London street, with people walking past a market stall displaying fresh produce

Data

A first of its kind health and wellbeing study for Lambeth and Southwark

22 August 2024

Over the last year, Impact on Urban Health, in partnership with research agencies Opinium and ClearView conducted the largest study to date on health and wellbeing in Lambeth and Southwark.

We know that there is a lack of hyperlocal data on health, and that more detailed information and insight can help to develop more effective ways to support good health. With that in mind, our ambition was to carry out a survey with respondents from every ward and representation from the many different communities that call these boroughs home.

About the survey

Over 5000 people across Lambeth and Southwark answered our survey. They told us about where they live, how they felt about their local area, and their health.

The survey conducted by Opinium was developed through a co-creation group made up of local partners and seven trained community members who led on both the survey design, and the selection of themes to be explored in more detail.

When it comes to our approach, we believe that research that is co-designed and carried out with community members involved is essential for obtaining accurate, relevant, and culturally sensitive data on health.

To discuss topics such as housing, trust in healthcare, and access to healthcare services, ClearView ran Exploration Labs. These are focus groups where community members were able to reflect on and share their experiences. By exploring these topics more deeply, we can better understand how these factors impact our physical and mental health.

The results

The resulting study, Health & Wellbeing in Lambeth & Southwark: Insights from Local Communities highlights significant disparities in health in these boroughs. The survey found that the likelihood of being in good health was influenced by a person’s degree of financial security, education level, housing tenure and conditions, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality.

The qualitative data captured the personal impact of insecure and poor-quality housing, and how a lack of trust in healthcare services and providers complicates access to and use of the very services that we rely on for support with our health.

Some of the findings are stark:

There is a notable gap in reporting good health between homeowners (77%) and renters (66%).
Half of the residents seeking mental health support are finding it difficult to access.
There are significant disparities trust in healthcare professionals between demographic groups, diverging among men (80%) and women (70%), younger and older people, and ethnic groups.

This study confirms and expands what we know about the persistence of health inequalities in Lambeth and Southwark. We can see how time and time again, people already living with health conditions, on lower incomes, and those from minoritised communities face more challenges when it comes to developing and maintaining good health.

What’s next?

We hope that our study will inspire and inform decision-makers in local government, healthcare services, and community organisations when developing initiatives to support better health across both boroughs.

Over the coming months, we will continue to share and highlight our findings, exploring ways to communicate how the results are being used, and calling on other boroughs and cities to also seek out more detailed data to improve health.

More about our work

Data

London city street with shopfronts and cars alongside walking pedestrians.

Health and wellbeing in Lambeth and Southwark: Insights from local communities

This report highlights key findings from our Health and Wellbeing Study, conducted with over 5000 survey respondents and six focus groups with residents from across Lambeth and Southwark. The study was developed with community researchers to better understand how people feel about their health and the factors that affect it.

Data

Why we need detailed data to tackle inequalities in health

We recently launched Lambeth and Southwark’s largest-ever survey on health and wellbeing with Opinium Research. 

Urban health

Urban Health Index (UHI) for Lambeth and Southwark

With the Social Progress Imperative, we've developed the first neighbourhood level, health-focused social progress index of its kind.

Children's mental health

Children play on a bridge in a kids play area

Informing the government’s new Child Poverty Strategy to center children’s health and wellbeing

With Child Poverty Action Group