The pre-print version of this paper written with my colleagues Holly Seale, Anita Heywood, Ikram Abdi, Abela Mahimbo, Ashfaq Chauhan and Lisa Woodland is available. It provides timely evidence about the need for the development of COVID-related resources, messages and financial support for culturally diverse communities.
N.B. it’s a preprint so it hasn’t been through peer review yet.
An important paper from Lukas Hofstaetter, Sarah Judd-Lam and Grace Cherrington from Carers NSW, which describes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on informal carers in New South Wales.
The experiences of carers documented in this article highlight how pre-existing, systemic shortcomings for carers were worsened by the public health and economic crises resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. A lack of reliable information and recognition, along with insufficient financial and practical supports, have exacerbated the complexities surrounding the provision of care. Limited access to digital devices, connections, and capabilities have further disadvantaged many carers. In many cases, carers engaged in employment or education have been required to carry out these activities from their homes, often necessitating additional investment in digital devices and connections.A majority of carers, however, rely on income support payments, and the financial costs of caring have also increased at a time when many people are experiencing diminished employment security.
tld;r: carers are more stressed, isolated and financially worse off
The past year has also seen significant changes in academic publishing. There has been an emphasis on rapid dissemination of research findings during the pandemic, increasing the prominence of pre-publication manuscripts and reinforcing the need for timely peer review. There has been a significant increase in the volume of manuscripts submitted, including to the AJPH.
At the same time, it is more difficult than ever to find peer reviewers for submitted articles. There has been a significant increase in the pressures on people’s time, through their paid jobs, but also because of juggling caring responsibilities during multiple lockdowns. Many people have been redeployed to support health systems and organisations to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Australian Government’s decision to not provide any financial support to universities during the pandemic has led to thousands of jobs being lost across the sector over the past year, with more losses likely to come. Precarious employment has become even more entrenched and fewer people are in jobs that include service to the profession as part of their roles. This leads to fewer people being able to undertake reviews at the time we need high-quality peer review most.
— Read on www.publish.csiro.au/py/Fulltext/PYv27n6_ED
It’s been a pleasure being an Associate Editor for AJPH, and it was good to have this opportunity to reflect on the pst year with Virginia Lewis and Jenny Macmillan as I’m stepping down.
“We are always engaged after there is a problem – never upfront. The damage that has been done is quite severe on the ground and there is a lot of feeling that this is racist”- Randa Kattan, CEO of the Arab Council Australia
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Croakey published a comprehensive summary of the think tank workshop hosted by the UNSW School of Population Health and organised by my colleague A/Prof Holly Seale. It features some inspiring practical activities led by culturally diverse communities, and the findings of research from across Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria.
“This current pandemic again highlights that there is a critical need to ensure services, communication and efforts and other pandemic strategies are designed and delivered in a culturally responsive way,” she said. Seale stressed collaboration with people from CALD backgrounds, including refugee communities, was critical to improving future pandemic plans as well as continuing ongoing COVID-19 activities.
Engage and empower: ensuring culturally diverse communities aren’t left behind on the road out of COVID
Monday’s Think Tank, organised by A/Prof Holly Seale and the Multicultural Health Communication Service, was a big success. More than 80 people from four states participated in the webinar and workshop sessions.
Lots of issues were discussed, but some of the recurrent themes were:
The next step will be to share a report and the videos from the event, as well as further coverage by Croakey. In the meantime, the tweets below show some of the research and resources that were shared,
Tonight’s episode of Hack was on how the pandemic has deepened inequality.
There was an interesting segment about someone’s experience at the Rookwood Necropolis last week, when NSW police busted up a funeral.
I provided some comments on how it relates to health inequalities. You can listen to the whole episode at https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/hack/13550110
There’s still time to register for this webinar organised by the NSW Multicultural Communication Service and UNSW:
Mon, September 20, 2021, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM AEST
Please note that the later workshops are now full, but people are very welcome to attend the webinar from 11am-12pm.
It was such a delight to chat with Dr Joanna Winchester for her Teaching Heroes podcast.
We had a pretty wide-ranging discussion about health equity, how the COVID response could be exacerbating health inequities, vaccination for teachers, and how the return to classrooms might play out – including the role that HEPA filters might play.
We also briefly spoke about the early 20th-century movement for open-air schooling, and how some of these design ideas may make a comeback
Thanks Jo!
Associate Professor Donna Green and I had a chance to speak with Cassie McCullagh on ABC Radio Sydney’s Focus about high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters in schools, based on our earlier piece at The Conversation.
Interestingly, I noted that a US academic has also written for The Conversation US about HEPA filters in schools, and sums up some of the equity considerations and limitations quite well:
In-room HEPA filtration is a long-term investment that supplements existing ventilation systems. And though COVID-19 was the impetus for the installation of many HEPA filters, they are effective for far more than just reducing exposures to airborne viruses. Well-maintained and properly functioning filtration systems also reduce exposure to wildfire ash that can penetrate buildings, as well as allergens and other unwanted particles like automobile exhaust, tire detritus and construction dust.
But even the best indoor HEPA filtration cannot guarantee protection from airborne respiratory threats in schools. HEPA filters are effective only as part of an integrated approach. Ultimately, masks, distancing and reducing the number of students packed into tight spaces will determine how well students are protected from COVID-19.
COVID-19 has spurred investments in air filtration for K-12 schools – but these technologies aren’t an instant fix
In the discussion about the twelve NSW local government “areas of concern” that are under tighter restrictions, I’ve noticed that the number of people affected is never mentioned. So I looked it up and there are more than 2.3 million people living in the twelve LGAs (table below).
About 1 in 10 people in Australia live in a NSW Local Government Areas of Concern, which means they’re under curfew and need permits to leave their LGAs
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| Local Government | 2019 population estimate |
| Bayside | 170,089 |
| Blacktown | 357,479 |
| Burwood | 39,310 |
| Campbelltown | 164,508 |
| Canterbury-Bankstown | 368,045 |
| Cumberland | 231,443 |
| Fairfield | 208,468 |
| Georges River | 156,293 |
| Liverpool | 217,586 |
| Parramatta | 243,276 |
| Strathfield | 43,803 |
| Penrith suburbs of Caddens, Claremont Meadows, Colyton, Erskine Park, Kemps Creek, Kingswood, Mount Vernon, North St Marys, Orchard Hills, Oxley Park, St Clair, St Marys | ~100,000 |
| TOTAL | 2,300,300 |
