Kidney Matters - Issue 14 - 2021

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Update on Black, Asian and
minority ethnic engagement
As part of our commitment to challenging health inequalities within the Black, Asian
and minority ethnic groups, Kidney Care UK has carried out several insight sessions
as well as a Covid-19 webinar focussing on the critical questions asked by people from
marginalised communities to ensure the support we offer to patients is equitable.
Insight sessions
The first phase of the engagement work successfully
delivered three focused insight gathering
sessions. These included clinicians and healthcare
professionals, community organisations, partner
agencies, patients and carers based in the Midlands.
We are immensely grateful to all for their active
participation and continued support.
The insight gathered has been rich in content and is
based on lived experiences of experts from the kidney
community and, more importantly, our target group for
this pilot, the seldom heard and marginalised members
of the South Asian kidney community.
It has enhanced our understanding of South Asian
chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients’ challenges
across various service and support services. In this
critical moment, as we come out of lockdown, the
feedback and steer from participants confirms
that we are far beyond tackling health issues in
isolation. Effective communication and joint working
between healthcare professionals, community
partners, healthcare charities, patients and carers will
lead to a more holistic and tailored approach to health,
care and community support.
Next steps
We now hope to re-engage healthcare leads, partner
agencies and engaged community stakeholders to
begin the process of establishing a CKD Independent
Advisory Group.
The CKD Independent Advisory Group have many vital
roles to play to enable Kidney Care UK to give practical,
emotional and financial support in a culturally
competent manner and become a trusted source of
information and support for all communities.
Some of these roles would be to provide a forum
and listening to difficult to engage and marginalised
communities and help anticipate how different
communities may interpret responses to healthcare
priorities. It would also serve as ‘critical friends’ and
play a beneficial role during public health crisis and
enhance community confidence by providing regular
contact between healthcare providers and local
communities.
Covid-19 and vaccinations – supporting
the Black, Asian and minority ethnic
Communities
As part of our webinar series on Covid-19 and kidney
patients, a panel of clinicians, patients and faith
leaders came together to share their knowledge and
answer questions about the coronavirus vaccine and
CKD. The session’s focus was on critical questions
asked by people from the Black, Asian and minority
ethnic community.
Our special guest, Charlene White - host of ITV’s
Loose Women and the main presenter of ITV local
and national news – introduced the webinar. With
an increased prevalence of fake news, people
must rely on accurate and reliable information.
Charlene emphasised the importance of everyone
in the marginalised community to take the Covid-19
vaccination and protect both themselves and
their families, which can save lives. People from
marginalised communities are four times as likely to
die from Covid-19 but half as likely to have the vaccine
than people from non-marginalised communities.
For many Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities,
faith plays a pivotal role in everyday decisions. Several
faith leaders present on the panel provided an
additional but essential perspective. They shared their
personal lived experiences of supporting Black, Asian
and minority ethnic communities since the advent
of Covid-19, which we hope will help people make an
informed decision based on facts and not opinions.
Article by Amjid Ali
Engagement and Inclusion
Lead, Kidney Care UK
To watch the Covid-19 webinar
supporting the Black, Asian and
minority ethnic Communities, go to
www.kidneycareuk.org/learnmore
LEARN MORE
www.kidneycareuk.org