S10E1: Health Equity - Trust Communities and You Can Do Big Things

We're really excited to be entering a new phase of the podcast series where we will be celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.To do this, we will be hosting conversations about the ways in which the Global South and the Global North have learned from each other and the valuable collaborations that have shaped global health policies and practices and continue to influence them. These conversations, will of course, have a specific focus on engaging with communities and people.This episode examines how The Liverpool Vaccine Equity project applied lessons learned from the Global South, specifically Kenya, to reduce vaccine hesitancy in Merseyside and how the methods have created a legacy that is improving uptake of other health services. The episodes guests:Amina IsmailCommunity Mobiliser, Liverpool School of Tropical MedicineAmina is a Community Mobiliser at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine working on the Liverpool Vaccine Equity Project. She is a qualified Primary teacher and understands the positive impact of supporting communities to address inequality. Amina has over 25 years’ experience in the UK and Saudi Arabia working with communities across both the education and health sector. She has supported multidisciplinary Community Innovation Teams (CITs) working in deprived areas of Liverpool to identify reasons for vaccine hesitancy. Amina has provided coaching and support to the Community Innovation Teams. She is committed to working with the CITs and engaging with different stakeholders to improve collaborative working reflective of a community-led approach to achieve vaccine equity.   Relevant links:About The Liverpool Vaccine Equity projectProjectApproach (video)I did if for……photo exhibition 22 Vaccination StoriesZakirya HassanCommunity Champion, Merseyside Somali and Community Association and Kaalmo Youth DevelopmentThe aim of Zak's role is to reduce health inequalities and increase health equity and support his community. At Kaalmo Youth Development, Zak supports young people working as a sessional youth worker arranging trips, group activities and after school classes.He supports a community drop-in service held in the Merseyside Somali and Community Association helping people with benefits services, debt advice, support with translation and school admissions. Zak also runs his own organisation on the side Granby Toxteth Athletic a mental health sports organisation tackling mental health through physical activity they have as a walking club a football team and a basketball team.Relevant Links:Granby Toxteth Athletic ProjectMandela OgucheProject Officer, Continuous Quality Improvement, LVCT HealthMandela serves as Project Officer for continuous quality improvement at LVCT Health Organisation based in Kenya, Kisii County. He has previously worked on mixed methods research projects around quality of care in community health programs in multiple low- and middle-income community settings. His work provides a unique platform that empowers community health workers, commun