Samina Pushpita, Chakraborty Chandrima, Grewal Rajdeep, Kaura Tajinder
Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (CHEPA), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Department of English and Cultural Studies and Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2024 Oct 2;4(10):e0003729. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0003729. eCollection 2024.
The COVID-19 pandemic began in late 2019 and its uneven impact across different communities globally was quickly evident. In Canada, South Asian communities were disproportionately affected. In response, the South Asian COVID-19 Task Force (SACTF) emerged, seeking to address the unique challenges faced by the South Asian community. The embedded single case study design was employed to explore the role of SACTF in COVID-19 mitigation in Ontario. Informed by critical race theory and a public engagement conceptual framework published by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (2010), we analyzed how contexts guided the goals, processes, and outcomes of SACTF activities. We conducted one-on-one semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with SACTF's Board of Directors and analyzed SACTF-produced knowledge dissemination materials and media coverage of SACTF spanning March 2020 to February 2022. SACTF's success in educating and advocating for South Asians offers important insights into the gaps in public health communication and the inequities in healthcare delivery. It emphasizes the importance of tailoring emergency responses to community-specific needs and the role of racialized healthcare workers in facilitating trust-building within minority communities. By incorporating insights of racialized healthcare workers in health system decision-making, both public engagement and community health outcomes can be improved. This study contributes to a nuanced understanding of community-centric pandemic responses and demonstrates the need for diverse representation in decision-making processes for long-term health system resilience. Both healthcare knowledge and lived experiences made SACTF alert to how pandemics unfold differently and have differential effects on racialized populations. SACTF's responses offer practical recommendations for future pandemic preparedness and emergency responses, emphasizing the role of advocacy groups in addressing public health gaps and serving as crucial allies for communities and governments.
新冠疫情始于2019年末，其在全球不同社区造成的影响不均衡，这一点很快就显现出来。在加拿大，南亚社区受到的影响尤为严重。作为回应，南亚新冠疫情特别工作组（SACTF）应运而生，旨在应对南亚社区面临的独特挑战。本研究采用嵌入式单案例研究设计，以探讨SACTF在安大略省缓解新冠疫情方面所发挥的作用。以批判种族理论和加拿大卫生服务研究基金会（2010年）发布的公众参与概念框架为指导，我们分析了各种背景如何引导SACTF活动的目标、过程和结果。我们与SACTF董事会进行了一对一的半结构化访谈和焦点小组讨论，并分析了SACTF在2020年3月至2022年2月期间制作的知识传播材料以及关于SACTF的媒体报道。SACTF在教育南亚人并为其发声方面取得的成功，为公共卫生传播中的差距以及医疗服务中的不平等现象提供了重要见解。它强调了根据社区特定需求调整应急响应的重要性，以及种族化医护人员在促进少数族裔社区建立信任方面的作用。通过将种族化医护人员的见解纳入卫生系统决策，公众参与和社区健康成果都可以得到改善。本研究有助于对以社区为中心的疫情应对有更细致入微的理解，并表明在决策过程中需要有多样化的代表参与，以实现卫生系统的长期韧性。医疗知识和生活经验都使SACTF意识到疫情的发展方式不同，对种族化人群的影响也不同。SACTF的应对措施为未来的疫情防范和应急响应提供了实用建议，强调了倡导团体在弥补公共卫生差距以及作为社区和政府重要盟友方面的作用。
