Resiliency Through Covid19: Health equity

In collaboration with the Federation of Black Canadians (FBC), this project, Resiliency Through COVID-19 (RTC): Using Race-Based Data to Create Intervention Through a Health Equity Lens, aims to provide a better public understanding of how the Black community is affected by COVID-19 through race-based data collection and providing increased community awareness, information, and education related to COVID-19. The study involves an examination of the barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 preventative measures in Black communities through a mixed-method study.

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Overview

In collaboration with the Federation of Black Canadians (FBC), this project, Resiliency Through COVID-19 (RTC): Using Race-Based Data to Create Intervention Through a Health Equity Lens, aims to provide a better public understanding of how the Black community is affected by COVID-19 through race-based data collection and providing increased community awareness, information, and education related to COVID-19. The study involves an examination of the barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 preventative measures in Black communities through a mixed-method study. In addition, through a systematic review, the researchers at the Global Health & Innovation Lab are investigating the impact of COVID-19 on the Black population in Canada. The race-based data will provide evidence that supports the need for culturally appropriate healthcare for Black Canadians.

Research Objectives

The overall purpose of this study is to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the Black Canadian population with the following objectives:

  1. Help inform current and future public health services on how to serve better Black communities.
  2. Provide a better public understanding of how Black Canadians are affected by COVID-19, through providing increased community awareness, information, and education related to COVID-19.

Implications

Several peer-reviewed articles and reports also highlight the need for collecting race-based data to fully understand the grounds for the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 in the Black community in Canada. COVID-19 has underscored the complex, systemic inequities that oppress the Canadian Black community. Due to pre-existing economic, political, and healthcare challenges, Black Canadians are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and continue to make up the majority of COVID-related deaths in the nation.

Related publications/protocols

Team

Funders: Public Health Agency of Canada, Western Research

Partners: Federation of Black Canadians, Beth Girmay, Meron Mengistu, Tatyana Graham