People In London Research Articles

'We are not the virus'-Experiences of racism among East & Southeast Asian heritage young people in London during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The spread of COVID-19 was accompanied by news reports of surging racism, xenophobia, and hate crime all over the Global North targeting individuals of East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) descent. However, little empirical research has documented the impacts of COVID-19 on child and adolescent ESEAs. We describe and analyse the mental health experiences of young ESEA Londoners during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. We purposively recruited 23 young people (aged 9-20) of ESEA heritage through social media and existing ESEA networks and analysed transcripts using thematic analysis. Participants experienced distress from being exposed to multiple forms of racism ranging from strangers on the street avoiding or harassing them to classmates at school or university making racist 'jokes', comments or 'banter'. Participants worried about hate crimes reported in news media and experienced anxiety from seeing pervasive racist content in online social media. Some participants responded by physically isolating themselves at home for long periods, whilst others chose to participate in activism, providing a sense of agency. Action by parents and school authorities was reported to help prevent further bullying, but respondents did not always feel able to approach these for help. Our findings put into focus the strain on young ESEA Londoners' mental health caused by COVID-related racism and jar against simplified depictions of metropolitan places, such as London, as centres of cosmopolitanism and tolerance. To promote the emotional wellbeing of young ESEAs, future policy should facilitate action by schools and universities against anti-ESEA racism and support ESEA community-building efforts to enhance resilience in the face of racism.

Our Health Counts: Examining associations between colonialism and ever being incarcerated among First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people in London, Thunder Bay, and Toronto, Canada.

Indigenous peoples have a disproportionately high prevalence of incarceration in the Canadian justice system. However, there is limited Indigenous-driven research examining colonialism and the justice system, specifically associations between racism, externally imposed family disruptions, and history of ever being incarcerated. Therefore, this study examined the association between the proportion of previous incarceration and family disruption, experiences of racism, and victimization for Indigenous adults in London, Thunder Bay, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The three communities expressed that they did not want comparison between the communities; rather, they wanted analysis of their community to understand where more supports were needed. Indigenous community partners used respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to collect data from First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) peoples in London, Thunder Bay, and Toronto. Prevalence estimates, 95% confidence intervals, and relative risk were reported using unweighted Poisson models and RDS-adjusted proportions. Proportions of ever being incarcerated ranged from 43.0% in London to 54.0% in Toronto and 72.0% in Thunder Bay. In all three cities, history of child protection involvement and experiencing racism was associated with an approximate 25.0% increase in risk for previous incarceration. In Toronto and London, victimization was associated with increased risk for incarceration. This research highlights disproportionately high prevalence of ever being incarcerated among FNIM living in three Ontario cities. Experiencing racism, family disruption, and victimization are associated with incarceration. Decreasing the rates of family disruption, experiences of racism, and victimization should inform future policy and services to reduce the disproportionately high prevalence of incarceration for FNIM people living in urban settings.

The Search for Salvation through T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land

T. S. Eliot’s poem ‘The Waste Land’ delves into the theme of self-reflexivity, portraying the lives of individuals alienated and isolated due to World War I. Many suffered from paranoia, leading lives devoid of purpose. The poem paints a vivid picture of the social characteristics of people in London during this period. T. S. Eliot, influenced by Indian philosophy, drew references from Hindu texts, offering a glimmer of hope. It suggests persevering through life with compassion, extending charity, and mastering inner thoughts to attain inner peace. This philosophy is captured in the resonant word ‘DA’, symbolizing the sound of thunder. It echoes thrice, representing ‘Datta’ (charity), ‘Dayadvata’ (compassion towards others), and ‘Damyata’ (control over inner thoughts). Despite the fragmented psyche of humanity post World War I, Eliot held hope for positive transformations in the years to come, contingent on people’s faith in God and the power of prayer.

The diverse landscape of memory T-cell heterogeneity.

The diverse landscape of memory T-cell heterogeneity.

Healthcare specialists and communities working together to improve health for children and young people in London, UK

The International Journal of Integrated Care (IJIC) is an online, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes original articles in the field of integrated care on a continuous basis.IJIC has an Impact Factor of 5.120 (2020 JCR, received in June 2021)The IJIC 20th Anniversary Issue was published in 2021.

