Following a combination of unforeseen factors which include, but are not limited to, the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, and the Ukraine-Russia war, there has been an unprecedented cost of living crisis, which has not only directly harmed people financially, but also from a health standpoint (Meadows et al 2024). This blog post will analyse the impact that this crisis has on health from two perspectives: the impact on mental and physical health.
Research suggests that the cost of living crisis has taken a major toll on the mental health of people in England, with nearly half of those surveyed saying that their mental health has been impacted by the crisis, with one in five feeling stressed, anxious or depressed (Mind, n.d.). Those with mental health problems tend to struggle with washing their clothes as often, which goes hand in hand with how this cost of living crisis impacts physical health, as well as their being stress regarding bills, with households feeling it necessary to watch every penny more attentively than previously. The Food Foundation warned that more than two million adults in the UK had gone without food for at least a day due to this cost of living crisis (Anderson & Reeves, 2022). This connection that exists between financial challenge and poverty with poor mental health and wellbeing has long been established, with evidence that exists showing a bi-directional relationship between freedom with finances and mental distress (Pienaar, 2024). This shows that the strain on money that the cost of living crisis causes can have a detrimental impact on a person’s mental health.
Furthermore, from a physical health perspective, there are problems that arise for people who are impacted. As previously mentioned, whether this be due to the negative mental health implications, or worries regarding finances, people choose not to wash their clothes as often (Mind, n.d.). If clothes are not washed as regularly as required, this can lead to microorganisms colonising on the material, which can lead to illness and health problems if not attended to (Bockmühl, Schages & Rehberg). Furthermore, as well as the impact that this has physically on people affected, this cost of living crisis also places harm on the NHS due to the difficulties in retaining their staff who would further be struggling with the increased cost of living, which can make staff within the NHS choose to pursue a different area of work (Propper, Stockton & Stoye). Two thirds of trusts stated that the cost of living crisis caused staff to look for roles elsewhere, such as hospitality or retail, therefore highlighting the major problems that the cost of living crisis had on staff motivation and total number of staff at the NHS (NHS Providers, n.d.). This shows that whilst the cost of living crisis has had a detrimental impact on the general public regarding both their mental and physical health, there is also a large factor surrounding health which is the harms caused to the NHS, due to how if staff are struggling with their living situations, and are choosing not to work for the NHS, this could lead to further complications for people looking to access services from the NHS which could cause further potential health harms.
References
Anderson, K., Reeves, A (2022). The cost of living crisis is harming mental health, partly because of previous cuts to social security, BMJ
Bockmühl, D., Schages, J, Rehberg, L (2019) Laundry and textile hygient in healthcare and beyond, Microbial Cell
Meadows et al. (2024). The impact of the cost-of-living crisis on population health in the UK: rapid evidence review. BMC Public health 24
Mind. (n.d.) ‘Our work on the cost of living crisis’. Mind. Available at: https://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/campaigns/benefits/cost-of-living-crisis/#:~:text=How%20is%20the%20cost%20of,feeling%20stressed%2C%20anxious%20or%20depressed. (Accessed 4 November 2024)
NHS Providers (n.d.) Rising living costs- the impact on NHS, staff and patients. NHS providers. Available at: https://nhsproviders.org/media/694201/nhs-providers-cost-of-living-survey-briefing-september-2022.pdf (Accessed 4 November 2024)
Pienaar, F., (2024). The impact of the cost of living crisis on mental health. Mental Health Innovations. Available at: https://shout.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/mentalhealthinnovations/media/documents/FINAL_Cost_of_living_literature_review_Aug_24.docx.pdf (Accessed 4 November 2024)
Propper, C., Stockton, I., Stoye, G (2021) Cost of living and the impact on nursing labout outcomes in NHS acute trusts, Econstor. Available at: https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/235071 (Accessed 4 November 2024)
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