Library & Cultural Services: Sociology: Health. Wellbeing. Food

General

See also the Library subject guide for Health & Social Care

Access to Medicine Index
Ranks pharmaceutical companies efforts to promote access to medicines in developing countries.
Cochrane Library
High quality reports and analysis (freely available) summarise the best research evidence to aid decision-making
Cost of Living
Website presenting independent views of the politics, sociology & economics of medicine, health & healthcare. Includes contributions from Essex academics, collaboration with the Medical Sociology Group and some funding from British Sociological Association
DHS Program (Demographic & Health Surveys)
US-based organisation that collects and disseminates health & population survey datasets for countries worldwide.
Euro Health Consumer Index
Leading annual analysis since 2005 of the performance of healthcare systems in 35 countries, based on 48 indicators.
Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx)
Project of Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation (University of Washington) to collate health data for countries worldwide
National Library of Medicine Digital Collections
See also the NLM open data portal
OECD Health
Some free data and publications, mainly covering OECD member countries.
World Health Organisation
In particular its Global Health Observatory portal to datasets, including World health statistics. See also its flagship publication, the World health report and its International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Also MiNDbank for mental health resources, and Global Abortion Policies database.

Disabled

Disability Rights UK
Campaigning organisation.
Disability Visability Project
DVP is an online community of and for those with disabilities. At its core is a resource of shared oral histories, plus additional blog posts and other materials & resources
Jisc Accessible Organisations
Blog and links to support accessible learning in HE environments.
Leonard Cheshire Rewind
Leonard Cheshire homes are an important part of the story of disability services in the UK & the Rewind website is making digitally available films, oral histories, etc., to make this historical material accessible
UN Disability Statistics
Global coverage, from 1988 for some countries.

Food & Health

Centre for Diet & Activity Research (CEDAR)
ECSSV bibliography on vegetarianism & veganism
Useful bibliography up to about 2014 from Universität Wien
Family Food
Annual government survey, offering data and analysis from 1940 onwards (name of survey has changed over the years). See also print and online links in library catalogue, and datasets available via UK Data Service
Foodbase
Open access repository of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) offering research reports and papers funded by the UK government. Key topics include food safety, food regulation, diet and health, and the delivery of government food policy. Many documents full text.
Food Environment Assessment Tool (FEAT)
Interesting project from Cambridge University for visualisation of food retail across the UK down to very local levels.
National Diet & Nutrition Survey
Continuous, rolling survey led by Public Health England. Commenced 2008
National Obesity Forum
Sainsbury Archive
Extensive archive covering over 150 years of supermarket history
Student Journal of Vegan Sociology
New (2021) journal from the International Association of Vegan Sociologists, at the intersection of veganism, animal liberation and social issues
Sustain
Represents around 100 organisations working for better food and farming practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals

Mental Health

Alzheimer's Disease International world report
Alzheimer's Society
Ethics of Suicide Digital Archive
Collaboration between OUP & University of Utah to provide freely available primary texts in this area.
Mental Health Alliance
Coalition of interest groups aiming to secure better mental health legislation for the UK.
Mental Health Foundation
Respected UK charity. Publications available online.
Mind
Leading mental health charity in the UK
National Institute of Mental Health
US government agency offering publications, data, etc.
Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration
US administrative agency tasked with research & improved outcomes in this area
Young Minds
Charity supporting mental health of children & young people in UK, offers free access to policy research reports

See also the resources listed in the General and United Kingdom sections

Mental Health of Children & Young People
Commissioned by NHS Digital, surveys in 2004, 2017 and 2020 (Covid follow up)

Quality of Life

For urban areas specifically:

Mercer Quality of Living Index attempts to rank cities worldwide

QS Best Student Cities

For the UK:

Mappiness

Office for National Statistics Well-being data and publications (older releases on National Archives webpages)

United States:

Gallup-Sharecare Well-being Index of the health, economic & social well-being of American citizens using data from daily market research polls

Measure of America assesses well-being & quality of life in the US at national, state and local level

Happy Planet Index
2016 exercise from the New Economics Foundation, combines measures of well-being, life expectancy, inequality, and ecological footprint

United Kingdom

Care Quality Commission
Independent regulator of health & social care provision.
Carers UK
Support organisation for the 6.5m carers in the UK.
Department of Health & Social Care
Policy, guidance, publications & data from the official government department responsible for health & social care
Health Foundation
Independent charity committed to better health & better health care
Institute of Health Equity (UCL)
Established following the 2010 Marmot Review (Fair society, healthy lives).
The King's Fund
The King's Fund is an independent health charity who support the health and health care of the people of London and across the UK. Its activities include grant-giving to London projects, policy research, service development and audit programmes, and information and education services for people working in and with the health service. The site provides details of the Fund and covers current work and services, news and publications.
National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE)
Provides national guidance & advice to improve health & social care. Search NICE Evidence for free selected health and social care evidence-based information.
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Dissemination Centre
Data analysis & evidence synthesis to generate reviews & economic evaluations to inform policy. Upto 2014 this work was carried out by the
Centre for Reviews & Dissemination (University of York) - see its DARE and NHS EED databases for details
NHS Digital
Access to a wide range of full text reports, statistics, indicators, etc., produced by the Dept. of Health & Social Care and other bodies.
Nuffield Trust
Aims to improve healthcare in the UK through independent research and policy advice.
Office for National Statistics - Health & Social Care
Starting point for official UK statistics.
Politics of Health Group
Free access to its online publications from 2005.
Public Health England
Executive agency of the Department of Health & Social Care, aims to protect and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities.
UK Data Service - Health
Portal to some of the main health datasets held by UKDS.
Wellcome Library
Major resource in the UK for the study of the history of medicine. Quite extensive digital collections, such
as the Medical Officer of Health reports for London (1848-1972) and records from mental health hospitals and asylums. Also funds maajor projects, including The Cultural History of the NHS led by Warwick University (see also Manchester's NHS at 70 oral history project).

Sociology