Exploring the temporal variations in accessibility to health services for older adults: A case study in Greater London

IntroductionIncreasing attention has been paid to accessibility and equity during the last two decades. Yet, despite the proliferation of studies investigating accessibility and equity from the perspective of the younger generation, only modest progress has been made in embedding a temporal perspective and targeting health services for older adults. Currently, the number of people over 60s in London is growing rapidly and is projected to increase to approximately two million by 2035. AimsThis research aims to examine walking accessibility to General Practitioners (GPs) for older people in Greater London, with a particular focus from a temporal perspective. MethodsThree different datasets were used for this study, namely: GP services data and data on GP Opening Times data from NHS Choices; the London Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) atlas; and the road network derived from OpenStreetMap (OSM). This study uses on the cumulative method to calculate accessibility to GPs – and applies the vertical equity index to measure temporal equity. ResultsOur results show that opening times have a significant impact on accessibility to health services for older people in London. Overall accessibility peaked at midday when 15.88% of areas have a low degree of accessibility. Additionally, our study classifies local authorities into five groups based on their performance on accessibility and vertical equity measurements. We found several districts with inadequate and unequal accessibility that can be identified as vulnerable areas. ConclusionsGaining insights into the temporal variations in accessibility to GPs represents a key step towards providing optimal services. Our findings can be used to provide an evidence-based reference for transport planners and policymakers to promote age-friendly development and planning.

Did Covid-19 Lead to an Increase in Hate Crimes Toward Chinese People in London?

We examine whether Covid-19, which is widely believed to have originated in China, negatively affected the environment for Chinese people in London leading to an increase in hate crimes toward this group relative to others. With data from the Metropolitan Police for the whole of the Metropolitan area of London, we use a difference-in-differences approach to examine what happened to hate crimes against Chinese people in London in the months before (October to December 2019) and the months after the Covid-19 pandemic (January to March 2020) relative to other ethnic groups, to other crimes, and to other time periods. Our methodology utilizes the fact that Covid-19 came as an unexpected shock, which very quickly changed the environment for crime, and did so differentially across ethnicities. We argue that this shock is likely to negatively affect attitudes and behaviors toward Chinese people, but has no effect on other ethnicities. Our results show that in the months after Covid-19, there was an increase in hate crimes against Chinese people, but this increase was not seen among the other ethnic groups, other non hate crimes, or in any other time period. This leads us to conclude that Covid-19 led to an increase in hate crimes against Chinese people in London. That Covid-19 changed behavior toward Chinese people highlights an intrinsic link between Covid-19 and racism. Unfortunately, the rise in hate crime that we identify adds to a growing list of ways in which ethnic minority groups disproportionately suffered, and continue to do so, during the pandemic.

Clinical coding of long COVID in English primary care: a federated analysis of 58 million patient records in situ using OpenSAFELY.

BackgroundLong COVID describes new or persistent symptoms at least 4 weeks after onset of acute COVID-19. Clinical codes to describe this phenomenon were recently created.AimTo describe the use of long-COVID codes, and variation of use by general practice, demographic variables, and over time.Design and settingPopulation-based cohort study in English primary care.MethodWorking on behalf of NHS England, OpenSAFELY data were used encompassing 96% of the English population between 1 February 2020 and 25 May 2021. The proportion of people with a recorded code for long COVID was measured overall and by demographic factors, electronic health record software system (EMIS or TPP), and week.ResultsLong COVID was recorded for 23 273 people. Coding was unevenly distributed among practices, with 26.7% of practices having never used the codes. Regional variation ranged between 20.3 per 100 000 people for East of England (95% confidence interval [CI] = 19.3 to 21.4) and 55.6 per 100 000 people in London (95% CI = 54.1 to 57.1). Coding was higher among females (52.1, 95% CI = 51.3 to 52.9) than males (28.1, 95% CI = 27.5 to 28.7), and higher among practices using EMIS (53.7, 95% CI = 52.9 to 54.4) than those using TPP (20.9, 95% CI = 20.3 to 21.4).ConclusionCurrent recording of long COVID in primary care is very low, and variable between practices. This may reflect patients not presenting; clinicians and patients holding different diagnostic thresholds; or challenges with the design and communication of diagnostic codes. Increased awareness of diagnostic codes is recommended to facilitate research and planning of services, and also surveys with qualitative work to better evaluate clinicians’ understanding of the diagnosis.

The Barts Health NHS Trust COVID-19 cohort: characteristics, outcomes and risk scoring of patients in East London.

