What is the Anti- Racism Resources Project?

The Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER) has been commissioned by Scottish Government to design and develop a suite of anti-racism capacity building resources for the health and social care sector in Scotland. The resources will focus on building the practical understanding needed to improve approaches to race equality and anti-racism, exploring structural racism, racialised health inequalities, intersectional issues and the impacts on mental and physical health for people who experience racism.

Who is developing the resources?

The work is being led by CRER’s Learning and Development Coordinator, Mimie Oudaungh, supported by CRER colleagues. Between them, the project team have decades of experience in this area. The authors of Scotland’s Anti-Racist Training Standards, also developed on behalf of Scottish Government, are part of the team.

What topics will the resources cover?

Examples of topics that will be covered by this suite of resources are:

• Understanding and identifying systemic and structural racism

• Impact of racism on mental health of both the victims and the witnesses

• Racialized health inequalities

• Reporting of incidents

• Support structures and resources

Who is the target audience for the developed resources?

The target sectors are health and social care, although the project will be mindful of how these sectors interact and form part of a wider system including social work and wider public sector.

The target groups within the health and social care workforce are:

• Scotland’s health and social care workforce, with resources tailored to meet the needs of both those who identify as being from a minority ethnic background and those who don’t identify as being from a minority ethnic background

• Key enablers who can help to create change within health and social care organisations, for example Chairs, Chief Executives, individuals and teams working in strategic areas including Human Resources, Managers, Network Leads and Network Members

Why has this project been commissioned?

Systemic racism leaves minority ethnic individuals and communities disadvantaged and unfairly treated, both in workplaces and as service users.

The findings of the Expert Reference Group on COVID-19 and Ethnicity and the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland have highlighted gaps and disparities in the healthcare system for minority ethnic people, with compounded impacts relating to socio-economic inequalities and intersectional discrimination. Lack of attention to these issues within public services has maintained deep-rooted intergenerational inequalities that continue to disadvantage minority people.

The suite of resources developed through this programme will create better understanding of the impact of personal, social and institutional racism on both staff and service users. They will support the sector to better tackle racist incidents, build confidence in reporting racism and to dismantle structural racism.

What is the project’s approach?

The process of developing these resources will centre on the experiences of people who have faced racism within health and social care in Scotland. The resources will equip leaders to strengthen their organisations’ approaches to working with and learning from people with lived experience, including maximising the leadership potential and influence of networks for Black and minority ethnic staff.

Scottish Government’s investment in this project allows the resources to be developed in a systematic way with appropriate time and space to plan, test and refine, ensuring that the final outputs of the project are as effective and sustainable as possible.

During the initial project phase over the first six months of 2023, planning and research was carried out to scope the potential training themes and identify ‘what works’ in delivering high quality anti-racism learning opportunities.

From June to December 2023, CRER’s Learning and Development Coordinator will seek to involve and work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders in Scotland’s health and social care sector. The findings of this engagement and research will inform the development of the suite of resources, which is likely to include both training resources and wider capacity building materials. They will be designed to work together as a package, with core content for all learners and routes to more specialist learning to suit different audiences and meet different needs. Key issues already identified by Scottish Government for consideration include the intersections of racism and sexism faced by Black and minority ethnic women, the relationship between racism and Islamophobia and how racism impacts refugees and asylum seekers.

The final suite of resources will be tested and refined through a pilot phase. CRER’s handover of the suite of resources towards the end of 2024 will ensure that they can be taken forward within the health and social care sector as part of the wider learning environment, rather than as an add-on. The handover will include recommendations for sustainable implementation and an evaluation framework designed to track the impact of the resources over time.

What is the timeline for the project?

Scope and plan: September 2022 - January 2023

Research, engage and analyse: January 2023 - December 2023

Develop and design: January 2024 - September 2024

Pilot and refine: October 2024 - December 2024

Deliver resources: November - December 2024

How are training needs being identified?

The project team will draw on an extensive evidence base built in the initial project phase to analyse training needs. Over the course of the project, training needs will also be identified based on feedback from people who have lived experience within the health and social care sector. The resource development phase will involve external collaboration, including with ‘critical friends’ from the health and social care sector.

When will the resources be available?

The whole suite of resources will become available following testing and the conclusion of the project development phase. The phases of project delivery have been designed to ensure the package is robust, does not duplicate ineffective approaches, is sustainable (insofar as this can be determined pre-roll out) and can be evaluated over time.

How can the resources be accessed once they’re ready?

The resources will be held by Scottish Government, who will manage the dissemination process by working with partners to ensure best fit with the needs of the health and social care sector. NES (NHS Education Scotland) have been involved from the beginning as a key partner.

How is the project funded?

Scottish Government developed a tender document setting out their requirements for the project. This was issued through a competitive procurement process, following which CRER was the successful bidder. Funding for the project is based on a pricing schedule reflecting costs of delivery, according to Scottish Government’s procurement rules.

How can we keep up to date with the project?

To hear about the progress of the project, join the mailing list by emailing Mimie Oudaungh, Learning and Development Coordinator, at mimie@crer.org.uk. We will be working with health and social care organisations to engage with key networks across the sector, and will share opportunities to get involved.

You can also contact Mimie if you have specific questions about the project.

About CRER’s approach

CRER’s approach to supporting this work will reflect the guidance on anti-racist policy making which it developed for Scottish Government.

Structural racism describes how racism is created and maintained throughout the structures of society, at personal, social and institutional levels. Racist narratives and stereotypes originally developed to justify the brutality of empire, slavery and colonialism are still affecting the power balance across these structural levels today, and continuing racism and racial inequalities are the visible symptoms of this.

Anti-racism aims to disrupt this power imbalance through taking action and creating measurable change. It is the theoretical framework that allows us to understand the practical action needed tackle structural racism.

While concepts like non-discrimination and race equality can be seen as passive, simply requiring people not to make things worse, anti-racism is always active. It requires us to make things better.

Anti-racist approaches would reflect principles such as:

• Redressing power imbalances, including the impact of lack of representation of minority ethnic people in positions of influence and decision-making roles

• Correcting economic, political and social imbalances through positive action and other forms of targeted action

• Implementing systemic solutions to racial inequalities – changing policy and practice, as opposed to 'sticking plaster' approaches which treat the effects of structural racism rather than its origins

• Avoiding the deficit model which downplays structural racism in favour of explanations related to personal capacity, behaviours or individual choices (often replicating racist stereotypes and/or minimising the role of racism in creating and maintaining inequalities)

• Rights based approaches which recognise that inaction on racism and racial inequalities breaches the rights of minority ethnic people

• Intersectional approaches, particularly recognising the specific inequalities facing minority ethnic women

• Overcoming any discomfort that people within organisations may have around frank discussion of race and racism (as well as other ‘race-aversive’ attitudes and behaviours)

• Action based on robust evidence about the nature and prevalence of racial inequalities and racism, as well as 'what works' to create change

• Effective, meaningful involvement of minority ethnic people and organisations with tangible impacts on the organisation’s work

• Building capacity on race equality and anti-racism, with recognition that it is not the responsibility of minority ethnic people to 'educate'

• Decision makers actively coming together with those with lived experience and those working on anti-racism to identify solutions

• Prioritising effective, measurable action to secure race equality over and above the optics of ethos and rhetoric on race equality