The cost of living crisis: how can we tackle fuel poverty and food insecurity in practice?

Khan, Nada

doi:10.3399/bjgp22x719921

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…During COVID‐19 these figures increased, with the lack of access to food in supermarkets and isolation reported as factors to explain low or very low food security 8 . Furthermore, furloughing and unemployment have also resulted in greater food insecurity and foodbank usage during the pandemic, 9 with further concerns now reported as a result of the ‘cost of living crisis’ in the United Kingdom, 10 although data specifically relating to people living with obesity remain sparse. Therefore, we aimed to examine the continued impact of COVID‐19 on the mental health of people living with obesity and associations with food insecurity, loneliness and health‐related behaviours.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of living through COVID‐19 pandemic on mental health, food insecurity, loneliness and health behaviours in people with obesity

Brown

Flint

Dicken

et al. 2022

J Human Nutrition Diet

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted people living with obesity. The aim was to examine the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of people living with obesity and associations with food insecurity, loneliness and health-related behaviours. Methods: The study recruited 1187 UK adults living with obesity who completed an online survey, which examined mental health and associations with food insecurity, loneliness and health-related behaviours from July 2020 (end of the first lockdown in the United Kingdom) to the point they completed the survey in 2021. Regression analyses were used to examine relationships between outcome variables and demographic factors, and hierarchical linear regression models were used to assess levels of loneliness, depression and well-being. Results: Participants reported worse loneliness, depression, well-being and food insecurity compared to pre-COVID. However, participants reported attempting to lose weight, healthier food shopping, diet and increased physical activity. Quality and quantity of sleep deteriorated compared to prior to COVID-19. Conclusions: Adults living with obesity in the United Kingdom report a continued negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon their mental health together with increased loneliness and food insecurity. However, our findings suggest that UK adults living with obesity have increased their engagement in positive health behaviours and were attempting to lose weight.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of living through COVID‐19 pandemic on mental health, food insecurity, loneliness and health behaviours in people with obesity

Brown

Flint

Dicken

et al. 2022

J Human Nutrition Diet

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…People with pre-payment meters are more at risk in the winter months because, unlike direct debit customers, they cannot spread the cost across the whole year (Fuel Bank Foundation, 2023). General Practitioners are increasingly concerned about how this cost of living crisis is affecting their patients (Khan, 2022) for all of the reasons above, with some localities prescribing fuel for those most in need (Iacobucci, 2022). In 2022, there was an unprecedented rise in energy costs in the United Kingdom, detailed information on this and the capping of energy prices can be found here: https:// commo nslib rary.parli ament.uk/resea rch-brief ings/cbp-9491/ (UK Parliament, 2023).…”

Section: Anna Sweetingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Taking from Peter to pay Paul”: The experience of people in receipt of fuel and food vouchers from a UK foodbank

Hanson,

Belderson,

Player

et al. 2023

Nutrition Bulletin

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For people on very low incomes, household fuel and food environments are increasingly uncertain. Many live in precarious situations with little control over their lives. In addition to food parcels, many foodbanks also supply emergency fuel payments. There has been a surge in demand due to the cost of living crisis in the United Kingdom. This qualitative study, using semi‐structured interviews, explored the lived experience of people who received a fuel voucher via a foodbank to gain insights into food preparation, eating practices and heating and appliance use in their homes. All participants (n = 6) described a change in life circumstances leaving them at crisis point with overwhelming uncertainty. Using Thematic Analysis, we identified four themes: (1) Bewilderment in using foodbank services; (2) The need to make trade‐offs between food and fuel; (3) Feeling shame at using the services and (4) Missing out on pleasurable eating practices. Three case studies give fuller insights and context. All interviewees had acute and complex needs and described being ‘at rock bottom’, with fuel vouchers viewed as a ‘lifeline’ to address essential cooking, heating and electrical appliance needs. We, therefore, suggest the need for extra support and follow‐up for first‐time users who are in a state of denial and shock when seeking help. Further research is needed on how to best help organisations develop strategies to address and ameliorate a sense of powerlessness and shame felt by their clients which likely limits them from seeking help, despite being in acute, complex and dire need.

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“…Joanne Reeve invites us to use the challenges in primary care to rethink the 'generalist' specialty that is family medicine. 6 Consideration of wider human need is a 'cause célèbre' of primary care, and Nada Khan highlights the implications of fuel poverty and food insecurity for clinical practice 7 an international phenomenon that is now headline news in the UK.…”

Section: Global Specialist Generalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global primary care is local primary care

Papanikitas¹

2022

Br J Gen Pract

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My childhood hero from the British television series, Doctor Who, is a traveller in time and space, who claims to be a 'citizen of the universe'. 1 With such a literally cosmopolitan 2 ethic, The Doctor was incapable of ignoring injustice anywhere he/she (it's complicated!) came across it. Even with such a 'woke' role-model, I regret that I used to get annoyed with colleagues more focused on international than domestic concerns -there is, after all, so much local need and controversy in the UK primary care setting. When we are struggling here, why should we care what happens there? And yet, the first 20 years of the century have more than demonstrated that it is no longer possible to maintain a geographically or professionally insular attitude to practice. The selection of articles for this issue's Life &Times is influenced by the concurrent joint conference of the RCGP and WONCA (29 June to 1 July 2022), but remains relevant to all of us, because, like it or not, practitioners in primary care must now be global in their outlook.

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The cost of living crisis: how can we tackle fuel poverty and food insecurity in practice?

Cited by 10 publications

References 8 publications

The impact of living through COVID‐19 pandemic on mental health, food insecurity, loneliness and health behaviours in people with obesity

The impact of living through COVID‐19 pandemic on mental health, food insecurity, loneliness and health behaviours in people with obesity

“Taking from Peter to pay Paul”: The experience of people in receipt of fuel and food vouchers from a UK foodbank

Global primary care is local primary care

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