Health Communication and Inequalities in Primary Care Access during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Ethnic Minorities in the United Kingdom: Lived Experiences and Recommendations

Winifred Ekezie (), Akilah Maxwell, Margaret Byron, Barbara Czyznikowska, Idil Osman, Katie Moylan, Sarah Gong and Manish Pareek
Additional contact information
Winifred Ekezie: Diabetes Research Centre, College of Life Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester LE5 4PW, UK
Akilah Maxwell: School of Media, Communication and Sociology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Margaret Byron: School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Barbara Czyznikowska: Centre for Ethnic Health Research, University of Leicester, Leicester LE5 4PW, UK
Idil Osman: School of Media, Communication and Sociology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Katie Moylan: School of Media, Communication and Sociology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Sarah Gong: School of Media, Communication and Sociology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Manish Pareek: Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 9HN, UK

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-23

Abstract: Health Communication is critical in the context of public health and this was highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ethnic minority groups were significantly impacted during the pandemic; however, communication and information available to them were reported to be insufficient. This study explored the health information communication amongst ethnic communities in relation to their experiences with primary health care services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research used qualitative methodology using focus groups and semi-structured interviews with community members and leaders from three ethnic minority communities (African-Caribbean, Somali and South Asian) in Leicester, United Kingdom. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and open-coded. Rigour was determined through methodological coherence, appropriate and sufficient sampling, and iterative data collection and analysis. Six focus groups and interviews were conducted with 42 participants. Four overarching themes were identified related to health communication, experiences, services and community recommendations to improve primary care communication. To address primary care inequalities effectively and improve future health communication strategies, experiences from the pandemic should be reflected upon, and positive initiatives infused into the healthcare strategies, especially for ethnic minority communities.

Keywords: COVID-19; ethnic minorities; communication; misinformation; public health; health inequality; qualitative; United Kingdom (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/15166/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/15166/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:15166-:d:975498

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().