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Sarah Curtis, Sinclair Sutherland and Ray Hudson, University of Durham, Paul Norman, University of Leeds and
Previously also Mylene Riva, University of Durham, and Richard Cookson, University of York
(Project no. 0301155, previously 30115)
The aim of the project is to investigate how, for the period of 1981 to 2008, changes in local economies relate to population health and health inequalities. The project will answer the following research questions: What are the longitudinal associations between changes in local economies and health outcomes at the individual level? Do these associations vary by rurality and regions? The researcher intends to link the LS data to geographical data on local economies (derived using data from the Labour Force Survey and small area census data) at the Local Authority (district/unitary) level.
Although previous research has examined the effects of economic recessions on the health of individuals, less attention has been directed to the more general public health effects of recessions on the wider community and the variation of these effects by local labour market conditions. Research on the social determinants of health has not examined whether there are variations between individuals or between areas in the health effects of periods of sustained economic growth in both urban and rural settings.
The aim of this project is to examine the effects on health of periods of economic growth and decline, with a particular focus on variations due to the labour market conditions of local areas in urban and rural and urban settings of England. In order to gain a full understanding of the health impacts, we are seeking the permission to access LS micro data and data on overall and cause-specific mortality of LS members for 1971 to 2001 (and up to 2006 for the death registrar) linked to data on labour market conditions of Local Authorities for the period of 1981 to 2006.
Although some authors have examined change in area conditions (mainly deprivation) in relation to changes in health, one limitation of these studies is that they considered area-level change over a 10 year period using census data. Our aim is to model trends in labour market conditions of Local Authorities for smaller time period and to relate these trends to mortality and morbidity outcomes. The labour market conditions of Local Authorities will be characterised using decennial census data for the years 1981 and 1991 and yearly data from the Labour Force Survey for 1992 to 2006. These two surveys will provide information on the labour market conditions, defined by employment rates, unemployment rates, employment by broad economic sector of industry and education qualifications in the population as well as by demographic information on population structure and change. The Local Authorities boundaries are those of the 2001 census.
With these analyses, we aim to answer the following research questions: a) What are the longitudinal associations between changes in local economies and health outcomes at the individual level?and b) Do these associations vary by rurality, region and sub-group of the population (e.g. older adults, unemployed)?
Data will be analysed using a combination of multi-level and longitudinal analyses. Members of the research team have applied these methodologies to analyse large datasets (e.g. Health Survey of England) including the LS (Curtis).
It is expected that results from this project will contribute to advancing knowledge on the long-term processes linking place to health, and in relation to changing local economies. Findings will further inform public health and health promotion strategies addressing population health issues in relation to local and regional socioeconomic conditions, which is very timely qlven the current international economic context.