Background
Methods
Aim
Research design
Participants
Setting
Procedure
Results
The refugee experience influences the communication of COVID-19 messages
I used to be able to write Kurdish and Arabic as well, but for 6 years [as a refugee] I didn’t write anything, it got lost (community member)
Lots of parents, the thing they wanted most for their kids- ‘teach them about computers!’ (service provider)It [COVID-19] did make the community very aware of their lack of digital literacy (service provider)
…the brain is tired, so we can’t learn (influential community member)
[Due to the trauma, community members don’t have the ability] to retain and understand, and to put that into real life as well. They might have been told that they can’t go anywhere [after their COVID test], but then the dentist would have called and said, ‘you’re late for your appointment’… so that’s all gone out the window (service provider)
Cultural, social and gender norms influence responses to COVID-19
But they’re in a good place [young men working in services], the younger ones- because they have more English and have more access to working culture…. I think in a few years’ time, they will naturally take that mentor up of being those community leaders (service provider)I think there’s a small group of…they are all men, but younger men who have taken up a bit of a community leadership role but at the same time they don’t actually want to be community leaders either (service provider)
They [community members are] usually asking people who are working already with the organisation.... we have got 2 or 3 people who are working with them. So, they ask them. If there is any situation happen in Armidale in particular, we all would be connected with each other (influential member)
The women, I think, they are the group who are probably least informed. They are also the group of people who are least likely to go into our schools and to go and do other work. It’s basically the men who do a lot of that (service provider)[single women] are also the ones who are going to get that information from families back overseas and have that misunderstanding of what’s going on as well, and they’re not going to reach out to services for that information (service provider)
they were fearful of sending their children to school, even before, when it [COVID-19] first just started coming out. You could see, they were already coming in wearing those sorts of things [red and white threads] (service provider)I actually saw an increase of kids even wearing you know, the threads…the red and white threads. I actually saw an increase in number of people wearing those during COVID (service provider)Community members reported people locking doors to protect themselves. Some service providers suggested an alternative interpretation of door shutting.March 2020… that [locking doors with chains], that happened in the beginning... like there was a fear in the community because we lost lots of people in our country in Iraq with the fear situation (influential community member)During lockdown a lot of people kept their door shut and their gates shut as well, because they were so scared about the whole situation. Because they just didn’t have the understanding of what this was… they put chains all on their doors and their gates and they padlocked their gates shut so no one could come in or out (service provider).
People’s cultural background has had a really significant background on how they have responded. And I think that has a lot to do with what’s happening in their home country, or their home village. Because the experience that their family overseas are having, they feel like they need to respond in a certain way (service provider)
Trusted individuals and service providers are key
Because that [information about COVID-19] is from their home country, I think there is a higher degree of trust that comes with the information that comes from that location (service provider)And Armidale is a small town, with everyone visiting each other every day or every week. I guess, so it's easier to share information with other community (influential community member)
So they are health professionals- they got lot of information, the right information about it. So, in terms of our caseworkers they care about us, so they have to tell us the right information. So if we do not get from them, where we have to get from? (influential community member)So here I don’t believe in anyone but her [refugee health nurse] ...yeah, we have a lot of respect and trust in her (community member)… if it’s a person that I really trust, and she kind of looked at that [COVID-19] information and given me…I trust her. So I only trust people that I really know. But I really need to know the person…. (community member)
…[the Ezidi] have a very big mistrust of government, so they are not necessarily going to go to government sites to find that information. They’re going to go to ‘D’ at school and knock on her door, or they’re going to go to ‘J’ in Health… (service provider)
… there’s conflicting information out there. And the community becomes a bit paranoid, you know, ‘did I get the true information before’ or ‘should I trust that source, I don’t know’ (service provider)…lot of times the information we are given- sometimes it is not right. It’s wrong. That’s why it’s hard to believe it (community member)
