Exploring published literature of emerging practice as a response to challenges due to COVID-19
22 July 2020
The summaries below are of articles that might help thinking about what has been learned from the COVID-19 experience so far, along with suggestions on how this might be used to support improvement in future.
This week, featured articles include those regarding:
- inequalities
- housing, and
- communities.
Overview
As COVID-19 lockdown measures continue to ease and the health and social care services begin to restart, there has been a lot of looking back and looking forward.
There have been reports and insights into what organisations have learned from responding to the pandemic, including some good news stories from successful projects such as the Get Connected pilot.
Articles and blogs that attempt to point a way forward and discuss how different sectors can 'build back better' have been more prominent at this point. There are pieces from the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and the Cyrenians that discuss the future of homelessness as the need to rehouse people currently in hotels becomes more pressing.
Inequalities
COVID-19 and ethnic minority communities—we need better data to protect marginalised groups
A report proposing some explanations for the unequal impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minority, particularly Muslim, communities. Explanations put forward in this report are centred in the context of structural inequalities, racism and community isolation. Key factors suggested by the report include:
- the close correlation of the impact of COVID-19 with religion, ethnicity and social deprivation
- some British Muslims internalising a socially devalued and stigmatised identity
- social and structural exclusion and stigma contributing to mistrust of mainstream health advice, and
- lack of support for faith based health promotion groups, usually grassroots organisations, that were providing vital services.
In the recovery from COVID-19, the government has promised to coproduce support with communities. However, in being able to build this on community insights, there is an urgent need to improve data on protected characteristics such as religion, disaggregated ethnic groups, and disability in order to protect marginalised groups.
The report concludes that more research is required to fully 'understand the intersectional and systemically embedded disadvantage and discrimination'.
Mapping and working with marginalised communities
A workbook designed to support organisations to identify and support seldom heard communities. It takes people through:
- identification of marginalised groups
- mapping marginalised groups, and
- approaches for working with them.
The workbook takes an intersectional approach to seldom heard voices, encouraging people to explore where there might be missing voices within broader demographic categories. For example, LGBTQ+ older people may not be well heard, as engagement with older people might not include LGBTQ+ people and engaging with the LGBTQ+ community might not include older people.
The workbook provides advice and tools for each of the above stages. It highlights the importance of working with front line staff and people within the community to help shape thinking. Similarly, in mapping groups, the workbook suggests a matrix for helping develop detailed thinking around different groups. This can then be used to target different engagement approaches that are also outlined in the workbook.
Find out more (PDF)
Housing
Poor housing causing health problems for nearly a third of Brits during lockdown
An article on the impact of poor housing on health revealed during the pandemic.
Nearly a third of adults in Britain, 15.9 million people, have had mental or physical health problems because of the condition of, or lack of space in, their home during lockdown, according to a new YouGov survey. This includes people seeking medical help or taking medication for mental health issues, not getting enough sleep, people experiencing depression or stress, as well as those falling physically ill or catching coronavirus.
Five leading housing organisations, backed by 60 businesses, banks, charities and think tanks, have now launched a campaign to warn that the country's housing crisis is making lockdown even more unbearable for millions. The 'Homes at the Heart' campaign is urging government to put funding for new and existing social homes at the heart of the country's recovery from COVID-19.
First Route Map from Everyone Home Collective
The Everyone Home Collective is a collaboration between a range of organisations committed to ensuring that nobody housed during the COVID-19 pandemic is left homeless. This is their first route map that establishes their position and lays out how they see their goals being achieved.
The route map acknowledges the importance of night shelters and their rapid response to meeting people's basic needs. However, the COVID-19 response has accelerate progress on longer term solutions and given people higher ambitions. With this in mind the collective have agreed to "collaborate to expedite the conditions in which night shelters and hotel rooms are not needed – to actively 'design-out' the need for both with mixed-model alternatives."
This approach will require the factors below:
- Existing night shelter providers to modify their service to a reception centre for Housing First and other rapid rehousing options and provide an overnight stay for people who have absolutely no alternative, as last resort.
