Strengthening the Collection and Use of Disaggregated Data to Understand and Monitor the Risk and Burden of COVID-19 Among Racialized Populations

Abstract

There is growing evidence that the risk and burden of COVID-19 infections are not equally distributed across population subgroups and that racialized communities are experiencing disproportionately higher morbidity and mortality rates. However, due to the absence of large-scale race-based data, it is impossible to measure the extent to which immigrant and racialized communities are experiencing the pandemic and the impact of measures taken (or not) to mitigate these impacts, especially at a local level. To address this issue, the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership partnered with the Collaborative Critical Research for Equity and Transformation in Health lab at the University of Ottawa and the Canadians of African Descent Health Organization to implement a project to build local organizational capacities to understand, monitor, and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrant and racialized populations. This research note describes the working framework used for this project, proposed indicators for measuring the determinants of health among immigrant and racialized populations, and the data gaps we encountered. Recommendations are made to policymakers, and community and health stakeholders at all levels on how to collect and use data to address COVID-19 health inequities, including data collection strategies aimed at community engagement in the collection of disaggregated data, improving methods for collecting and analyzing data on immigrants and racialized groups and policies to enable and enhance data disaggregation.RésuméDes plus en plus d’études montrent que le risque et le fardeau des infections à la COVID-19 ne sont pas également répartis dans la population et que les communautés racialisées connaissent des taux de morbidité et de mortalité disproportionnellement plus élevés. Cependant, en raison de l’absence de données ventilés selon le statut ethnique, il est impossible de mesurer comment les communautés immigrantes et racialisées vivent la pandémie et quel est l’impact des mesures prises (ou non) pour atténuer ces effets, surtout à un niveau local. Pour résoudre ce problème, le Partenariat local pour l’immigration d’Ottawa (PLIO) s’est associé au Laboratoire de recherche critique collaborative pour l’équité et la transformation en santé (CO-CREATH) de l’Université d’Ottawa et l’Organisation de la santé des Canadiens d’ascendance africaine (CADHO) aux fins de mettre en œuvre un projet visant à renforcer les capacités organisationnelles locales pour comprendre, surveiller et atténuer l’impact de la pandémie de la COVID-19 sur les populations immigrantes et racialisées. Cette note de recherche décrit le cadre de travail utilisé pour ce projet, les indicateurs proposés pour mesurer les déterminants de la santé chez les populations immigrantes et racialisées, et les lacunes que nous avons identifiés dans les données existants. Des recommandations sont faites aux décideurs politiques et aux acteurs communautaires et de la santé à tous les niveaux sur comment collecter et utiliser les données pour remédier aux inégalités en matière de santé liées à la COVID-19. Ces recommandations font référence aux stratégies de collecte de données visant à impliquer les communautés, à l’amélioration des méthodes de collecte et d’analyse des données sur les immigrants et les groupes racialisés, et aux politiques nécessaires pour permettre et améliorer la désagrégation des données selon le statut ethnique.

Health Care Use and Barriers to Care for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases (CID) among First and Second Generation South Asian Immigrant Children and Parents in Ontario Canada

“…As the paper highlights, simply having a universal health care system in Canada does not translate into increased health care uptake without addressing broader social, economic, neighbourhood, built environment and systemic issues underpinning health realities. As Etowa [ 2 , 32 ] argues, “despite the emphasis on health equity of the Health Canada Act, research points to a disproportionate burden of difficulties accessing health care services among vulnerable populations in Canada.” Thus, more attention to the various societal conditions and racial practices that contribute to immigrant health disparities and predispose these populations to CIDs are needed to track and address race-based inequalities across health outcomes [ 98 , 99 , 100 ]. One way to improve immigrant health outcomes for example, is to tailor health care by assessing the patient’s social determinants of health while supporting medical care for racialized individuals and groups who self-define their priorities [ 101 , 102 ].…”

“…On top of differential epidemiology and risk factors are the uneven access to resources and health care services that shape the realities of CID progression and management. Although immigrants in Canada experience poorer health outcomes than non-immigrants [ 1 , 12 ], research consistently demonstrates that immigrants are more likely to have difficulties accessing health care services [ 1 , 31 , 32 ]. While the literature on access to care for chronic and complex diseases is sparce, though growing, recent studies highlight continued and signifigant disparities in access to care and health outcomes [ 33 , 34 , 35 ].…”

The war in Ukraine and refugee health care: considerations for health care providers in Canada

“…These data are required to inform health policy and resource allocation so that programs can be tailored to the needs of groups with the highest health burdens. 49 The global response to the complex needs of people fleeing Ukraine, compared with its response to previous migration and refugee crises involving other groups of refugees who are not white and not Christian, has been starkly preferential and welcoming. 19 Other humanitarian crises, such as in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Syria and Yemen, must not be neglected from a human rights and humanitarian perspective.…”

Guerre en Ukraine et soins aux réfugiés: facteurs à considérer pour les professionnels de la santé au Canada

“…Dans la plupart des régions du Canada, on ne recueille habituellement pas les données sur le statut d'immigration ou sur le pays de naissance dans les ensembles de données sur la santé. Ces données sont nécessaires pour orienter les politiques sanitaires et la répartition des ressources afin que les programmes soient adaptés aux groupes ayant les plus grands besoins en matière de soins de santé 49 .…”