Equally Well UK – addressing physical and mental health inequality
A major new initiative to tackle one of the biggest health inequalities has been launched by the Centre for Mental Health, Kaleidoscope Health, and Care and Rethink Mental Illness, in collaboration with more than 20 professional organisations, charities and health service bodies across the country.
Equally Well UK is a new collaboration bringing together organisations with a part to play in reducing the 15-20 year life expectancy gap facing people with severe forms of mental illness in Britain today. For example:
- Premature mortality among people with a mental illness is predominantly caused by poor physical health from conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
- The life expectancy of someone living with schizophrenia in the UK is around 15-20 years shorter than someone without a mental illness, equivalent to the average life expectancy in the UK in the 1950s.
Based on a similar scheme running in New Zealand, Equally Well UK brings together organisations involved in mental health and physical health in a common effort to reduce the health gap.
