Does the British state’s categorisation of 'mixed race' meet public policy needs?

The England and Wales 2001 Census was the first to include ‘Mixed’ categories which have now been adopted across government. The four ‘cultural background’ options were highly prescriptive, specifying combinations of groups. This paper assesses how satisfactorily these analytical categories captured self-ascribed cultural affiliation based on the criteria of validity, reliability and utility of the data for public services. Finally, the paper asks whether we now need a census question on ethnic origin/ancestry in addition to – or instead of – ethnic group or whether multi-ticking or a focus on family origins might give more useful public policy data and better measure the population's ethnic diversity

Main findings and Recommendations

This study aimed to enhance the evidence base on health promotion issues related to minority ethnic groups, refugees/asylum seekers and Gypsy Travellers in Wales. The study objectives were to: identify gaps in the existing evidence base of health needs and health promotion issues for the study groups identify existing good practice of health services and promotion for the study groups explore ways of delivering health promotion policy/programmes targeting these groups in a culturally and socially sensitive manner, and to identify issues for further research

The development of social class sensitive proxies for infant mortality at the PCT level: An appraisal of candiate indicators for the commission for health improvement

The main aim of the work is to identify social class-sensitive proxies for infant mortality at Primary Care Trust level that could be used in the CHI performance ratings process for PCTs in 2003/4

Operationalising the collection of ethnicity data in studies of the sociology of health and illness

In response to the burgeoning interest in ethnic health issues and related published research, a number of recent contributors have attempted to clarify or systematize the usage of overarching terminology like 'ethnicity', 'race', 'culture', and 'racism', including the development of guidelines. However, the operational problems of how to collect ethnicity data in studies of the sociology of health and illness have not been satisfactorily addressed. This paper explores conceptual issues, notably, the meanings of ethnic identity and ethnic origin/ancestry; methodological approaches, including which dimensions to collect, multidimensional versus global measures, and exclusive groups versus optional ethnicity; and also practical issues such as method of assignment. The approach calls for a stronger development of the theoretical understandings of ethnicity and work on how best ethnicity should be conceptualised and measured in the different approaches to explaining ethnic inequalities in health

The Sri Lankan community of descent in the UK: a neglected population in demographic and health research

The Sri Lankan diaspora population is substantially neglected in UK demographic and health research and not captured in census and survey ethnic group questions, though 127,242 Sri Lankan-born migrants were enumerated in England and Wales in 2011. Important intersections are reported between the period of arrival of these migrants, the purpose behind their movement, and related population characteristics, with 47% having arrived during 2001–2011. Between 1984 and 2004 around 50,000 asylum applications were made by Sri Lankan Tamils. Sri Lankan migrants generally display more favourable circumstances on key socio- economic variables than do other diaspora populations from South Asia. These include generic health status and mortality. This may be attributable to the‘healthy migrant’effect, given the community’s recent migration, though the application of its effect to this population requires caution as a significant proportion came to Britain as asylum-seekers (forced migration) rather than as self-selecting migrants. A more advantageous socio-economic profile may also have contributed

Access to green space in disadvantaged urban communities: Evidence of salutogenic effects based on biomarker and self-report measures of wellbeing

AbstractThis paper describes two case studies from Scotland, UK, exploring links between access to green space, perceptions of and activities in green space, and health and quality of life. One study involved a natural experiment to study the effects of improvements to woodlands near a disadvantaged urban community, compared with a similar community without such interventions. The second study, a recent, innovative study for the Scottish Government, demonstrated use of a biomarker as a method for measuring the salutogenic effects of environmental settings such as green space, offering evidence of environment-body interactions within a real-world context of people's everyday lives

On the macromolecular dynamics of poly(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate in aqueous solution and its complex with polyacrylic acid.

This project explored the aqueous solution dynamics of the polydimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (PDMAEMA) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) systems using fluorescence spectroscopy techniques. PDMAEMA and PAA were synthesised several times using free radical polymerisation techniques with different fluorophore labels included in synthesis. The resulting polymers were explored with a selection of fluorescence techniques including time resolved anisotropy measurements, fluorescence decay lifetimes and steady state fluorescence studies. Initial solution dynamics of these polymer systems indicate that the PDMAEMA exhibits a tightly coiled structure at high pH values and adopts an uncoiled conformation at low pH values. PAA exhibits a loose coil conformation at particularly low pH values but adopts an open extended conformation from around pH 4.5. The study also shows that the amine groups within PDMAEMA can affect the fluorescence of labels within the polymer. Studies of the polymer samples in the presence of salts show that even small amounts of salts added to either system elicits a change in the polymer systems and these are generally most prominently shown to increase with small salt concentrations, with concentrations of over 1M often having a much lesser effect. It can generally be seen that the addition of salt to either system promotes the coiling of the polymer. In the case of PAA this is a much tighter coil and in PDMAEMA a lowering of the pH at which the polymer exhibits coiling is seen. Studies of systems made up of both polymers show complicated behaviour in the systems with the main effects being shown when the pH of the system is such that one or the other polymer system is ionised and acting in a similar manner to that of the salts