It was the worst of times, it was the BeSST of times
The stirring of medical students’ sociological imagination in 2020 Teaching sociology to medical students is challenging in the best of times. Marked by the global pandemic, last year was certainly the worst of times. Yet, as members of Behavioural and... More…
Pandemics and Colonial Indifference
Seeking perspective for our misleadingly named ‘unprecedented times,’ I re-read Albert Camus’ The Plague. Themes in the storyline of complacency, escapism, resignation, fear, heroism, altruism, heightened awareness of nature and death are reflected in the novel’s mainly male characters. The... More…
The Social Construction of Dental Fear
Fear of the dentist is one of the most common fears across Europe and North America. Recent research in the British Dental Journal suggesting that over 50% of the UK population claim to be anxious about visits to the dentist,... More…
Nudging behaviour is ineffective, naïve and unethical
Interventions to ‘nudge’ people into desirable behaviours have become popular with policy-makers internationally. In the UK, the Behavioural Insights Team – established under former premier David Cameron – are prolific nudgers, designing (amongst many others) inputs to reduce meat consumption, protect... More…
Mortality rates are still rising in the UK
And everyone is ignoring how many more people are dying When the UK’s annual mid-year population estimates were released in late June 2019, much of the media coverage focused on the fact that the population had risen, but growth rates had stalled. The... More…
Acknowledging Unpaid Public Work
The Need for Authentic Peer Support The idea of unpaid public work is an underexplored aspect of many women’s lives. Unpaid work might include: being a trustee on charitable boards, providing pastoral care and signposting people to welfare services, participating... More…
Fear & Pride in Kiev
I have been to some harrowing places. I have worked in conflict zones, and worked with both refugees and those who preyed on them. But it was at a Pride Parade that I was truly afraid. The setting: Kiev, the... More…
VIDEO: Public Health in the Calais Refugee Camp
Public Health in the Calais Refugee Camp: Environment, Health and Exclusion If you missed this year’s ‘Cost of Living’ Symposium it is now available to watch in the above video. Surindar Dhesi, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University... More…
Old wine in new bottles? On the new NICE Guidelines for Depression
Before NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) finalised and published its first depression guidance in 2004, it made a draft publicly available for comment. NICE will make a draft of a new version of this guidance available... More…
The dynamics of health inequalities
Since the publication of the Black Report, through numerous subsequent policy documents and much policy activity the health differences between the rich and poor in Britain remain a reality which blights the lives of millions. Inequalities in health bring earlier... More…
The Politics of Evidence
Last year, my colleague Clare Bambra and I described the consequences of recent economic and social policy in the United States and the United Kingdom as ‘neoliberal epidemics’. In doing so, we actually combined three categories: a health outcome of... More…
NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans
Local NHS areas have til June to try and submit convincing plans to dramatically improve healthcare whilst saving large sums of cash. But the decision making is secretive and dysfunctional. Predictions that the NHS is facing disaster have been issued... More…