- Housing First tenancies secured at a rate of approximately 22 per week in Glasgow and 14 per week in Edinburgh, from October to March (in the first instance). Proportionate use of temporary and supported options in the interim and to meet any shortfall in this target.
- An overarching national Housing First framework that stabilises funding across health, housing and social care and factors in supply and demand at local level.
- A safeguard benchmark of 10% increase in rough sleeping that necessitates a rapid review, to ensure available capacity isn't reduced too quickly as Housing First tenancies are increased.
Communities
The right foundations: building a just and sustainable country after coronavirus
A report from the Community Health Exchange that highlights the important role that communities have played in supporting people through COVID-19 and how this action and approach can be used to tackle wider health and social issues.
In outlining the community response to COVID-19, the report characterises it as:
- decisive and rapid
- rooted in deep community knowledge and understanding
- focused on immediate communities
- broader in scope than just supporting health, and
- supported by flexible funding from the Scottish government.
Noting these qualities of community responses, the report goes on to argue that it is vital that community groups are well represented in both the conversations about recovery planning and in the implementation of them. Part of this needs to involve building the capacity of local organisations, funding them sustainably and giving them the support to take on more responsibility.
The key messages from the report are:
- preventing harm and protecting health and wellbeing means having a serious nation-wide dialogue regarding our economy, particularly around reducing inequalities
- building on the community-sector response to COVID-19 must be at the heart of Scotland's recovery effort if we are to build back better.
- community development approaches can ensure the voices of people with lived experience of poverty and inequality are heard, and
- funding, community capacity building and investment in partnership building is needed to ensure that every community in Scotland can be as resilient as many have been during the COVID-19 crisis.
Find out more (PDF)
Which way next? How Local Area Coordination can help us beyond this crisis towards a better future for all
A paper reflecting on how the Local Area Coordination approach has supported community action and support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Local Area Coordination approach is centred on having Local Area Coordinators who are 'focussed on the assets that exist in communities, building knowledge of hyperlocal, neighbourly, non-service solutions and connections and are able to build collaborative relationships with organisations (charities, commissioned services, other statutory agencies etc.), to take and make introductions but also to support community capacity building'.
During COVID-19, they have been beneficial in being able to help coordinate responses to immediate community need and link people in with local groups. There are some case studies within the paper that outline how Local Area Coordinators have reduced the need for formal support.
Working towards 'recovery and renewal' the paper suggests how Local Area Coordinators will support in the three domains of individuals, communities and services, they will:
- support people to reduce dependency on services, reconnect people with their communities and help people through any long term impacts of lockdown
- support community groups to be more involved in planning decisions, support the growth of community assets and help rebuild trust between communities and institutions, and
- work with services to develop risk aware (not risk averse) cultures, enhance their community facing roles and provide challenge to assumptions about the value of community support.
Find out more (PDF)
Community response to COVID-19: Research commissioned by Scottish Community Alliance
A report from the Scottish Community Alliance suggests that, based on interviews with community led organisations, enabling factors behind successful community responses and provides recommendations for how to build on this. The report focusses on the role of the community anchors, organisations that provide local leadership and support local networks of small, often un-constituted community groups.
Key findings include:
- stronger responses occurred where there was a pre-existing community anchor organisations
- responses were more effective where local government recognised the importance of and collaborated with community anchors
- funding was locally distributed to enable a range of small organisations, including informal and un-constituted groups, to respond to need
- anchor organisations have been effective in bridging the gap between groups that find it difficult to coordinate with others, or where they are struggling to make progress alone, and
- organisation at a hyper local level was essential.
The report makes a number of recommendations for how to capitalise on the role that community anchors have played, including:
- providing anchor organisations with secure and sufficient operational core funding
- working with communities to make decisions and allocate resources
- continuing to build trust and working in partnership at a local level
- devolving decision making and resource allocation to the lowest practicable level, and
- continuing to build resilience at a local level.
Find out more (PDF)