Health & Wellbeing
Why health and well-being is important
Health and well-being relates to mental health and physical conditions that are not immediately life threatening or limiting. However, these conditions may have potential to develop to threaten life, and they have direct and often serious impact on quality of life. They can affect people’s ability to work, form and maintain relationships and to contribute to society.
Adult mental health, well-being and resilience
Mental health is a much-used term that acts as an umbrella for both for a sense of general emotional well-being and for specific mental health conditions including anxiety, bi-polar disorder, depression, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia.
Mental health issues are common and one quarter of all adults will experience a mental health problem in any given year. This results in greater instances of hospital admissions and mortality. The latest data available for self-harm, depression, suicide and the impact of severe mental illness on excess mortality in Bedford Borough can found by following the links below.
Emergency hospital admissions for intentional self harm – standardised admission ratio
Depression: QOF prevalence (aged 18+)
Excess under 75 mortality rate in adults with severe mental illness (SMI)
Musculoskeletal conditions
Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions affect bones, joints, muscles and the spine and can be the cause of severe pain. MSK conditions are categorised in the following three groups:
- Inflammatory conditions
- Conditions of MSK pain
- Osteoporosis and fragility fractures (falls pathway covered in a separate area)
In the UK, 21% of the Global Burden of Disease is due to MSK conditions and the number 1 cause of disability globally is lower back pain. These conditions heavily impact quality of life as although they are less likely to be a cause of death than other long-term conditions, they can lead to many years of life impacted by disability. This is measured in years lived with disability (YLD), which make household, work and social activities harder, and also affect mental wellbeing and potentially lead to isolation.
In February 2022, a Health Needs Assessment of MSK was produced for BLMK (Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes City). This found that in the areas covered by BLMK:
- The prevalence of long-term MSK conditions is between 14.9% and 17.5%, lower than the national average of 18.6%
- MSK conditions accounted for 30% of the cases of work-related ill health, the second most common cause
- The average Quality of Life (QoL) score for people with MSK conditions is close to 0.60, significantly worse than adults without a long-term condition (0.92)
A summary of the full report can be downloaded below.