Paudyal Priyamvada, Wasim Aghna, Majeed-Hajaj Saliha, Magar Naresh Khapangi, Sharp Rebecca, Skinner Emily, Sharma Arya, Hughes Laura, Keeling Debbie Isobel, Armes Jo, Kulasabanathan Kavian, Canvin Krysia, Gaihre Santosh, Cassell Jackie
Institute for Global Health and Wellbeing, School of Medicine, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK.
Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK.
Health Expect. 2025 Aug;28(4):e70370. doi: 10.1111/hex.70370.
Minoritised ethnic communities in the UK experience disproportionate levels of morbidity and mortality compared to their Caucasian counterparts. This disparity was magnified during the COVID-19 crisis, particularly amongst older adults. An effective way to target such inequalities is through health communication, but language barriers and cultural differences can make this challenging. This study was conducted during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and aimed to coproduce culturally, linguistically, and age-appropriate COVID-19 health education resources tailored to the needs of older adults from communities facing such challenges.
This multi-method participatory study was focused on the information needs of older adults (65+ years) from Nepalese and Indian communities in Southeast England. The study consisted of three interconnected phases: 1) a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews and an informal literature review; 2) coproduction of COVID-19 resources using participatory workshops; and 3) dissemination of the resources.
We interviewed 24 participants: 13 older adults, seven family members and four healthcare providers. Findings revealed varying level of COVID-19 knowledge with language and illiteracy cited as key barriers to accessing health information. Participants highlighted the importance of culturally sensitive messages and appropriate means of dissemination, such as community centres and places of worship. Drawing on these findings, culturally and age-appropriate COVID-19 information leaflets were coproduced in Hindi and Nepalese through participatory workshops and underwent subsequent iterative refinement. Digital and printed versions of the final copies were then distributed to communities and stakeholders.
We adopted an inclusive and participatory approach to formulating culturally relevant information resources on COVID-19. The coproduction process, findings, and reflections from this study may be useful in informing future public health programmes and policies targeting other underserved groups.
Two community members were actively involved at every stage of the study. They contributed to the refinement of the interview guide, discussion on the key findings, and dissemination of coproduced resources.
与英国的白人相比，少数族裔社区的发病率和死亡率更高。在新冠疫情危机期间，这种差距被进一步放大，尤其是在老年人中。解决此类不平等问题的有效方法是通过健康传播，但语言障碍和文化差异可能会带来挑战。本研究在新冠疫情期间开展，旨在共同制作适合文化、语言和年龄特点的新冠健康教育资源，以满足面临此类挑战的社区中老年人的需求。
这项多方法参与式研究聚焦于英格兰东南部尼泊尔和印度社区中65岁及以上老年人的信息需求。该研究包括三个相互关联的阶段：1）使用半结构化访谈和非正式文献综述的定性研究；2）通过参与式工作坊共同制作新冠资源；3）资源的传播。
我们采访了24名参与者：13名老年人、7名家庭成员和4名医疗服务提供者。研究结果显示，人们对新冠的了解程度各不相同，语言和文盲被认为是获取健康信息的主要障碍。参与者强调了文化敏感信息和适当传播方式的重要性，如社区中心和宗教场所。基于这些发现，通过参与式工作坊以印地语和尼泊尔语共同制作了适合文化和年龄特点的新冠信息传单，并随后进行了迭代完善。最终版本的数字版和印刷版随后分发给社区和利益相关者。
我们采用了一种包容和参与式的方法来制定与新冠相关的具有文化相关性的信息资源。本研究的共同制作过程、结果和反思可能有助于为未来针对其他服务不足群体的公共卫生计划和政策提供参考。
两名社区成员积极参与了研究的每个阶段。他们参与了访谈指南的完善、关键研究结果的讨论以及共同制作资源的传播。
