Nigerian community health profile

Nigerian community engagement

The Refugee and Migrant Centre RMC logo

From February 2023 to February 2024 Birmingham Public Health partnered with The Refugee and Migrant Centre (RMC) to share the findings from the Nigerian Community Health Profile and co-produce solutions to tackle identified health inequalities.

Due to the limited understanding of Nigerian specific health needs, RMC primarily focused on research and obtaining community voices to improve community intelligence. Sessions were held to support the community following the findings listed below.

The project from RMC focused on the following key areas:

Birth outcomes

The profile highlighted that from 2012 to 2014, 1.72% of all stillbirths in Birmingham were to Nigerian-born women. This is compared with births to Nigerian-born women accounting for only 0.82% of live births in this same period.

Some of the themes which emerged in the workshops included:

  • lack of information
  • lack of access to primary care
  • culture
  • immigration status
  • racism
  • stress due to poverty

One community member said: “Late presentation [is likely] and associated with culture of keeping pregnancy quiet until it is more advanced and ‘less risky’.”

Some of the recommendations for improving birth outcomes included:

  • raising awareness of the relevant health services and checks for expectant mothers
  • using churches, mosques and other places of worship in community engagement
  • using simple English or pidgin English to communicate messages

Domestic abuse

Data from the 2019 to 2020 Crime Survey for England revealed that 4.1% of Black Africans reported being victims of domestic abuse. Small qualitative research on Nigerians suggested that Nigerian migrant women may be at increased risk of domestic violence.

Amongst the participants there was large agreement that domestic abuse may be a consequence of multiple issues which impact Nigerians, including:

  • cultural expectations and adapting to new cultural norms
  • pressures around immigration status
  • reliance on spouse via system and the lack of extended family support
  • shame and stigma associated with male victims of domestic violence

Immunisations

During COVID-19 the risk of hospitalisation was increased amongst Black African populations, and data suggested that vaccine uptake was low amongst these communities.

Some of the common themes which emerged among the community included:

  • exposure to vaccine misinformation
  • religious and cultural beliefs
  • logistics, such as a lack of transport

One participant described how “people were not well informed enough to take the COVID vaccine. When I asked about it, I was [only] told: ‘it’s good for you’.”

Project recommendations

Some of the key recommendations highlighted in this project to continue supporting the health and wellbeing of our Nigerian population included:

  • more research specific to Nigerian health inequalities, rather than Black African, and specific to the Birmingham population
  • education and awareness of both health professionals on Nigerian culture and health needs, and of Nigerian migrants on the UK healthcare systems
  • improved access to health provisions; this project specifically highlighted access to GPs, more open/drop-in ante/post-natal clinics and more choice of appointment times
  • facilitated discussions on models of marriage and gender roles
  • provision of a Nigerian specific community centre in Birmingham

Engagement partner information

Organisation: Refugee and Migrant Centre

Key project representative: Dr Heather Thomas

Email: heather.thomas@rmcentre.org.uk

Page last updated: 5 April 2024

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