Led by the University of Westminster, the new research titled ‘Hearing from the unheard: impact of long COVID in minority ethnic groups in the UK’ will reveal the lived experiences of people with long COVID specifically in ethnic minority groups.
The researchers will explore people’s symptoms, healthcare, wider support and treatment needs, the impact of long COVID on their daily lives and challenges to accessing support.
Funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the research partner of the NHS, public health and social care, the aim of the research is to improve the health and wellbeing of users of the NHS and social care services who have long COVID.
It will be led by Dr Nina Smyth, alongside Professor Damien Ridge and artist Dr Alexa Wright at the University of Westminster, who will be collaborating with Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham and Dr Tom Kingstone from Keele University, Dr Dipesh Gopal from Queen Mary University of London, and Dr Nisreen Alwan and Dr Rebecca Band from the University of Southampton.
Dr Nina Smyth and her team aim to raise awareness of the issue of long COVID among ethnic minority communities, especially those of Arab, Black and South Asian backgrounds. These seldom-heard groups have been disproportionately affected by acute infections with COVID-19, including higher death rates, but the rates of long COVID are not considered to be higher among these groups.
There also may be poorer access for people from these minority groups in healthcare settings for the management of long COVID. It is known that lack of trust in healthcare, racism, stigma, discrimination, and language barriers can be experienced by minority groups, and these may hinder the reporting of long COVID symptoms and access to good care.
The team will conduct one-to-one interviews with people living with long COVID, including those who have not accessed long COVID services, to better understand how they navigate care and support. The team will also explore ways to facilitate user engagement with long COVID healthcare approaches that meet the needs of diverse groups such as by better involving family. The study will seek to understand what broader systems of support, such as religion and traditional healing, are utilised by minority groups for long COVID to inform better management of the condition.
The researchers aim to better connect people living with long COVID, healthcare professionals and informal support systems and networks to promote culturally appropriate healthcare, and to improve self-management.
Talking about the research, Dr Nina Smyth, lead researcher and Reader in Health Psychology, said: “Healthcare experiences and needs differ between ethnic minority groups, and current long COVID care management is not yet sufficiently informed by the needs of minorities. We need to better understand preferences for care and support to imagine better healthcare and self-management for these groups.”
Find out more about research at the University of Westminster.
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