities are designing and implementing contextualized approaches to integrated service delivery. Having communities in the lead is critical to successful design and implementation. However, how do researchers work with communities to ensure accurate contextual interpretations of linked administrative data? Objectives and ApproachPolicyWise for Children & Families has been working with communities to create a framework and assist in the implementation of integrated Community-based Mental Health Service Hubs for youth ages 11-24. The approach used to support these communities included multiple sources of data to highlight the need for youth specific mental health care, integrated service delivery and the opportunity for system transformation. This included, but wasn’t limited to, a qualitative environmental scan and individual-level linked administrative data from PolicyWise’s Child and Youth Data Lab. ResultsThe goal of presenting the qualitative and quantitative data summaries was to inform community-led design and implementation of the Mental Health Service Hubs. This presentation describes the constructive interplay of community context, qualitative literature and linked administrative data. Community context and the qualitative environmental scan assisted community members in interpreting the administrative data. Conclusion/ImplicationsThis applied project provides an example of how community members contextualize information from linked administrative data and environmental scan findings to influence program development. The implications of this is that data can reinforce or reshape what communities know about service use and impact how they proceed with planning.

Download Full-text

Public mental health and occupational health

Oxford Textbook of Public Mental Health ◽

10.1093/med/9780198792994.003.0012 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 105-112

Author(s):

Katie Blissard Barnes ◽

Max Henderson

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Occupational Health ◽

Work Environment ◽

Public Mental Health ◽

Population Level ◽

Poor Mental Health ◽

Psychosocial Work Environment ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

This chapter describes the wide-ranging role of occupational health in optimizing the health of the workforce and the workplace. In doing so it highlights the importance of the workplace for improving public mental health. It examines the relationship between work and public mental health from a number of angles, and describes how in the context of health inequalities mental health can each be seen as both an exposure and an outcome. It explores the impact that work can have on mental health. The main models describing the psychosocial work environment are explained. The chapter also explores the effect poor mental health can have on the workplace at an individual, organizational, and wider economic perspective. The unique role of occupational health in supporting employees and employers and benefits at the population level are emphasized.

Download Full-text

The Complex Relationship between Mental Health and Social Conditions in the Lives of Young Australians Mixing Work and Study

Young ◽

10.1177/1103308816649486 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 339-358 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Evelina Landstedt ◽

Julia Coffey ◽

Johanna Wyn ◽

Hernán Cuervo ◽

Dan Woodman

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mixed Method ◽

Population Level ◽

Poor Mental Health ◽

Social Conditions ◽

Educational Institutions ◽

Complex Relationship ◽

Welfare Policies ◽

The Past ◽

Life Circumstances

Poor mental health in youth has been consistently shown to be rising over the past 20 years. While it is well established that mental health status is associated with social conditions, population-level perspectives make it difficult to identify the complex ways social and structural conditions impact on mental health. Based on longitudinal (mixed method) data, this exploratory longitudinal study aims to study how the life circumstances of education, work and financial situation are related to mental health in young Australians (aged 20–22). Findings show that the combination of study, work and financial hardship can be regarded as a stressor contributing to poor mental health, particularly if experienced over several years, and that those in the middle socio-economic bracket have the worst mental health outcomes. This research has implications for welfare policies and the responsibilities of educational institutions for the welfare of young people.

Download Full-text

Deriving household composition using population-scale electronic health record data—A reproducible methodology

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0248195 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. e0248195

Author(s):

Rhodri D. Johnson ◽

Lucy J. Griffiths ◽

Joe P. Hollinghurst ◽

Ashley Akbari ◽

Alexandra Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Administrative Data ◽

