Impact of COVID 19 on black and ethnic minorities healthcare workers in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has affected millions of people worldwide and resulted in the deaths of millions. Evidence has shown that COVID-19 disproportionately affected people from the Black and Ethnic Minority (BAME)population. This paper presents an analysis of socio-economic factors that led to the inordinate impact of COVID-19 on BAME healthcare workers in the UK. It also looks at the relationship between culture, race, socioeconomic status to see if these impacted health outcomes for BAME Healthcare workers during the pandemic. Through a thorough review of relevant literature and databases, the papers look in great detail at factors that increased vulnerabilities of BAME Healthcare workers such as demographic, occupational factors, household factors/overcrowding, economic vulnerability/low-paying occupations, racism and discrimination, vaccine hesitancy and religiosity. The dissertation concludes with the findings that socio economic factors played a role in the impact of COVID-19 on BAME HCW. It goes on to recommend that the UK Government, organisations and policymakers should mitigate the vulnerabilities from future pandemics by tackling health inequalities and addressing socioeconomic factors. Investing in more research about the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, and health outcomes would help to understand the relationship between them and how they impact different imdividuals.

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https://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/13942