Racial inequities in health: The impact of COVID-19 in Wales and beyond

Dr Jenny Douglas presents an overview of racial inequities in health from a historical and sociological perspective, focusing primarily on the UK, but making links to the US. The presentation will focus on the ways in which the pandemic merely reflected and amplified intersectional inequities that had existed previously. 

Dr Roiyah Saltus will build on this and look specifically at racial inequalities in health in Wales and draw upon her recent research on COVID-19 with Black and minority ethnic communities in Wales.

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About the presenters

Dr Jenny Douglas is a senior lecturer in health promotion at the Open University. Dr Douglas holds a PhD in Women’s Studies and is passionate about the health and wellbeing of Black women. Her research is both varied and wide-ranging, spanning 30 years and covering issues of race, health, gender and ethnicity. The key theme unifying her research and activism is intersectionality – exploring how ‘race’, class and gender affect particular aspects of African-Caribbean women’s health.

Dr Roiyah Saltus is a research fellow at the School of Care Sciences at the University of South Wales. Since joining USW in 2002, she has led teams of researchers and collaborated with colleagues across the UK on a wide range of studies and scholarly activities, a key aspect of which has been to draw out the voices of people from marginalised, migrant and minority ethnic population groups. A sociologist by training, Dr Saltus’ research incorporates critical race theory, feminism, community development theory, and critical perspectives in health, social policy and practice.

About the presentations

These presentations were given as part of Inequalities and Solidarities: The impact of Covid in Wales, part of the OpenTalks series of events run by The Open University in Wales. The event took place on Wednesday 4 May 2022. 

See also

Covid Chronicles from the Margins investigates how forced migrants from around the world are responding to the pandemic via creative and artful resistance to marginalisation. It exploits the creative potential of smartphone tools for digital ethnographic research. Migrants share pandemic experiences in poems, songs, music, photos, short videos, written testimonies, diaries, artworks and blogs.

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