BACKGROUND: Barts Health National Health Service Trust (BHNHST) serves a diverse population of 2.5 million people in London, UK. We undertook a health services assessment of factors used to evaluate the risk of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.METHODS: Patients with confirmed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results admitted between 1 March and 1 August 2020 were included, alongwith clinician-diagnosed suspected cases. Prognostic factors from the 4C Mortality score and 4C Deterioration scores were extracted from electronic health records and logistic regression was used to quantify the strength of association with 28-day mortality and clinical deterioration using national death registry linkage.RESULTS: Of 2783 patients, 1621 had a confirmed diagnosis, of whom 61% were male and 54% were from Black and Minority Ethnic groups; 26% died within 28 days of admission. Mortality was strongly associated with older age. The 4C mortality score had good stratification of risk with a calibration slope of 1.14 (95% CI 1.01-1.27). It may have under-estimated mortality risk in those with a high respiratory rate or requiring oxygen.CONCLUSION: Patients in this diverse patient cohort had similar mortality associated with prognostic factors to the 4C score derivation sample, but survival might be poorer in those with respiratory failure.

London, race and territories: Young people’s stories of a divided city

This article examines the relationships between children’s everyday lives and geographical education. Drawing on research with five young people in London, the article examines their narratives, analysed as relating to race and territory, critically considering the relationships between children’s geographies and the geographies of race and racism in schools. Following hooks, the article begins with the argument that there is value in ‘teaching to transgress’ to challenge both legacies of imperialism in geography and education, and the inequalities and injustices that many children face. Following this, the article introduces the research, drawing on Aitken to argue the importance of consideration of children’s voice, presence and rights in (geographical) education, before sharing the narratives of the young people. The article concludes by arguing for a reconceptualization of how ‘the child’ is constructed, and valued, in education.

Risks of poor asthma outcome in 14,405 children and young people in London

This is a 12-month retrospective data analysis (2018/19) of asthma risk factors in 350 North West London general practices. Fourteen thousand four hundred and five of the 482,029 (40% female) children and young people (CYP) had diagnosed asthma. Exacerbations are as follows: (i) 749 (5%) CYP had 797 hospital admissions; 32 (<1%) had 2–6; (ii) 910 (6%) had 1168 recorded asthma attacks; 170 (1%) had 2–12; (iii) 1485 (10%) had 2123 oral corticosteroid courses; 408 (3%) had 2–11. Excess short-acting bronchodilators were prescribed in over half of the CYP. Of the 10,077 (70%) CYP prescribed inhaled corticosteroid preventers, 7279 (72%) were issued with <4 ICS inhaler prescriptions during the year; these CYP accounted for 11% of the admission spells. In all, 30% of CYP had poor symptom control. At least 10% of the CYP having had recent attacks are at risk and dashboards such as those available in North West London could easily facilitate recognition of risk and optimisation of care.

Pharmacists launch service to vaccinate homeless people and undocumented migrants against COVID-19

A charity that offers food and healthcare to homeless people in London ran a COVID-19 vaccination service in partnership with the NHS over three dates in April 2021. Nishkam Sikh Welfare and Awareness Team (SWAT) has been providing food to central London’s homeless population since 2009 and catering to healthcare needs since 2017. Speaking to […]

Practice examples: How schemes divert young people in London from formal justice system

Children and Young People NowVol. 2020, No. 12 Special Report PracticePractice examples: How schemes divert young people in London from formal justice systemNina JacobsNina JacobsSearch for more papers by this authorNina JacobsPublished Online:29 May 2021https://doi.org/10.12968/cypn.2020.12.41AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 2 December 2020Volume 2020Issue 12ISSN (print): 1755-8093ISSN (online): 2515-7582 Metrics History Published online 29 May 2021 Published in print 2 December 2020 Information© MA Education LimitedPDF download

Space Back to Humanism: Research on the Development Trend and Coupling Characteristics of “Industry-City-People” in London

Human-oriented development is an important issue in the world, and it also has become an important driving force for urban development and industrial upgrading in the world’s major cities. So, the paper takes 33 administrative districts of London as the research object, through judging the current development trend and coupling analysis characteristics of industry, city and people in London, hoping to provide some references for the future upgrade and development of large cities. This paper constructs a human-oriented index system about the development of London’s industry, city and people, and comprehensively evaluating the degree of industrial development, urbanization and people development of each administrative district of London by SPSS principal component analysis, while using the physical coupling coordination degree model to analyse the characteristics of the coupling development of London’s industry, city and people. It is found that London’s industrial development has the characteristics of central agglomeration and development in the direction of west, northwest and southeast. While city development also has the characteristics of central agglomeration, and it is developing towards the southwest and southeast. However, the characteristics of central agglomeration of human development are not obvious. It is developing along the south bank of the Thames and southwest of London. In addition, the coupling results of industry, city, and people systems have prominent functional hierarchy characteristics, which are obviously related to the layout of urban industrial function value areas. Finally, the paper summarizes the revelations for the development of major cities.