Problems with available government COVID-19 information
We use those resources [NSW health website and TV] to make the video and then we post it on the Facebook page (service provider)…there is a link to making your own video, which was probably the most useful thing we had, because I could just give it to some support workers and say ‘please build a video for us’ and they did that and it was great (service provider)
…[the information] is not consistent but also there’s a lot of it. So, it’s hard to comprehend (service provider)So, using masks for example, was a really good example of how things shifted. You know, for the first while, the government’s advice was don’t wear a mask. You don’t need to wear a mask, unless you’re sick. And then all of a sudden, that switched. And so you’ve just spent all this time educating everyone on, ‘no its ok, you don’t need to wear a mask unless you’re sick’ and then the government advice changed and then we just had a bunch of people who were confused and ‘do I wear a mask? Do I not wear a mask?’ (service provider)
…the only other important thing when we’re talking about information given to multicultural communities is the simplification of the information, so breaking it down- ‘what is COVID? what is this disease? how is it transmitted?’…. that kind of basic foundational information, is disseminated through the community, by the community (service provider)The problem we now have is that there are now resources in Kurdish-Kurmanji, but they are in the wrong script. So, nobody can read them. And even if they could read them, the vast majority of the community can’t read Kurdish-Kurmanji…they’re illiterate…so it needs to be verbal and …pictures (service provider)
What really stuck out for me, is how differently each state has managed information. And it needs to have been something that was managed at a federal level. I mean, common sense should prevail that the information going out to the Australian population should be from a central location. Because the advice from different states was different, and so if you were looking to find information to share to the community, you go ‘well is NSW or Queensland more on the topic’, you know, I don’t know (service provider)
COVID-19 communication can be improved
Participant suggestions for government sharing of official COVID-19 information |
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• Listen to community |
• Provide clear, consistent and culturally appropriate messages |
• Recognise diversity within the ethnic group |
E.g., language, religion, literacy ability, English proficiency |
• Translate using dialects specific to community groups |
• Choose multiple methods to distribute official information |
E.g., direct telephone calls, written handouts in language and social media videos |
• Identify and consult with key Ezidi contacts |
• Delivery via trusted community members and service providers |
• Utilise highly frequented and familiar spaces to deliver messages |
E.g., TAFE, school, medical and dental clinics, multicultural supermarkets, social media |
The information here can be given to the community like over the phone, or even like the leaflets, the paper. And my brother or my sister, they can read both languages. But if it’s written- maybe if it’s Arabic, it’s easier for them to understand (community member)Some people don't understand...they not attending school at all...A better way to share the information in regard to COVID-19 to make a video from a person from the Ezidi community then everyone can understand clearly and they can get the message very well (influential community member)I think simple pictorial stuff…Australia is such a multicultural community, that the list of languages is just going to be infinitely long. And if I say, ‘hey, here’s 60 flyers to put in your foyer, so we can cover all the languages’, it’s just so much information that people aren’t going to bother shuffling through that (service provider)
It [COVID information] needs to come from a federal level, clear and concise, unified information (service provider)[The information] should have photos of different ethnic backgrounds, so you’ve got something that will actually resonate with them, rather than your Anglo-Saxon...(service provider)
We can even message out [through social media] a small file to all our clients (service provider)WhatsApp particularly, for lots of multicultural communities, that’s the go-to communication device (service provider)
If you can get someone from our community and they can video….and everyone from our community can listen to the video and share with friends (influential member)I think making it a friendly face...people really didn’t want to talk to people they didn’t know. Finding somebody local to then record that [COVID-19 information audio-visual material], and being able to share that (service provider)…. [a] program, where they train community members and then those community members go out and do group work within the community to spread that message (service provider)
TAFE...because there’s a captive audience there, they have to turn up between 9.30[a.m.] to 2[p.m.] or whatever the time is that they’ve got to be there (service provider)An easier way, would be if everything was … translated message for us. Or… talk to us directly [e.g., at TAFE] (community member)