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  4. EMBRACE: Embracing diversity in vulnerability - a multilevel intersectional study of communities’vulnerability and public health institutions’ capability to cope with COVID-19 and future pandemics

EMBRACE: Embracing diversity in vulnerability - a multilevel intersectional study of communities’vulnerability and public health institutions’ capability to cope with COVID-19 and future pandemics

Research project
Active research
Website
Institute of Medicine
Project size
4,999,850 SEK
Project period
2022 - 2025
Project owner
Institute of Medicine
Research partners
Karolinska institutet Uppsala university
Financier
Forte
Area
Health and medicine
Topic
Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy Public Health, Global Health and Social Medicine Epidemiology

Short description

The EMBRACE project analyses the complex patterns of inequality seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, and aims to identify strategies to equitably strengthen capacities for reducing exposure to and coping with risks in future pandemics. It includes mapping of how vulnerability to COVID-19 changes over time and place, examination of how intersectional factors combine to affect COVID-19 hospitalisation and vaccination rates, and analyses how policies may have influenced the shaping of vulnerability during the pandemic.

The EMBRACE project adopts an intersectional framework at multiple levels to offer a nuanced and comprehensive mapping of socially determined inequalities, as well as the complex vulnerabilities that characterised the COVID-19 pandemic. The intersectionality framework holds promise for better capturing the diversity both within and between population groups. This, in turn, may facilitate a more thorough understanding of inequalities and provide valuable insights to inform the development of policies and interventions aimed at mitigating pandemic-related disparities.

Methods

EMBRACE utilises a mixed-methods design comprising three complementary components: (i) an ecological study modelling the spatial and temporal dimensions of vulnerability at the neighbourhood level, and exploring its association with COVID-19 morbidity, mortality, comorbidity, and vaccination uptake; (ii) a register-based prospective cohort study incorporating multi-level intersectional analysis of individual compositional variables alongside contextual neighbourhood vulnerability related to COVID-19; and (iii) a qualitative intersectional policy analysis to investigate how policy acts as a social determinant influencing exposure, susceptibility, and adaptability to COVID-19 across diverse communities.

Studies 1 and 2 draw on aggregated data at regional and municipal levels, as well as the individual-level data available in the SCIFI-PEARL database. Study 3 relies on primary narrative data, including document analysis, focus group discussions, and participatory workshops, to enrich understanding of policy dynamics.
 

Researchers

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