- Did Shielding Advice Help Clinically Extremely Vulnerable People during the COVID-19 Pandemic?by Fangxuan Du, MSc Mental Health Studies at King’s College LondonBackgroundImagine you and many people are sailing separately in a river, each with the possibility of sinking, and suddenly you are told that your boat is fragile and more likely to sink, how would you feel?Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, up to 1.3 million people were identified as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV). Due to pre-existing conditions, they suffered an unequal impact of the pandemic. In the UK, people who were CEV were advised by the government to ‘shield’, including staying at home for 12 […]
- Protecting Newborns NationallyA picture of the vaccination provision across maternity servicesBy Dr Emma Anderson, Research Fellow at the University of BristolIntroductionMaternal vaccination programs play a key role in safeguarding the health of mothers and infants. Pregnant women in the UK have been recommended to be vaccinated against pertussis (whooping cough) since 2012, influenza (in ‘flu season) since 2010, and Covid-19 since 2021 to protect their babies. Uptake rates for these vaccines are relatively low, with over a third of pregnant women missing out on their pertussis vaccine and more than half missing out on ‘flu. Previously women had to make […]
- Addressing climate change and health through behavioural science By Behavioural Scientists Dr Helena Wehling, Priyanjali Ratwatte and Dr Dale Weston, Behavioural Science and Insights Unit, UK Health Security Agency What is climate change and how does our behaviour impact it? Climate change refers to the long-term shift in temperature and weather patterns across the world and is caused by the release of greenhouses gasses such as carbon dioxide into the air. This causes global warming, meaning that global temperatures gradually rise over time due to the greenhouse effect (i.e., gases trapping heat close to the earth’s surface and increasing global temperature). […]
