Rapid evidence review of community engagement and resources in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic: How can community assets redress health inequities?

Mughal, Rabya; Thomson, Linda J.M.; Daykin, Norma; Chatterjee, Helen J.

Abstract

Community engagement, such as participating in arts, nature or leisurely activities, is positively associated with psychological and physiological wellbeing. Community-based engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic facilitated informal and local mutual aid between individuals. This rapid evidence review assesses the emergence of community-based arts, nature, music, theatre and other types of cultural engagement amongst UK communities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we focus on all community engagement with a sub-focus on provisions accessed by and targeted towards vulnerable groups. Two hundred and fifty-six resources were included that had been created between February 2020 and January 2021. Resources were identified through Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, MedRXic, PsycharXiv and searches for grey literature and items in the public domain. The majority reported services that had been adapted to become online, telephone-based or delivered at a distance from doorsteps. Several quality assessment frameworks were used to evaluate the quality of data. Whilst a number of peer-reviewed, grey literature and public domain articles were identified, less than half of the identified literature met quality thresholds. The pace of the response to the pandemic may have meant that robust evaluation procedures were not always in place.

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Acceptance Date: Mar 24, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Mar 30, 2022
• Publication Date: Mar 30, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jul 18, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 19, 2022
• Journal: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Print ISSN: 1661-7827
• Electronic ISSN: 1660-4601
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 4086
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19074086
• Keywords: sociocultural; environmental health; health behaviour; Covid 19; Pandemic
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9708416
• Publisher URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4086