Data Linkage ◽

Population Level ◽

Household Composition ◽

Electronic Health Record Data ◽

Household Level ◽

Relative Age ◽

Level Data ◽

Address Data ◽

Linked Administrative Data

Background Physical housing and household composition have an important role in the lives of individuals and drive health and social outcomes, and inequalities. Most methods to understand housing composition are based on survey or census data, and there is currently no reproducible methodology for creating population-level household composition measures using linked administrative data. Methods Using existing, and more recent enhancements to the address-data linkage methods in the SAIL Databank using Residential Anonymised Linking Fields we linked individuals to properties using the anonymised Welsh Demographic Service data in the SAIL Databank. We defined households, household size, and household composition measures based on adult to child relationships, and age differences between residents to create relative age measures. Results Two relative age-based algorithms were developed and returned similar results when applied to population and household-level data, describing household composition for 3.1 million individuals within 1.2 million households in Wales. Developed methods describe binary, and count level generational household composition measures. Conclusions Improved residential anonymised linkage field methods in SAIL have led to improved property-level data linkage, allowing the design and application of household composition measures that assign individuals to shared residences and allow the description of household composition across Wales. The reproducible methods create longitudinal, household-level composition measures at a population-level using linked administrative data. Such measures are important to help understand more detail about an individual’s home and area environment and how that may affect the health and wellbeing of the individual, other residents, and potentially into the wider community.

Download Full-text

Risk of Depression in Family Caregivers: Unintended Consequence of COVID-19

10.1101/2020.06.15.20131532 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Stephen Gallagher ◽

Mark A. Wetherell

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Confidence Interval ◽

Family Caregivers ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Negative Impact ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Population Level ◽

Poor Mental Health ◽

Unintended Consequences ◽

Face To Face

BackgroundCOVID-19 is likely to exacerbate the symptoms of poor mental health family caregivers. To investigate whether rates of depression increased in caregivers during COVID-19 and whether the unintended consequences of health protective measures, i.e., social isolation, exacerbated this risk. Another aim was to see if caregivers accessed any online/phone psychological support during COVID.MethodData (1349 caregivers; 7527 non-caregivers) was extracted from Understanding Society, UK population level dataset. The General Health Questionnaire cut-off scores identifying those with and without depression were our primary outcome.ResultsAfter adjustment for confounding caregivers had a higher risk of having depression compared with non-caregivers, Odds ratio (OR) = 1.22 (95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.05-1.40)), p=.008 evidenced by higher levels of depression pre-COVID-19 (16.7% vs 12.1%) and during COVID-19 (21.6% vs 17.9%), respectively. Further, higher levels of loneliness increased the risk of depression almost 4-fold risk in caregivers, OR = 3.85 (95% confidence interval (95% CI), 3.08-4.85)), p<.001), while access to therapy attenuated the risk (47%. While 60% of caregivers with depression reported not accessing any therapeutic support (e.g., online or face to face) during COVID-19.ConclusionCOVID-19 has had a negative impact on family caregivers’ mental health with loneliness a significant contributor to caregiver’s depression. However, despite these detriments in mental health, the majority of caregivers do not access any online or phone psychiatric support. Reducing feelings of isolation therefore provides an opportunity for psychiatric services and health care professionals to support at-risk caregivers.

Download Full-text

“I Had No Hope, I Had No Help at All”: Insights from a First Study of Fathers and Recurrent Care Proceedings

Societies ◽

10.3390/soc10040089 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 89

Author(s):

Georgia Philip ◽

Lindsay Youansamouth ◽

Stuart Bedston ◽

Karen Broadhurst ◽

Yang Hu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Substance Use ◽

Large Scale ◽

Population Level ◽

Support Service ◽

Poor Mental Health ◽

Family Court ◽

Important Research ◽

Lone Mothers ◽

Relational Resources

This article presents data from the first large-scale study of fathers involved in repeat (or recurrent) care proceedings in England. The project complements important research on mothers and recurrence. It consisted of three elements: an analysis of population-level administrative data from the Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS), a survey of fathers in pre-proceedings and care proceedings, and a qualitative longitudinal (QL) study of recurrent fathers. Here we report findings from the survey and the QL study, offering an expanded definition and description of fathers and recurrence. Elsewhere, we reported that a significant number of fathers appear in recurrent care proceedings and that the majority return with the same partner. Alongside this, there is also a notable pattern of “missing” fathers demonstrated by the proportion of lone mothers reappearing before the court. Our survey indicates a certain profile of recurrent fathers, but also that recurrent fathers are not straightforwardly a homogenous group. We report on the significance of recurrent fathers’ early lives, on the phenomenon of enduring couple relationships and on the prevalence of issues affecting parenting, such as poor mental health, substance use and domestic abuse. Insights from the QL study in particular reveal legacies of harm, loss, and a lack of emotional and relational resources in childhood, which have debilitating and far-reaching consequences. We argue the importance of understanding the vulnerabilities of recurrent fathers and of challenging certain assumptions in child welfare and family justice practices. There is much to be learnt from existing services for recurrent mothers, but also a need for bespoke or adapted services that may be more responsive to particular circumstances of recurrent fathers and couples.

