XClose

IOE - Faculty of Education and Society

Home
Menu

Study to examine vulnerable people’s experiences of the pandemic

20 September 2021

A major new study based at UCL Social Research Institute has begun investigating the experiences of some of the most vulnerable people in society during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Young woman stood outside wearing a face mask and hat

The £700,000 study aims to better understand the issues that people living with chronic conditions or disabilities from minoritised ethnic groups, including refugees, asylum seekers and the undocumented, have faced during the pandemic. However, the study will also examine their strengths and assets. In this way, the study will be able to show policymakers where further community support is needed to develop and where structural barriers create social inequities in health.

Led by Professor Carol Rivas, the Coronavirus Intersectionalities: Chronic Conditions and Disabilities and Migrants / Ethnic minoritisation Awareness study (CICADA-ME), will use mixed methods to explore participants’ access to and experiences of health and social care. It will look at how people’s experiences have affected their mental and physical health, as well as the impact their formal and informal support networks have had. The study will collect three waves of quantitative and qualitative data over 18 months to explore these topics, recruiting more than 5,000 people to a national survey.

Chief investigator Professor Carol Rivas (UCL Social Research Institute) said: “This study is valuable because of its particular focus on recent refugees, asylum seekers and the undocumented, specifically those who have illnesses and impairments that are made more disabling because of the widening inequalities that the pandemic has caused. 

“The study’s premise is that the communities we are considering face extra disadvantage, but that those affected also have tremendous resources that we can learn from. We have an army of lay people, already trusted in their communities, who we have trained to do interviews that will give a voice to the seldom heard. This is a particular strength of the study. At the same time, we are putting resources into those communities, not just by giving community members solid research experience, but also because we will be testing some simple interventions within those same communities.” 

The Born in Bradford (BiB) study team is collaborating with the researchers on the project. Aamnah Rahman, BiB’s Community Engagement Research Fellow, said: “I am happy to support this initiative as I see the importance of the research but more importantly how local people will be empowered and encouraged to get involved to benefit the community.”

The study also has a strong patient advisory group and two patient co-applicants, Sarabajaya Kumar and Jenny Camaradou. Co-applicant Jenny Camaradou said: “By engaging different patients in the Patient Advisory Group, we hope to help prioritise 2-3 cross cutting topics and themes and engage disease specific groups and patient advocates, as there is a need to ensure those living with disability and their needs are communicated in order to support evidence in a striking way that can ensure political will and public acceptance. If we view Covid-19 as a syndemic that co-occurs with many communicable and non-communicable diseases, then we may be ultimately able to use this as an opportunity to do better and support many patients.” 

Take part in the study’s surveys

The CICADA-ME study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) HS&DR programme (NIHR132914)

Links

Image

Photo by MART PRODUCTION from Pexels