Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (original) (raw)
Related papers
Engaging with Migrant Communities: A Framework for Action
Migrants have disproportionately higher rates of morbidity and mortality when compared to the host population and this reflects the reality of health inequalities in many countries. It is imperative to engage with communities to identify their needs and to include these in the delivery of public health programs and health care services. The aim of this paper is to outline a new approach that systematically ensures that vulnerable groups, such as migrants, can become actively involved and are not simply the passive recipients of program activities. The community engagement framework is based on practical experiences of working in a cross-cultural context in both rural and urban settings and is implemented as seven key steps: 1. stakeholder connection; 2. communication; 3. needs assessment; 4. informing the wider community; 5. strengthening community capacity; 6. building partnerships; and, 7. follow-up. The framework offers a flexible template that can be used to engage with vulnerable groups in future public health programs.
Breaking Isolation: Social Work in Solidarity with Migrant Workers through and beyond COVID-19
Social Work, 2021
In the early months of COVID-19’s proliferation through Canadian communities, the now largely documented uneven impacts and burdens of the illness were emerging. Among the early COVID-19 casualties were workers in Alberta’s meatpacking plants, with infection rates so high that the news quickly gained international attention. The Cargill meatpacking plant, overwhelmingly staffed by temporary foreign workers with no permanent status or citizenship rights, was the site of the largest single coronavirus outbreak in Canada. The need for a community response to this emerging crisis was a focal discussion for a newly formed network of social workers. A multileveled series of actions and systems advocacy were put in place. These actions would foment a vibrant and diverse “community of communities” while also unveiling challenges and obstacles to the work during a period of a shifting health landscape, shutdowns, and changing legislation. This article focuses on the development of a grassroo...
Where is community during COVID‐19? The experiences of families living in housing insecurity
Health & Social Care in the Community, 2021
This article explores the understanding of community to families living in insecure housing in one Australian state during the COVID-19 pandemic. Five female-headed families were interviewed during the pandemic and asked to identify what community meant to them. All participants were referred by an agency caring for families experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. Community was defined using Bourdieu's concept of social capital, allowing for both bonding and bridging relationships to be explored. Bonding relationships refer to close emotional ties with family and friends, while bridging ties establish networks that provide individuals with access to resources. Two themes emerged that shed light on how community is understood during times of crisis: The first suggests that for families experiencing housing insecurity, particularly women escaping family violence, their links with community were primarily maintained by welfare and church agencies. These organisations provided bridging social capital during the pandemic that allowed the women and their children to cope with the isolation and to maximise opportunities. The second themes point to traditional notions of community as family and geographical space. Here the findings are mixed. Resources provided by government, and mediated through the welfare agency, allowed these families to create a safe and comfortable space. However, for First Nations women, the lockdown meant that it was difficult to maintain community obligations, while children who appeared to identify community with attendance at school found the lockdown confusing because of the disruption to their normal social space.
SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, 2023
Individuals were asked to play an active role in infection control in the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet while government messages emphasised taking responsibility for the public good (e.g. to protect the National Health Service), they appeared to overlook social, economic and political factors affecting the ways that people were able to respond. We co-produced participatory qualitative research with members of Gypsy and Traveller communities in England between October 2021 and February 2022 to explore how they had responded to COVID-19, its containment (test, trace, isolate) and the contextual factors affecting COVID-19 risks and responses within the communities. Gypsies and Travellers reported experiencing poor treatment from health services, police harassment, surveillance, and constrained living conditions. For these communities, claiming the right to health in an emergency required them to rely on community networks and resources. They organised collective actions to contain COVID-19 in the face of this ongoing marginalisation, such as using free government COVID-19 tests to support self-designed protective measures including community-facilitated testing and community-led contact tracing. This helped keep families and others safe while minimising engagement with formal institutions. In future emergencies, communities must be given better material, political and technical support to help them to design and implement effective community-led solutions, particularly where government institutions are untrusted or untrustworthy.
Queen Mary University of London, 2021
Practices of care and caring have been significantly disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Migrant communities have been particularly impacted due to an intersection of socio-economic, health and political inequalities which have deepened and accelerated during this crisis. While experiences vary across gendered, racial and class divides, particular migrant vulnerabilities are attributable to being ‘key workers’ employed in precarious jobs where ‘working from home’ is not an option; living in multigenerational households, and oftentimes crowded housing; ethnicity-related health co-morbidities and immigration status which potentially limits access to health and social services, as well as government backed economic relief packages. As such capacities to provide care have potentially diminished even while the need for such help has escalated both within local communities and internationally, with adverse consequences for migrants and their family and kin living in countries of origin. Our project Connecting during Covid-19 seeks to learn from, and across, diverse everyday community experiences of the pandemic; explore its local and international impacts on care and caring relations and identify and leverage opportunities for more inclusive pandemic recovery. This report presents the experiences of 18 stakeholders from migrant and third sector organisations in our first Community Spotlight Workshop, held online on 25 March 2021.
Research Square (Research Square), 2022
Background Since the emergence of COVID-19, issues have been raised regarding the approach used to engage with culturally, and linguistically diverse (CaLD) communities during this public health crisis. This study aimed to understand the factors impacting communication and engagement efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of key CaLD community stakeholders and opinion leaders. Methods Forty-six semi-structured telephone interviews were undertaken with key stakeholders who have an active role (established prior to the pandemic) in the delivery of services and other social support to CaLD communities in Australia. Results Seven key themes emerged: (1) the digital divide and how to really connect with people; (2) information voids being lled by international material; (3) differentiating established with new and emerging community needs; (4) speaking COVID-19; (5) ineffectiveness of direct translations of English language resources; (6) Coordination is needed to avoid duplication and address gaps and (7) recognising the improvements in governments' approach. Conclusion It is critical that alliances be set up that can be activated in the future to reduce issues around resource development, translation, and dissemination of messages to minimise gaps in the response. Financial
BMC Public Health
s Background This study explored the experiences of people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds in Greater Western Sydney, Australia, in selected livelihood items during COVID-19 and the perceived impacts of the pandemic on their lives. Methods A cross-sectional survey was used to collect data between 25 August and 30 September 2020 among CALD communities in Greater Western Sydney. Information was collected on respondents’ experiences in selected livelihood items, including housing, finances, safety, accessing social services and activities, finding work, food, clothing, and relationships during COVID-19 and the pandemic’s perceived impact on their lives. Descriptive and non-parametric statistics were used to analyze the data. Results One hundred and ninety-eight participants were included in the study, 45.5% male and 54.5% female. Many respondents reported their experience in the selected livelihood items as “worse” during COVID-19 at the time of the study....
The Impossibility of Home: Displacement and Border Practices in Times of Crisis
Social Sciences, 2021
We launched the call for papers for this issue in March 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was spreading rapidly around the globe, disrupting lives and stalling movement as country after country went into lockdown, and death tolls starkly revealed racial and economic inequalities within and between nations [...]