Deprived communities have poorer health outcomes than wealthier counterparts, report finds

The increases in poor health 'reflect worsening health outcomes for people living in disadvantaged communities', the report said. File picture

People living in deprived communities in Ireland have poorer health outcomes than those living in wealthier areas, according to latest data from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

While some of the gaps between affluent areas and poorer ones narrowed while the research was being conducted, between 2016 and 2022, it found a rise in poor health, with those increases most pronounced in deprived areas.

Pre-existing health inequalities were “exacerbated”, the researchers said, with the trend likely having been influenced by the covid pandemic.

The increases in poor health “reflect worsening health outcomes for people living in disadvantaged communities”, the report said.

Head of social inclusion organisation Pobal — which commissioned the research — Anna Shakespeare said the findings would serve to “reinforce the need to reflect on the health of the nation, and if this has changed post-pandemic".

From the data, there is clear evidence of a widening health gap between the most and least disadvantaged communities. This raises important considerations for healthcare resourcing and allocation across the country in the coming years.

On a more positive note, the study, which was based on Pobal's own deprivation index together with the 2016 and 2022 censuses, found that rates of unemployment and low educational attainment had declined across the board, but with the most significant falls seen in deprived areas, a fact which had served to “narrow the disadvantage gap” between the two demographics.

The research looked at a range of factors — including unemployment, economic inactivity, educational attainment, single parenthood, ethnic minority status, and others — at an area-level to gauge which were acting as barriers to social inclusion, and in what areas.

While those characteristics do not always limit social integration and participation, they are associated with a “greater risk” of that happening, particularly when one or more of them co-occurs in one place.

The study found that some factors were more common in urban or rural areas, suggesting that examining those areas separately from each other would present the most valuable findings.

For example, the decline in unemployment was most pronounced in independent urban towns — those situated far from a larger city and which historically would not have been associated with abundant economic opportunities.

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The report also found that ethnic minority populations had increased across the majority of regions, but particularly so in urban areas, adding that the greater proportion of those minorities would not require supports to aid their integration into society.

Report author Anne Devlin said the research serves to “highlight differences in how potential barriers to social inclusion have changed... and how they manifest spatially across Ireland”.

She said that the findings around the reduction in unemployment are “welcome”, but that further research is required as to the quality of the unemployment.

“Despite these economic improvements, their resilience in the face of current and future challenges is uncertain,” Dr Devlin said.

Ms Shakespeare meanwhile said that research into the barriers preventing social inclusion is “crucial” in terms of effective evidence-based policymaking.