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On the Defence: UK cultural narratives of mistrust between energy users and providers.

ABSTRACT: In general, households rely on energy providers to supply essential energy services such as gas and electricity. It seems reasonable to assume that it is mutually beneficial to have a customer and supplier relationship invested in trust. Key findings from the qualitative evaluation findings of a UK Comic Relief-funded energy services and managing money better programme, suggest that the programme's effectiveness was strongly affected by negative narratives about energy suppliers. Such narratives, rooted in feelings of being labelled a 'cheat' or incapable of sorting their own affairs on one side and views of energy providers being exploitative and profit-hungry on the other, engendered a common, oppositional 'united against them' culture, built on reciprocal mistrust and disrespect. This analysis is not unique to our research, as nationally, at least and within the last decade, there has been a decline in public trust of energy providers, with a suggestion that profit has come before people. The 3-year evaluation carried out by Northumbria University, UK with the research led by a North East England registered credit union and social landlord, assessed the quality of life impacts of a face-to-face energy advice service. Expert Energy Advisors offered free home visits and gave people aged 50 and over the tools to reduce and manage energy usage, question energy companies about tariff terms and conditions and ensure maximum take up of benefit entitlements. Whilst findings point to positive health and social benefits, including reducing high anxiety about unmanageable bills, being able to question and challenge energy providers 'high' bills and tariffs and passing on such skills to others, there remained a 'taken-for-granted' mistrust of energy providers. We argue that for public good to come from public health research, we need to understand and appropriately address the roots of such cultural narratives.

SUBMITTER: Bailey C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6070460 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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On the Defence: UK cultural narratives of mistrust between energy users and providers.

Bailey Cathy C Hodgson Philip P

AIMS public health 20180313 1

In general, households rely on energy providers to supply essential energy services such as gas and electricity. It seems reasonable to assume that it is mutually beneficial to have a customer and supplier relationship invested in trust. Key findings from the qualitative evaluation findings of a UK Comic Relief-funded energy services and managing money better programme, suggest that the programme's effectiveness was strongly affected by negative narratives about energy suppliers. Such narratives ...[more]

PMID: 30083568

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Project description:ObjectivesAssess the association between marine omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) intake from supplements, mainly cod liver oil, and coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality.DesignProspective cohort study, with three exposure measurements over 22 years.SettingNorfolk-based European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC-Norfolk, UK).Participants22?035 men and women from the general population, 39-79 years at recruitment.ExposureSupplement use was assessed in three questionnaires (1993-1998; 2002-2004; 2004-2011). Participants were grouped into non-supplement users (NSU), n-3 PUFA supplement users (SU+n3) and non-n-3 PUFA supplement users (SU-n3). Cox regression adjusted for time-point specific variables: age, smoking, prevalent illnesses, body mass index, alcohol consumption, physical activity and season and baseline assessments of sex, social class, education and dietary intake (7-day diet diary).Primary and secondary outcome measuresDuring a median of 19-year follow-up, 1562 CHD deaths were registered for 22?035 included participants.ResultsBaseline supplement use was not associated with CHD mortality, but baseline food and supplement intake of n-3 PUFA was inversely associated with CHD mortality after adjustment for fish consumption. Using time-varying covariate analysis, significant associations were observed for SU+n3 (HR: 0.74, 95%?CI 0.66 to 0.84), but not for SU-n3 versus NSU. In further analyses, the association for SU+n3 persisted in those who did not take other supplements (HR: 0.83, 95%?CI 0.71 to 0.97). Those who became SU+n3 over time or were consistent SU+n3?versus consistent NSU had a lower hazard of CHD mortality; no association with CHD was observed in those who stopped using n-3 PUFA-containing supplements.ConclusionsRecent use of n-3 PUFA supplements was associated with a lower hazard of CHD mortality in this general population with low fish consumption. Residual confounding cannot be excluded, but the findings observed may be explained by postulated biological mechanisms and the results were specific to SU+n3.

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Dataset Information

On the Defence: UK cultural narratives of mistrust between energy users and providers.

Publications

On the Defence: UK cultural narratives of mistrust between energy users and providers.

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