‘Playing the Game’: Power, Authority and Procedural Justice in Interactions Between Police and Homeless People in London

Abstract We explore the relevance of procedural justice theory for understanding the relationship between police and marginalized groups and individuals. Analysis is based on ethnographic research into the policing of the street population in an inner London borough through shadowing policing patrols and embedding observation within the homeless community. Police–street population relationships appear characterized by: (1) a structural context of extreme disempowerment; (2) a micro-sociological dimension relating to the exercise of authority and (3) a dynamic power relationship characterized by ‘the game of cat and mouse’. The nature of interactions within this context and the extreme marginality of the street population alter the weight placed on fairness perceptions and the extent to which police activity can affect legitimacy and compliance.

Informing the development of an E-platform for monitoring wellbeing in schools: involving young people in a co-design process

BackgroundThe use of new technologies and methodologies in young people’s mental health research is needed to allow more frequent and reliable sampling. Mobile applications and e-platforms create exciting potential for the collection of large-scale cohort data, however there are various feasibility and ethical issues to consider. Consultation with young people is needed to inform the research agenda, and ensure these technologies are engaging, useful and safe. This article describes the process of Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) with a sample of young people in London, with the aim of i) informing the development of a mood-monitoring e-platform, and ii) providing feedback and advice for researchers developing web-based technologies in the mental health field.MethodsA total of 26 young people were consulted across four advisory group co-design sessions. All young people were students enrolled at one of the participating London based sixth form colleges, and voluntarily attended a workshop session. Audio recordings of the sessions were analysed using a thematic analysis framework.ResultsWe found that young people were engaged in discussions around mobile health technologies and valued the opportunity to collaborate throughout the early stages of the development process The advisory groups identified key considerations for future web-development work to encourage engagement and prolonged use, including, the promotion of trust and transparency, consideration of accessibility, provision of support, production of engaging and functional design, and acknowledgment of specific contextual influences surrounding young people’s wellbeing.ConclusionsInvolving young people in the development process of e-health technologies contributes to optimising the successful adoption and prolonged usage of new methodologies. The thematic map and informant examples can be used to guide researchers interested in developing web-based technologies in the mental health field and will be directly applicable to the development of a mood-monitoring e-platform.

Dynamics of Transcendence and Urbanism: The Latent Mechanisms of Everyday Religious Life and City Spaces

ABSTRACT This paper examines the negotiated everyday experiences of Jewish Litvish people in London and Jerusalem, exploring ideas of transcendence and immanence in these spaces. By uncovering the relations between religious identity and boundary-making in urban settings, the paper exposes the latent social, organizational, and spatial mechanisms that determine communal demarcation lines in the everyday life of city spaces. We argue that to examine such processes, one must refer to the social system that drives local processes and the values that communities draw their strength from. Empirically, we compare the mechanisms the Haredi (strictly orthodox Jews) -Litvish communities in Jerusalem and London use to delineate areas between immanence and transcendence in city life. The findings point to planners’ need to better understand how individuals cooperate and how community leaders are involved in developing urban structure.

Participatory internet radio (RadioActive101) as a social innovation and co-production methodology for engagement and non-formal learning amongst socially excluded young people

ABSTRACT This paper describes an original interlinking of a conceptual frame and co-production methodology of a participatory internet radio intervention (RadioActive101) that supports engagement and non-formal learning amongst socially excluded young people. This considers the inclusive learning of socially excluded young people as a social innovation that is realised through a participation and co-production methodology that is inspired and informed by Paulo Freire. These are combined to develop an innovative pedagogy that has led to relatively high levels of participation (163 young people facilitated by 29 youth workers) and youth-led co-production (33 radio shows) that supports the reported development of psychosocial dimensions and twenty-first century (21C) and employability skills of young people in London in the UK. This approach and its evaluations suggest that our method (RadioActive101) involves harmonising emancipatory learning through co-production with an instrumental approach to skills development, to support a holistic approach to learning. The foundation and ‘key’ to this holistic learning appears to be the co-development of confidence and communication in ways that lead to the thoughtful and effective use of voice to underpin and support the development of 21C and employability skills.

