People living in slums face several challenges to access healthcare. Scarce and low-quality public health facilities are common problems in these communities. Costs and prevalence of catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) have also been reported as high in studies conducted in slums in developing countries and those suffering from chronic conditions and the poorest households seem […]
The world population is becoming increasingly urban with an expected growth of over 60% by 2050. Young people account for a large proportion of the population in low and middle-income countries particularly in informal settlements, and face several challenges to their health and well-being, including good housing, basic healthcare services, and education. Yet, little research […]
The aim of this study is to apply theories of intersectionality and political economy to better understand how informal health service provision, utilization and governance is organised within informal urban settlements in Freetown, and how these impact on the health and healthcare access of people living with chronic health conditions. Download poster
Freetown has over 1 million residents, many of whom live in about 68 crowded informal settlements. Residents of these settlements struggle daily to access basic services such as water, sanitation, and health-care services. We found that the government’s COVID-19 response measures (curfews, lockdowns, and travel restrictions) excluded informal residents from contributing to its design, and […]
Much of the current discussion on safeguarding comes from the perspective of the humanitarian sector, and direct service provision and implementation. Additionally, researchers working in global health also experience safeguarding challenges, and research funders and donors require assurance that safeguarding processes and policies are developed and implemented to protect participants and researchers, yet governance in […]
One of our core strategies to affect change is to support capacity strengthening of urban marginalised co-researchers to generate, collect, and use evidence as new localised knowledge to instigate change. Strengthening capabilities of urban marginalised people to engage with research processes is central to the principles of CBPR and meaningful participation of marginalised communities. ARISE […]
This paper applies an intersectional lens to health in informal urban settlements in Freetown, Sierra Leone. We explored how intersecting social characteristics including gender, age, wealth, occupation, and tenant status influence health and well-being outcomes. We found that hazardous environmental conditions, poor waste disposal, and waste burning contribute to health problems at a neighbourhood level. […]
COVID-19 presents a time to redefine vulnerability; however, in discussions of vulnerability, the health workforce, particularly in regard to their psychosocial well-being, is often forgotten. Healthcare workers (HCWs) in fragile settings are constantly exposed to health system shocks, including; conflict, disease outbreaks and natural disasters, which compound the everyday challenges of working in an under-resourced […]
This Practitioner Brief has been produced based on the discussions and agreements that took place during the City Learning Platform (CiLP) meeting in February 2020. The meeting was hosted and coordinated by the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC), who also reported on the agreements. Health is intertwined with living conditions in the city. Determinants […]
This brief is by Emmanuel Osuteye, Braima Koroma, Joseph Macarthy, Sulaiman Kamara and Abu Conteh. It was published by Knowledge in Action for Urban Equity (KNOW) on 30 April 2020. In Sierra Leone, the mention of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic immediately evokes very grim memories of its recent brutal battle with Ebola in 2014-15. Like […]
