Leicester is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the UK with a large Black, Asian and minority ethnic population. People from minority ethnic communities are subject to health inequalities in health care access and outcomes. In Leicester, data shows that our ethnic communities have high levels of chronic disease. Tackling this inequality in disease burden is a priority for the city.
The University of Leicester hosts the Centre for Ethnic Health Research that conducts research on issues affecting the health and wellbeing of ethnic and migrant communities and works to address the health inequalities by engaging Black and minority ethnic and seldom heard communities and advising health organisations.
By working in partnership with Leicester City Council, community groups and other partners, LAHP will work to address local health inequalities.
As the current COVID-19 pandemic has recently shown, disease does not affect all people in the same way. In fact, the novel coronavirus seems to disproportionately affect those from black and minority ethnic communities. Leicester, as one of the most diverse cities in the UK, is well-placed to explore why this might be so.
Our Ethnicity & Health Objectives
We will…
- Support the Centre for Ethnic Health Research to develop into a national centre of excellence to drive change on a wider scale
- Provide training for researchers to help them understand the cultural barriers that may prevent ethnic minority populations from accessing care and participating in research
- Use public involvement to further increase opportunities to listen to and engage with ‘seldom heard’ groups
- Establish a prospective local health inequalities research dataset
- Share our outputs in high quality, peer-reviewed scientific journals
We will be successful when…
- We have embedded this approach into the wider research infrastructure in our locality, such as the Biomedical Research Centre and Clinical Research Facility
- More people from ethnic minorities participate in our research programmes
- Health inequalities in our locality have been reduced
- Our best practice on a local level also impacts on national policy and planning decisions