Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Mar 29:6:81.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-6-81.

A systematic review of the health, social and financial impacts of welfare rights advice delivered in healthcare settings

Jean Adams  1 , Martin White, Suzanne Moffatt, Denise Howel, Joan Mackintosh
Affiliations

A systematic review of the health, social and financial impacts of welfare rights advice delivered in healthcare settings

Jean Adams et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Socio-economic variations in health, including variations in health according to wealth and income, have been widely reported. A potential method of improving the health of the most deprived groups is to increase their income. State funded welfare programmes of financial benefits and benefits in kind are common in developed countries. However, there is evidence of widespread under claiming of welfare benefits by those eligible for them. One method of exploring the health effects of income supplementation is, therefore, to measure the health effects of welfare benefit maximisation programmes. We conducted a systematic review of the health, social and financial impacts of welfare rights advice delivered in healthcare settings.

Methods: Published and unpublished literature was accessed through searches of electronic databases, websites and an internet search engine; hand searches of journals; suggestions from experts; and reference lists of relevant publications. Data on the intervention delivered, evaluation performed, and outcome data on health, social and economic measures were abstracted and assessed by pairs of independent reviewers. Results are reported in narrative form.

Results: 55 studies were included in the review. Only seven studies included a comparison or control group. There was evidence that welfare rights advice delivered in healthcare settings results in financial benefits. There was little evidence that the advice resulted in measurable health or social benefits. This is primarily due to lack of good quality evidence, rather than evidence of an absence of effect.

Conclusion: There are good theoretical reasons why income supplementation should improve health, but currently little evidence of adequate robustness and quality to indicate that the impact goes beyond increasing income.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Box 1. Electronic databases searched.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Box 2. Email distribution lists sent requests for information.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Box 3. Websites hand searched for relevant publications.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Box 4. Common areas identified in qualitative work.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Townsend P, Phillimore P, Beattie A. Health and deprivation: inequality and the North. Bristol, Croom Helm; 1988.
    1. Townsend P, Davidson N. Inequalities in health: The Black Report. Suffolk, Penguin Books; 1982.
    1. Whitehead M. Inequalities in health: The health divide. 3rd. Suffolk, Penguin Books; 1992.
    1. Acheson D. Report of the independent enquiry into inequalities in health. London, Stationary Office; 1998.
    1. Gunning-Schepers LJ, Gepkens A. Reviews of interventions to reduce social inequalities in health: research and policy implications. Health Educ Res. 1996;55:226–238.

Publication types