Perceptions of air pollution, health and COVID in BAME communities"

人们普遍认为，空气污染是一个公共卫生问题，造成许多健康问题和英国每年数万人过早死亡。虽然空气污染是每个人都面临的问题，但研究表明，生活在社会经济地位低的社区的人更有可能暴露在更高的空气污染水平下。此外，那些有潜在健康状况的人，包括糖尿病，心脏病和肺病，更容易受到其健康影响。最近，随着COVID-19大流行，这种公平差距变得更加明显，因为空气污染与COVID-19的不良健康结果有关，对黑人、亚裔和少数族裔（BAME）人群的影响尤其大。其原因尚不清楚，但可能与现有的脆弱性有关，包括健康并发症、社会经济地位低、缺乏选择和认识。近年来，旨在向公众提出可采取的措施以减少污染排放和保护自己免受污染的公众认识运动对政府机构和非政府机构来说越来越重要。然而，几乎没有证据表明这些方法如何影响公众对城市空气污染的看法，特别是人们的社会背景在多大程度上影响他们对空气污染的看法和感受。特别需要证据证明这些举措如何影响BAME群体对空气污染及其相关健康影响的理解，部分原因是公共小组的组成存在偏见。2020年，口罩在我们的街道上随处可见，这让人们更多地思考他们呼吸的是什么，以及空气中的物质对我们的影响。尽管每种风险对我们健康的影响存在很大差异，但这种意识的提高使人们意识到COVID-19、空气污染和健康之间存在联系。然而，这种联系目前只是传闻，我们并不清楚COVID-19疫情将如何影响人们对空气质量和健康的看法。了解对空气污染的看法如何影响行为和生活方式的选择，对于针对风险最大的社区设计健康和福祉举措非常重要。本研究旨在调查弱势群体和少数民族对空气污染与健康之间关系的看法，以及这种关系如何受到冠状病毒（COVID-19）危机的影响。从这项研究中收集到的经验证据有可能有助于了解目前政府和非政府努力解决空气污染问题的可接受性，参与和影响。这项研究的结果可用于向地方行政人员、公共卫生官员和非政府机构提供信息，以便制定战略，与社区接触，宣传空气污染，并促进行为改变，减少接触。

It is widely recognised that air pollution is a public health concern accountable for numerous health problems and tens of thousands of premature deaths per year in the UK. Though air pollution is a problem faced by everybody, research has shown that those living in neighbourhoods of low social economic status (SES) are more likely to be exposed to higher air pollution levels. In addition, those with underlying health conditions, including diabetes, heart and lung disease are more susceptible to its health effects. This equity gap has recently become more apparent with the COVID-19 pandemic, as air pollution has been linked to poor health outcomes of COVID-19, with a disproportionately high impact within the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) population. The reasons for this are not yet known but are likely to relate to existing vulnerabilities including health complications, low SES, absence of choice and awareness. In recent years, public awareness campaigns aimed at presenting actionable measures to the public to reduce pollution emissions and protect themselves from exposure have become increasingly important for governmental institutions and non-governmental agencies. However, there is little evidence on how these approaches have impacted the public's perceptions of urban air pollution, especially the extent to which people's social contexts influence the way they think and feel about air pollution. There is a particular need for evidence on how these initiatives have impacted BAME groups' understandings of air pollution and its associated health effects, partly due to bias in the composition of public panels. The very visible presence of face masks on our streets during 2020 has made people think about what they breathe and the effect of what is in our air much more. Despite big differences in how each risk affects our health, this increased awareness has created perceived connections between COVID-19, air pollution and health. However, this connection is currently anecdotal and we do not have a good understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic will influence people's perceptions of air quality and health. Understanding how perceptions of air pollution influence behavioural and lifestyle choices is important for the design of health and wellbeing initiatives targeted at communities most at risk . This study aim is to investigate vulnerable and minority ethnic groups' perceptions of the relationship between air pollution and health and how this relationship has been impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. The empirical evidence gathered from this research has the potential to contribute to understandings on the acceptability, engagement and impact of current governmental and non-governmental efforts to address the air pollution problem. The outcomes from this research can be used to inform local administrators, public health officers and non- governmental bodies on the development of strategies to engage with communities to communicate air pollution and to stimulate changes in behaviour to reduce exposure.