Could “holistic” area-based regeneration be effective for health improvement?

Regeneration is intended to tackle the negative effects of area disadvantage. Studies of health impacts of regeneration over thirty years have produced mixed and inconsistent results. This study translates the theory of wider determinants of health into a framework of five residential environments that may be impacted by regeneration: physical; services; economic; social; and psychosocial. It uses repeat cross-sectional survey data across a decade to assess differential change in physical and mental health for residents of regeneration areas compared with other areas. Across the deprived areas in the study, all five types of environment are associated with mental health, but associations are fewer and less consistent for physical health. The results indicate a small negative association between living in a regeneration area and physical health and a modest positive association with mental health. Suggestions are made for how regeneration might become more holistic and effective as a public health intervention.