Promoting students from ethnic minorities as change agents through the development of a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) virtual wobble room

Abstract

COVID-19 has presented significant challenges for higher education. These challenges were compounded for those teaching or studying towards healthcare degrees, where students were still undertaking clinical placements and delivering care in clinical practice. As the number of deaths from COVID-19 continued to rise, health disparities amongst Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) populations became increasingly apparent. In April 2020, a weekly virtual wobble room was created to support student  wellbeing, alleviate distress and to strengthen student-staff partnerships in a large School of Health Sciences in the East Midlands . The BAME virtual wobble room provided a 1.5 hour weekly virtual drop-in session. Each wobble room was facilitated by four staff sponsors on a rotational basis and were attended by an average of 20 students each week, from undergraduate and postgraduate healthcare courses, including nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, and those studying for a PhD in health science. This paper reports on the approaches and outcomes of the wobble room, which continues to run, including lessons learnt through co-production methods between students and staff, in developing a safe space to address inequalities and structural disparities.