Editors' Notes

Editors' Notes John David Zuern and Craig Howes International Year in Review I began writing this note introducing the fourth installment of Biography's International Year in Review on the first day of June 2020, which meant that I couldn't help reflecting on this year's collection of essays across a horizon defined by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers on May 25. These uprisings have inspired people in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Tokyo, and other cities around the world to take to the streets, despite stay-at-home orders and curfews, to express their outrage at systemic injustice in the US and in their own countries. In many places, the two phenomena are linked: the disproprotionate impact of the coronavirus on particular populations—in the US, people of color, low-income workers, and the elderly—has dramatically exposed longstanding inequities and the failure of institutions to protect the most vulnerable members of society. The individual names and foreshorted life stories of those who have died, whether by outright brutality or malign neglect, are providing powerful touchstones for collective demands for change. This year a striking number of contributions attest to the important role of life narratives in confronting inequality and institutionalized violence. In the first essay in the lineup, Kylie Cardell surveys a range of publications in Australia that engage urgent social concerns, among them Behrouz Boochani's No Friend but the Mountains, the Kurdish writer's account of his detention in an Australian government facility for asylum seekers on Manus Island, and the anthology Stories from the Australian Movement: #MeToo. The #MeToo movement in the US provides the framework for Leigh Gilmore's discussion of Sarah M. Broom's The Yellow House, Brittany Cooper's Eloquent Rage, Chanel Miller's Know My Name, and several other memoirs and essay collections that bear witness to women's experiences of sexism, racism, sexual violence, and domestic abuse. Two of the memoirs Nick Tembo reviews decry the South African medical establishment's callousness and indifference toward people with conditions like autism (Ilana Gerschlowitz's Saving My Sons) and HIV (Helena Kriel's The Year of Facing Fire). Along similar lines, Liam Harte's presentation of Emilie Pine's Notes to Self, Sinéad Gleeson's Constellations, and Mary Cregan's The Scar emphasizes these memoirists' indictment of the pervasive misogyny of the medical profession in Ireland. Sleiman El Hajj directs our [End Page v] attention to texts and performances that contest the marginalization of non-conforming members of Lebanese society such as queer people, Syrian refugees, sex workers, prisoners, and women who wear the hijab, while Alana Bell explores how both Harold R. Johnson's Clifford and Tanya Tagaq's Split Tooth disrupt conventional narrative forms to convey the precarity of Indigenous lives in Canada. Ricia Anne Chansky introduces us to the "mass-listening projects" that are giving survivors of the waves of natural disasters in Puerto Rico a space to tell their stories and distribute resources in the absence of adequate government support. Essays by Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir (Iceland), Heui-Yung Park (Korea), Ana Belén Martínez García (Spain), and Szidonia Haragos (United Arab Emirates) also touch on works that demonstrate life writing's capacity to document injustice and spur resistance. Life narratives by and about political figures continue to be well represented. Ilaria Serra includes Antonio Scurati's biography of Benito Mussolini in her selection of publications in Italy; Lu Chen discusses a variety of recent works representing the life of Akihito, who abdicated his position as Emperor of Japan in 2019; Rose Mary Allen and Jeroen Heuvel devote their essay to Bernadette Heiligers's biography of Miguel Pourier, the former prime minister of Curaçao; and Maarit Leskelä-Kärki gives a sensitive reading of Johanna Venho's formally inventive narrative of a short period in the life of Sylvi Kekkonen, the wife of former Finnish Prime Minister Urho Kaleva Kekkonen. As in past years, I'm impressed by the wide variety of approaches our contributors have taken. Some give us an expansive view of the publishing scene in their countries...

Exploring (non‐)meat eating and “translated cuisines” out of home: Evidence from three English cities

AbstractMeat production and consumption are major contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions and other aspects of environmental degradation. It is the aim of this paper to explore red meat in the configuration of main meals eaten out in England across types and styles of cuisine, and to consider the implications for transition towards less resource intensive ways of eating in the future. We show that the odds ratio of eating a dish without red meat is significantly lower in North American/European and Near/Middle Eastern cuisines compared with East Asian (with no difference between South and East Asian), that women are more likely than men to eat fish and poultry (with no gender differences in vegetarian dishes), that Prestonians are the least likely to select a vegetarian dish, compared with people in London and Bristol, and that the odds of a vegetarian dish compared with red meat is higher amongst managerial workers compared with the routine manual workers (with no other statistically significant class differences). We suggest the term “translated cuisine” to refer cuisines that travel and become incorporated into the palate of the new food culture, and discuss how this could play a role in transitions towards less meat‐centred patterns of food consumption in the future.