We know that musculoskeletal conditions are much more prevalent in deprived areas so the publication of this report is very relevant to addressing the social determinants of MSK health. It has been produced by the Institute of Health Equity and commissioned by the Health Foundation to mark 10 years on from the landmark study Fair Society, Healthy Lives (The Marmot Review).
The report highlights that:
- people can expect to spend more of their lives in poor health
- improvements to life expectancy have stalled, and declined for the poorest 10% of women
- the health gap has grown between wealthy and deprived areas
- place matters – living in a deprived area of the North East is worse for your health than living in a similarly deprived area in London, to the extent that life expectancy is nearly five years less.
The purpose of the report is to show what can be done, in a spirit of social justice, to take action on the social determinants of health to reduce these avoidable health inequalities. It makes a series of recommendations for improvement around five themes:
- Give every child the best start in life
- Enable all children, young people and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives
- Create fair employment and good work for all
- Ensure a healthy standard of living for all
- Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities
You can read and download the full report, Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On, or executive summary from the Health Foundation website.
You can read a response from Sue Brown on medium.com.