Conducting rapid qualitative research amongst people with experience of rough sleeping in London during the COVID-19 pandemic

In March 2020, the ‘Everyone In’ initiative was introduced by the UK government as a public health response to COVID-19. This initiative sought to temporarily accommodate people experiencing rough sleeping in hotels in all local authority areas throughout England. In London, ‘Everyone In’ involved the procurement of vacant accommodation in over 100 hotels and temporarily re-housed approximately 2000 individuals. A rapid qualitative study was undertaken within two hotels to explore experiences of the initiative from the perspective of people accommodated in the hotels. This article describes how standard qualitative methods were adapted and implemented to complete the study whilst meeting COVID-19 social distancing guidelines. The research involved a longitudinal design of a two-stage qualitative interview that sought to capture residents’ experience of ‘Everyone In’ at two points in time (while in the hotel and when residents had left the hotel). Adapted qualitative methods were employed by a team of 13 researchers. These adaptations included socially distanced leaflet dropping, telephone-based participant recruitment, a remote, multistage, longitudinal qualitative telephone interviewing and rapid framework analysis. 35 hotel residents were recruited into the study (two subsequently withdrew participation). A total of 299 (of a possible 330) short interviews were completed by 33 participants (26 male and 7 female) as part of the multi-stage, longitudinal design of the study. This study indicates that adapted qualitative research methods employed during a pandemic can be successfully applied to obtain insights and experiences (of individuals and groups) otherwise difficult to reach and/or complex to understand.

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Event-Based Surveillance of Poisonings and Potentially Hazardous Exposures over 12 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182111133 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (21) ◽

pp. 11133

Author(s):

Meghan A. Cook ◽

Nicholas Brooke

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Information Service ◽

Herbal Remedies ◽

Public Health Response ◽

International Media ◽

Industrial Sites ◽

Health Response ◽

Media Reports ◽

The Uk ◽

Event Based

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen people and governments utilise an array of chemical and pharmaceutical substances in an attempt to prevent and treat COVID-19 infections. The Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (CRCE) at Public Health England (PHE) routinely undertakes Event-Based Surveillance (EBS) to monitor public health threats and incidents related to chemicals and poisons. From April 2020, EBS functions were expanded to screen international media for potentially hazardous exposures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Media sources reported that poisons centres were experiencing increased enquiries associated with the use and misuse of household cleaners and alcohol-based hand sanitiser (HS). There were also media reports of people self-medicating with over-the-counter supplements and traditional or herbal remedies. Public figures who directly or indirectly facilitated misinformation were sometimes reported to be associated with changes in poisoning trends. Border closures were also believed to have been associated with increasingly toxic illicit drug supplies in Canada, and record numbers of opioid-related deaths were reported. In other countries, where the sale of alcohol was banned or limited, home-brewing and methanol-based supplies resulted in a number of fatalities. At least two chemical incidents also occurred at industrial sites in India, after sites were left unattended or were closed and reopened due to lockdown measures. Reports of poisoning identified in the international media were provided to the UK National Poisons Information Service (NPIS) and contributed to the UK COVID-19 public health response.

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Looking Beyond the Provision of Injecting Equipment to People Who Use Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: Harm Reduction and Behavior Change Goals for UK Policy

Contemporary Drug Problems ◽

10.1177/0091450921998701 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 009145092199870

Author(s):

Geoff Bates ◽

Jim McVeigh ◽

Conan Leavey

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Harm Reduction ◽

Public Health Intervention ◽

Anabolic Androgenic Steroids ◽

Public Health Response ◽

Health Response ◽

Wide Range ◽

Reduction Strategies ◽

The Uk ◽

Androgenic Steroids

Understanding of the choices and motivations of people who use anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) for muscular enhancement has increased greatly in the past thirty years, along with understanding of a wide range of health harms associated with this form of drug use in the community. During this period the predominant public health intervention for this population in the UK has consistently remained the provision of injecting equipment to prevent blood borne virus (BBV) transmission. The study explored the health professionals’ and other stakeholders’ perceptions on: whether the current UK public health response is sufficient to address the needs of people who use AAS, and if not, what other needs they might have. This included an exploration of whether there were gaps in harm reduction strategies or other behavioral outcomes and interventions that were needed. Interviews with 27 stakeholders who provide support to people who use AAS in a variety of roles established consensus on the need for a range of interventions to reduce harm and risk in those that choose to use AAS, to prevent initiation, to motivate and support cessation, and to prevent relapse. Study findings indicate that while providing sterile injecting equipment remains essential, it should be considered a bare minimum. The challenge is to develop and deliver a range of harm reduction interventions that look beyond BBV prevention to provide appropriate support to who choose to use AAS at all points in their cycles of use and ultimately for those choosing the temporary or permanent cessation of use.

