Ethnicity and Stroke

About our Black & Asian Stroke Survivors Project

In 2021, we launched our Black & Asian Stroke Survivors (BASS) Project after learning that…

Black and South Asian people are at greater risk of stroke²
Black people are twice as likely to have a stroke than white people³
Black and South Asian people have a stroke at a younger age²

Furthermore, while around 13% of the UK population is of Black or South Asian descent, in 2021, only around 4% of Different Strokes’ beneficiaries were from these communities.

Time for action

With such statistics, it was clear to us that the ethnic diversity of stroke survivors was not being well reflected in the community that we support.

We felt that it was no longer enough to simply state that our services were open and available to all, but we had to address this gap and take action to change this.

We therefore launched a national outreach program with 2 main aims:

To raise awareness of stroke risk amongst Black and Asian communities where stroke is more prevalent at a younger age.
To develop a longer-term plan, that aims to break down barriers preventing Black and Asian stroke survivors from accessing our support services.

Identifying the barriers

To begin with In 2021, we began a volunteer support group of Black and Asian stroke survivors and through that we identified four barriers survivors face in getting support…

We first saw that there was a Lack of awareness: of the risk of stroke at all ages, and in particular Black and Asian people not being aware of the increased risk of stroke they face.

We then realised that there was not enough information: for example, leaflets about stroke not containing specific information for people from Black or Asian communities, or not being accessible for people whose first language is not English.

We found that there was limited representation: and a lack of images of Black and Asian people who did not identify themselves with stroke risk. Meaning that when they were looking at NHS stroke campaigns or even our website, they would not have seen themselves in the images and the stories shared.

And finally, we heard of the cultural and social barriers: from the aftereffects of stroke and the (cultural) stigma associated with the physical & mental disabilities survivors are often diagnosed with.

Our BASS Engagement Strategy

Having identified these barriers, we concluded that we needed a paid staff member to specifically focus on this area, and in September 2022 we recruited our BASS project officer Rahael.

Of Asian descent, and having had a stroke aged 22, Rahael is uniquely placed to understand the challenges regarding stroke and ethnicity.

Rahael’s role includes:

Building contacts with community and religious organisations, and making visits to places of worship and other relevant venues, to talk about stroke and ethnicity
Building contacts with media organisations and speaking publicly about this issue
Collaborating with researchers and other organisations that have similar aims
Building up a network of volunteer BASS ambassadors, to further spread awareness

Want information in other languages?

We have recently been working closely with South Asian communities to produce information in other languages.

We hope to add more as the project progresses.

Want to get involved?

If you would like to get involved with this, if you are interested in collaborating, or if you have any thoughts or feedback on how to strengthen our work in this area we would love to hear from you! We would be especially interested to hear from Black or Asian stroke survivors who would be interested in becoming an ambassador for this work.

Please get in touch with us at info@differentstrokes.co.uk

Please note that our BASS volunteers are not available to assist third parties with research projects. If you are interested in sourcing stroke survivors for your work, please email us at info@differentstrokes.co.uk