Biography
Dr Brenda Hayanga is a Research Fellow who’s research interests lie in understanding how social, historical and structural processes intersect with individual-level factors to shape health outcomes of minoritised ethnic people. Methodologically, she has expertise in conducting systematic reviews and using quantitative, qualitative, and/or mixed methods informed by an intersectionality framework and life course theory. She has used these approaches to examine ethnic inequalities in health with a focus on multiple long-term conditions, ageing, social isolation and loneliness. She is currently the Principal Investigator of a study funded by the Wellcome Trust which aims to explore the lived experiences of minoritised ethnic people with multiple long-term conditions. In 2021 she was awarded the Campbell Collaboration Farah Jamal award in recognition of her innovative work on health inequalities.
Research
- Ethnic inequalities in health
- Ageing
- Social Isolation
- Loneliness
- Intersectionality
- Life course approach
Brenda’s thesis titled ‘The effectiveness and suitability of interventions for social isolation and loneliness for older people from minoritised ethnic groups living in the UK’ adopted a mixed methods approach. The study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and highlighted key principles of community-based group interventions for reducing social isolation and loneliness among older people from minoritised ethnic groups.
As a postdoctoral research fellow, Brenda worked on a Health Foundation funded project which sought to understand ethnic inequalities in health care among people with multiple health conditions. The project used primary care records and survey data to examine ethnic inequalities in the prevalence, impact, care quality and experience of primary care for people with multiple long term conditions.
Her current work is funded by the Wellcome Trust and focuses on understanding the lived experience and support needs of minoritised ethnic people with multiple long-term conditions. It seeks to advance understanding of multiple long-term conditions from a range of stakeholders and transform how healthcare providers construct, respond to, and support minoritised ethnic people with multiple long-term conditions across different contexts
Expertise and public engagement
Public Involvement and Engagement is central to the projects that Brenda has worked on and has embedded the voices and experiences of people with multiple conditions and those who work closely with them.