Download Full-text

Academic Achievement of Children in Same- and Different-Sex-Parented Families: A Population-Level Analysis of Linked Administrative Data From the Netherlands

Demography ◽

10.1215/00703370-8994569 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 58 (2) ◽

pp. 393-418

Author(s):

Jan Kabátek ◽

Francisco Perales

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Standardized Tests ◽

Administrative Data ◽

Population Level ◽

Same Sex ◽

High School Graduation Rates ◽

Number Of Children ◽

Multiple Indicators ◽

School Graduation ◽

Linked Administrative Data

Abstract Although numerous studies have examined how children raised in same-sex-parented families fare relative to children in different-sex-parented families, this body of work suffers from major methodological shortcomings. By leveraging linked administrative data from several population registers from the Netherlands covering the 2006–2018 period (n = 1,454,577), we overcome most methodological limitations affecting earlier research. The unique features of the data include complete population coverage, reliable identification of same-sex-parented families, a large number of children in same-sex-parented families (n = 3,006), multiple objective and verifiable educational outcomes, and detailed measures of family dynamics over children's entire life courses. The results indicate that children in same-sex-parented families outperform children in different-sex-parented families on multiple indicators of academic performance, including standardized tests scores, high school graduation rates, and college enrollment. Such advantages extend to both male and female children, and are more pronounced among children in female than male same-sex-parented families. These findings challenge deficit models of same-sex parenting.

Download Full-text

Community interventions for improving adult mental health: mapping local policy and practice in England

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-11741-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

F. Duncan ◽

C. Baskin ◽

M. McGrath ◽

J. F. Coker ◽

C. Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Service Provision ◽

Service Providers ◽

Public Mental Health ◽

Population Level ◽

Risk Groups ◽

Poor Mental Health ◽

Community Based Interventions ◽

Community Based ◽

Minority Ethnic

Abstract Background Public mental health (PMH) aims to improve wellbeing and prevent poor mental health at the population level. It is a global challenge and a UK priority area for action. Communities play an important role in the provision of PMH interventions. However, the evidence base concerning community-based PMH interventions is limited, meaning it is challenging to compare service provision to need. Without this, the efficient and equitable provision of services is hindered. Here, we sought to map the current range of community-based interventions for improving mental health and wellbeing currently provided in England to inform priority areas for policy and service intervention. Method We adopted an established mapping exercise methodology, comparing service provision with demographic and deprivation statistics. Five local authority areas of England were selected based on differing demographics, mental health needs and wider challenging circumstances (i.e. high deprivation). Community-based interventions were identified through: 1) desk-based research 2) established professional networks 3) chain-referral sampling of individuals involved in local mental health promotion and prevention and 4) peer researchers’ insight. We included all community-based, non-clinical interventions aimed at adult residents operating between July 2019 and May 2020. Results 407 interventions were identified across the five areas addressing 16 risk/protective factors for PMH. Interventions for social isolation and loneliness were most prevalent, most commonly through social activities and/or befriending services. The most common subpopulations targeted were older adults and people from minority ethnic backgrounds. Interventions focusing on broader structural and environmental determinants were uncommon. There was some evidence of service provision being tailored to local need, though this was inconsistent, meaning some at-risk groups such as men or LGBTQ+ people from minority ethnic backgrounds were missed. Interventions were not consistently evaluated. Conclusions There was evidence of partial responsiveness to national and local prioritising. Provision was geared mainly towards addressing social and individual determinants of PMH, suggesting more integration is needed to engage wider service providers and policy-makers in PMH strategy and delivery at the community level. The lack of comprehensive evaluation of services to improve PMH needs to be urgently addressed to determine the extent of their effectiveness in communities they serve.

Download Full-text