From poverty to flourishing – February round-up

Shelter recently released a shocking report which found that a child becomes homeless every eight minutes in Britain – equivalent to 183 per day. The homelessness charity pointed out that in some London boroughs one in 12 children is homeless or living in emergency accommodation – including hostels and B&Bs. 

Half of homeless people may have a traumatic brain injury according to a systematic review of evidence from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea. In Lancet Public Health the researchers point out that brain injuries are associated consistently with poorer mental and physical health, higher rates of suicidality and suicide risk, memory problems and increased use of health services and involvement with the criminal justice system. 

Analysis from the Manchester Self-Harm Project, using data from emergency departments in the city, found greater rates of self-harm in areas which were socially fragmented, ethnically white British and socioeconomically deprived. The research group tweeted 'Although the city of Manchester is one of the most deprived local authority areas in England, small areas' socioeconomic characteristics still account for a large proportion of variability in self-harm incidence'.