The findings, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, could shape future public health policy and resource allocation by highlighting assets that can be leveraged to improve health outcomes.

The CRI did not predict COVID-19 mortality or pandemic-related excess deaths, suggesting resilience factors may increase exposure risk during fast-moving infectious disease outbreaks due to mobility and social connectedness.

The index did not anticipate COVID-19 mortality or excess deaths, implying some resilience factors could raise exposure risk in rapid outbreaks even as they offer other benefits.

Lead researcher Christine Camacho notes deprivation matters but does not fully explain health disparities; social fabric and local assets help some areas thrive despite deprivation.

The protective effect of resilience is strongest in the poorest areas, where higher resilience links to notably better health than equally deprived areas lacking local strengths.

The most pronounced resilience benefits appear in the poorest communities, with lower deaths of despair in higher-resilience areas compared to similarly deprived ones without local strengths.

Resilience provides added insight beyond traditional deprivation metrics, helping explain why some communities remain healthier despite deprivation.

Researchers propose using resilience-based measures alongside deprivation indices to better identify communities in need and to guide investment in social infrastructure, community spaces, voluntary sector capacity, and local connectivity.

The aim is to apply the resilience index together with deprivation measures to leverage existing assets and strengths, improving health outcomes in communities.

Resilience-based measures could complement deprivation indices to inform public health policy and drive investments in social infrastructure, voluntary sector capacity, and local connectivity.

An analysis of 307 English local authorities finds that higher resilience correlates with lower deaths of despair, lower cardiovascular mortality, and more residents reporting good general health, even after adjusting for deprivation.

The CRI scores are linked to better health outcomes, including fewer deaths of despair and cardiovascular deaths and higher self-rated good health, independent of deprivation levels.