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The Director's Seminar Series: Co-POWeR, Cultural Competence and COVID-19

Date
Date
Wednesday 23 March 2022, 16:00-17:30
Location
Online (via Zoom)

The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies present Professor Iyiola Solanke.

​Two viruses – COVID-19 and racial discrimination – are currently killing in the UK (Solanke 2020), especially within BAME families and communities who are hardest hit.  Survivors face ongoing damage to well-being and resilience, in terms of physical and mental health as well as social, cultural and economic (non-medical) consequences. Psychosocial (ADCS 2020; The Children’s Society 2020)/ physical trauma of those diseased and deceased, disproportionate job-loss (Hu 2020) multi-generational housing, disrupted care chains (Rai 2016) lack of access to culture, education and exercise, poor nutrition, ‘over-policing’ (BigBrotherWatch 2020) hit BAMEFC severely. Local ‘lockdowns’ illustrate how easily BAMEFC become subject to stigmatization and discrimination through ‘mis-infodemics’ (IOM 2020).

This presentation will draw upon the investigations conducted by Co-POWeR to investigate the combined impact of these viruses on practices for wellbeing and resilience across BAME familiesand communities in the UK. The aim of CO-POWeR is to create an holistic idea of vulnerabilities damaging BAME families and communities. Historical research shows race/class dimensions to national emergencies (e.g. Hurricane Katrina). Co-POWeR’s recommendations will emerge from culturally sensitive social science research on wellbeing and resilience providing context as an essential strand for the success of biomedical and policy interventions (e.g. vaccines, mass testing).

Register for the free online seminar.