Identifying a path forward to measure racism as a determinant of health within BC population health and wellness reporting

Evidence from around the world tells us that experiencing racism is bad for your health. Reports from other areas show that COVID-19 and the pandemic response impacted some Indigenous and racialized peoples and communities differently than white people and predominantly white communities. We expect that the same is true in BC, but because we don't collect information about racism as part of our usual health monitoring, we don't know. Right now, BC public health leaders don't have the information they need to make evidence-informed decisions and policies to respond to the impacts of racism on health. It is critical to collect and use this information in a way that makes sense to Indigenous and racialized communities. Our project will begin by looking at what is working or not working in other places. Next, we will bring together leaders from racialized and Indigenous communities, leaders from public health, and university researchers to discuss the best way forward to start to measure racism as part of our province-wide health monitoring. By the end of the project, we want to have a clearer idea of how to move forward in a safe and meaningful way. Our team is well positioned to undertake this work - and put what we learn into action across BC. We are team of Indigenous, racialized, and white public health decision makers, thought leaders and scholars. We will connect with our networks of Indigenous rightsholders and BIPOC community leaders to inform every aspect of our work. Our team includes representatives from the Provincial Health Officer and other members of the Office of the Provincial Health Officer, the BC Centre for Disease Control, Fraser Health Authority, Vancouver Island Health Authority, Black Physicians of BC, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and University of Victoria.