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COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on social relationships and health

Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health ◽

10.1136/jech-2021-216690 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. jech-2021-216690

Author(s):

Emily Long ◽

Susan Patterson ◽

Karen Maxwell ◽

Carolyn Blake ◽

Raquel Bosó Pérez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Social Interactions ◽

Social Relationships ◽

Public Health Policy ◽

Public Health Response ◽

The Public ◽

Health Response ◽

The Social ◽

The Uk ◽

Key Aspects

This essay examines key aspects of social relationships that were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses explicitly on relational mechanisms of health and brings together theory and emerging evidence on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to make recommendations for future public health policy and recovery. We first provide an overview of the pandemic in the UK context, outlining the nature of the public health response. We then introduce four distinct domains of social relationships: social networks, social support, social interaction and intimacy, highlighting the mechanisms through which the pandemic and associated public health response drastically altered social interactions in each domain. Throughout the essay, the lens of health inequalities, and perspective of relationships as interconnecting elements in a broader system, is used to explore the varying impact of these disruptions. The essay concludes by providing recommendations for longer term recovery ensuring that the social relational cost of COVID-19 is adequately considered in efforts to rebuild.

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Two cases of monkeypox imported to the United Kingdom, September 2018

Eurosurveillance ◽

10.2807/1560-7917.es.2018.23.38.1800509 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (38) ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Aisling Vaughan ◽

Emma Aarons ◽

John Astbury ◽

Sooria Balasegaram ◽

Mike Beadsworth ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

African Continent ◽

Public Health Response ◽

North West ◽

The Public ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

South West ◽

Health Response ◽

The Uk ◽

South West England

In early September 2018, two cases of monkeypox were reported in the United Kingdom (UK), diagnosed on 7 September in Cornwall (South West England) and 11 September in Blackpool (North West England). The cases were epidemiologically unconnected and had recently travelled to the UK from Nigeria, where monkeypox is currently circulating. We describe the epidemiology and the public health response for the first diagnosed cases outside the African continent since 2003.

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A meta-ethnographic review of people's experience of seeking asylum in the UK and its impact on psychological and social wellbeing

BJPsych Open ◽

10.1192/bjo.2021.670 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (S1) ◽

pp. S250-S250

Author(s):

Christine Fullerton

Keyword(s):

Lived Experience ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Public Health Response ◽

Home Office ◽

Health And Wellbeing ◽

Social Wellbeing ◽

Health Response ◽

The Social ◽

The Uk ◽

And Coping

AimsEthnographic accounts of the everyday, lived experience of seeking asylum have been incredibly useful for shedding light on how the asylum process and UK policy influences health and wellbeing. However, there lacks an analysis which pulls together these voices and establishes common themes. This review aims to address this gap by synthesising published literature related to people's experience of seeking asylum in the UK and its impact on their psychological and social wellbeing.MethodA systematic literature search was conducted in SCOPUS, PubMed and PsychINFO. Ten qualitative studies, capturing the accounts of over 190 people, were included in the review. The steps of meta-ethnography were used to synthesise the experiences of seeking asylum. Overarching themes which linked the studies were conceptualised and a framework of ‘constructs’ used to organise verbatim narratives and researcher interpretations from each study by theme and sub-theme. Finally, the constructs from each theme were translated to produce an overarching line of argument to the research.ResultFive key themes illustrating the experience of seeking asylum in the UK were identified. These were: a need for safety; distress; resilience and coping; sources of support; and looking to the future. The line of argument indicated that people seeking asylum in the UK experience a need for safety, high levels of psychological distress and social isolation, yet throughout exhibit extreme resilience. Analysis highlighted the need for increased governmental support and legal empowerment during the asylum process.ConclusionThis synthesis illustrates the widespread impact, both direct and indirect, of a culture of deterrence and disbelief within the Home Office on the psychological and social wellbeing of people desperately seeking refuge and compassion. To achieve equitable and optimum health for those seeking asylum in the UK, we must urgently move away from the hostile environment which has been created. As we develop a more holistic and expanded notion of health, the concept of wellbeing provides a person-centred framework for understanding how the social context can result in certain outcomes. The global public health response to the health-needs of people seeking asylum, and the wider migrant community, must be informed by lived experiences if they are to create interventions which have benefit.

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