Engaging duo win top award
TWO healthcare workers have won an award for their engagement work with South Asian communities in Rochdale.
Mohammed Tariq, BAME staff network lead; and Dr Stuart Stewart, GP and research ambassador for Rochdale Care Organisation won a Greater Manchester Health and Care Research award for pioneering work with underserved communities.
They won the ‘Best Public Engagement’ award for their community engagement work.
In March, Tariq and Stuart teamed up with a group of Northern Care Alliance doctors and headed out to Madina Masjid Mosque in Newbold.
They provided important community education about how to fast safely during Ramadan, whilst bringing research opportunities directly into a community that could benefit the most.
They discussed a range of topics including renal disease, diabetes, and genomic medicine, and also used the opportunity to talk about how participation in research improves health, and how to get involved.
“It’s great to give something back to the community and explore ways we can work together to improve health for all,” said Tariq.
Stuart added: “I am so thrilled that we have received this award and recognition of our efforts to work closely with our communities.
“Whilst this engagement work was with South Asian communities, the learnings from this will be applicable to all of our future engagement work.
“We have a lot more we want to achieve. Watch this space.”
Since then, the pair have kept up the hard work through recruiting for the Genes and Health study on site in the hospital and promoting the study across social media.
The study could help improve cardiovascular health outcomes for South Asian people, and importantly increase opportunities for people to get involved in ‘on the spot’ research.
Peterloo Medical Centre in Middleton was also a winner in the ‘Primary Care or Community Research Contribution’ category for the amount and quality of research work it has carried out since November 2019.
In total the practice has been involved in 18 different research studies, including some very large recruitment studies, technology studies, and workforce/primary care studies.