Has the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing inequalities in health care?
The pandemic has disrupted health care globally across all age and social groups, but the most disadvantaged in society are likely to have borne the brunt of this and be the most impacted in the longer term. COVID-19 is also more likely to have directly affected some of these already disadvantaged groups, including ethnic minorities, people living in poverty and older and vulnerable people in society.
Here, we highlight some of our latest research and author insights about health inequalities during the pandemic and beyond, including: links between income and healthcare usage; the greater risk of serious illness and death experienced by poorer and marginalised socio-economic groups; the relationship between neighbourhood deprivation and the impact of COVID-19 in particular on older people in society; and the role of accounting financial inequalities.
If you’d like to contribute to the discussion, or have research relating to health inequalities that you want to publish, we’d love you to get in touch.
This mission is aligned with our Healthier lives goal

Free access to our articles, & author videos/blogs
Blogs & videos
To find out more about what our authors have to say regarding health inequalities and the pandemic, watch/read our latest videos/blogs’
Live and let die? Laissez-faire responses to the pandemic exacerbated unequal health usage
William Foley
Article: Hands-off? Laissez-faire policies on Covid-19 may exacerbate health inequalities. William Foley, Klarita Gërxhani.
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
Locked down by inequality: Why place matters for older people during COVID-19
Tine Buffel, Patty Doran, Mhorag Goff, Luciana Lang, Chris Phillipson, Sophie Yarker.
Article: Covid-19 and inequality: developing an age-friendly strategy for recovery in low income communities. Tine Buffel, Patty Doran, Mhorag Goff, Luciana Lang, Camilla Lewis, Chris Phillipson, Sophie Yarker.
Quality in Ageing and Older Adults
The role of accounting in challenging inequalities in society
Article: Structural inequalities exposed by COVID-19 in the UK: the need for an accounting for care. Kathryn Haynes discusses entrenched societal inequalities relating to age, health, poverty, disability, race and gender in the UK.
COVID-19 - Safeguarding adults in an era of social distancing
Article: Safeguarding adults practice and remote working in the COVID-19 era: challenges and opportunities. Ann Anka, Helen Thacker and Bridget Penhale examine the literature on the impact of COVID-19 on safeguarding adults practice.

Different routes to publication
If you would like to contribute to the discussion, take a look at our different routes to publication and contact us to get involved.

Healthier lives gateway
Publish your work on Emerald Open Research, our open access platform that supports an open data policy and open peer review process.
The Healthier lives gateway aims to discuss the wider implications on society and the economy with regards to disease or illness but also mental and physical wellbeing.
Talk to us about your work
We really welcome insights not only from researchers but practitioners too about their work.
If you would like to contribute to the discussion, or you are working on research in areas related to health inequalities, please let us know by filling in this form.
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