Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on ethnic minority communities: a qualitative study on the perspectives of ethnic minority community leaders
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Abstract
To explore the perspectives of ethnic minority community leaders in relation to: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their communities; and their community’s perception, understanding and adherence to government guidelines on COVID-19 public health measures.
Design
A phenomenological approach was adopted using qualitative semistructured interviews.
Settings
Community organisations and places of worships in the West Midlands, England.
Participants
Community leaders recruited through organisations representing ethnic minority communities and religious places of worship.
Results
A total of 19 participants took part. Participants alluded to historical and structural differences for the observed disparities in COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. Many struggled with lockdown measures which impeded cultural and religious gatherings that were deemed to be integral to the community. Cultural and social practices led to many suffering on their own as discussion of mental health was still deemed a taboo within many communities. Many expressed their community’s reluctance to report symptoms for the fear of financial and physical health implications. They reported increase in hate crime which was deemed to be exacerbated due to perceived insensitive messaging from authority officials and historical racism in the society. Access and adherence to government guidelines was an issue for many due to language and digital barriers. Reinforcement from trusted community and religious leaders encouraged adherence. Points of support such as food banks were vital in ensuring essential supplies during the pandemic. Many could not afford or have access to masks and sanitisers.
Conclusion
The study highlights the perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ethnic minority communities. Government agencies and public health agencies need to integrate with the community, and community leaders can enable dissemination of key messages to deliver targeted yet sensitive public health advice which incorporates cultural and religious practices. Addressing the root causes of disparities is imperative to mitigate current and future pandemics.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2021.03.03.21252286: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement IRB: 16 Ethical approval and consent: Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Birmingham School of Pharmacy Ethics Committee (reference number UoB/SoP/2020-64).
Consent: Informed consent was received from all participants.Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources Transcripts were exported onto Microsoft Excel and then thematically analysed by two researchers (FM and VP) using framework technique.17–19 The initial coding was reviewed between the research team through analysis of first two transcripts before an agreed … SciScore for 10.1101/2021.03.03.21252286: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement IRB: 16 Ethical approval and consent: Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Birmingham School of Pharmacy Ethics Committee (reference number UoB/SoP/2020-64).
Consent: Informed consent was received from all participants.Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources Transcripts were exported onto Microsoft Excel and then thematically analysed by two researchers (FM and VP) using framework technique.17–19 The initial coding was reviewed between the research team through analysis of first two transcripts before an agreed version that could be applied to the rest of the transcripts. Microsoft Excelsuggested: (Microsoft Excel, RRID:SCR_016137)Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:Strength and limitations: To our knowledge, this was the first study to investigate the understanding of risk and impact of COVID-19 using the perspectives of BAME community leaders in England. An extensive variety of community leaders were recruited through an intensive search of BAME community organisations, businesses and places of worship. Thus, key informants could share the experiences of COVID-19 pandemic on their BAME community through the study’s qualitative design. The interviewing-researcher’s own BAME origin may have also allowed participants to openly discuss sensitive issues, thus eliciting detailed perspectives. Duplicate analysis of interviews provided rigour, and data saturation was assumed after 19 participants since no new themes had emerged. However, these findings are not representative of all BAME groups. For example, we could not recruit anyone from East Asian communities. Leaders not of BAME origin themselves but who could speak on behalf on BAME communities (such as councillors of White ethnicity representing a West Midlands constituency with a high ethnic demographic) were approached, but we did not receive response from anyone available to participate. Moreover, our methodology’s use of Government-standardised ethnic grouping was very broad, but our results indicated that the experiences of this pandemic varied hugely across different ethnicities that would be classed together. For instance, the Somali diaspora in inner-city Birmingham had very diff...
Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
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