D3-07: Will policies for the early years reduce inequalities in health? A synthesis of evidence to inform policy development, using the examples of unintentional injury and childcare
Lead investigator
Professor Catherine Law, Institute of Child Health, UCL
Background
Policies in the early years (conception to early childhood) were important planks of the Labour Government's overall strategy to tackle inequalities in health and the determinants of inequalities in health. However, some indicators of early health, such as infant mortality rates, show widening inequalities.
Aims, methods and contribution
This project examined how policies in the early years might be expectedto influence health inequalities. It used review of policy documents and
commentaries to construct a conceptual framework and then more detailed
models of how policies might be working. It then tested the steps in
these models using review of the scientific literature and secondary
data analysis. Finally, it synthesised the results of these analyses and
interpreted this synthesis in the light of current and potential
policy
Duration: September 2007 - February 2010 (30 months)