OVER ONE HUNDRED people attended an event on Sunday afternoon, which delivered accessible healthcare messaging to ethnic minority communities.
The Alliance for Cohesion and Racial Equality (ACRE) community healthcare champions took to the Pakistani Community Centre, providing qualified advice on Covid-19 vaccinations in an effort to increase uptake.
Various organisations were at the event to inform on various physical and mental conditions and even conduct free health checks.
Organiser, Warda Mansur, said: “It’s been a great turnout today, people have come from lots of different ethnic groups. We’ve had Nepalese, Black, Indian and Pakistani communities join us.
“There’s been a lot of hesitancy when it comes to Covid vaccine uptake, particularly among ethnic minority groups. Today’s all about informing people about it.”
There were information booths occupied by organisations including the NHS’s MEET PEET team and Macmillan Cancer Support. The food on offer proved to be a hit with all.
Visitors were also invited to hear a talk on the Covid-19 vaccination.
The Mayor of Reading, Cllr Rachel Eden, showed her support for the initiative, spending time speaking to service users and organisers.
In a post on social media, she said: “It’s vital we get the Community Health champions’ message out there: get vaccinated and have your health check.
“Thank you to everyone who worked so hard on a really successful event at the Pakistani Community Centre this afternoon.”
It's vital we get the Community Health champions message out there: get vaccinated and have your health check.
Thank you to everyone who worked so hard on a really successful event at the Pakistani Community Centre this afternoon pic.twitter.com/cKIsvegQSN
— Mayor Tony Page (@mayorofreading) October 23, 2022
Recently appointed Healthwatch leader for Reading and Wokingham Alice Kunjappy-Clifton was also in attendance.
Healthwatch is an independent statutory body which exists in boroughs across the UK. Its 152 subsidiaries serve as intermediaries between decision makers and healthcare service users.
Through engagement activities, surveys and focus groups, individuals’ feedback on their experiences using GPs, hospitals, dentists, pharmacies and care homes help to identify themes, trends and patterns. Local organisations then relay them to Healthwatch England to be presented to the Department of Health and Social Care.
The organisation ensures individuals are listened to and standards of care are maintained at the highest possible level by the NHS and other services.
In her new role, Ms Kunjappy-Clifton will oversee work in both boroughs, carrying out the organisation’s remit to be ‘the people’s voice’.
She explained: “Health inequality was a big topic before the pandemic, and has gotten worse since, especially when you look at ethnic minorities who were disproportionately affected.
“[These communities] were branded as seldom heard, hard to reach, but actually, to be honest, it’s the services who don’t know how to reach them.
“I always tell the organisations I talk to to make the messaging consistent, frequent, culturally sensitive, in different languages and to use different media to get the message out. That’s the way to get it out to the community.”
She cited the Care Quality Commission’s State of Care report, which was published on Friday, October 21, and documents inequalities in accessing care due to factors such as deprivation, learning disabilities and ethnicity.
One finding stated that disabled people were found to be less likely than non-disabled people to describe the health and wellbeing care they received as good.
Meanwhile, ethnic minority-led GP practices were more likely to care for populations with higher levels of socio-economic deprivation and poorer health, with the commission noting subsequent challenges in recruitment and funding.
According to Ms Kunjappy-Clifton, most statutory bodies don’t have the capacity to go out into the community. This makes Healthwatch’s role within the national provision more important, helping individuals administer self-care and consequently alleviating pressure off the NHS.
A robust national healthcare provision is all the more vital in the current cost of living crisis, which has had a significant impact on people’s physical and mental health.
Ms Kunjappy-Clifton believes access has and will continue to become more challenging, particularly when the need for health services is rising as people find it harder to buy healthy food, heat their homes and enjoy leisure activities.
She explained the organisation is currently recruiting for paid and voluntary roles.
