King's College London

This bold research programme, titled Collective Action for Race Equity in Health and Social Care (CARE-HSC), aims to address and dismantle structural factors that perpetuate racial discrimination and harassment within care systems.

Professor Stephani Hatch, Vice Dean for Culture, Diversity & Inclusion at King’s IoPPN and the study’s Principal Investigator, will work alongside a multidisciplinary team with backgrounds in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, creative methodologies, and social theory. The team is comprised of Dr Juliana Onwumere (King’s IoPPN, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust) and Dr Rebecca Rhead of King’s IoPPN, as well as Dr Dörte Bemme (King’s Social Science and Public Policy), Cllr Dr Jacqui Dyer MBE (Black Thrive Global), Iman Shervington (Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies, USA) and Professor Hannah Bradby (Uppsala University, Sweden).

Racial equity is a process of eliminating racial disparities and improving outcomes for everyone. CARE-HSC will focus on the experiences of care providers within the health and social care workforce as well as unpaid carers. The team will identify both existing disparities and the mechanisms that allow these inequities to persist, while simultaneously generating new, comprehensive data sets, and co-creating innovative approaches incorporating the arts and advocacy in order to challenge and dismantle harmful policies, practices, beliefs, and structures.

Professor Stephani Hatch, who is also a Professor of Sociology and Epidemiology at King’s IoPPN, said, “We are grateful to Wellcome for their commitment to supporting race equity work. This funding gives us the opportunity to make significant advancements in knowledge to create a more inclusive evidence base that disrupts the impacts of racism and elevates caring roles and anti-racism practices within health and social care systems. We will put a spotlight on the mechanisms that allow racial inequities to persist within systems of care and how to tackle resistance to change, and we will bring those most affected closer to policymaking for sustainable solutions.”

Collective Action For Race Equity In Health and Social Care (CARE-HSC) began on 1st January 2025.

For more information, please contact Patrick O’Brien (Media Manager).