In the face of pandemics resulting from infectious disease, improving community resilience has become increasingly vital. China’s sudden exit from Zero-COVID policy in December 2022 triggered a surge in COVID-19 cases, compounded by medication shortages due to earlier restrictions, creating a public health crisis. This study assesses community resilience during the first post-Zero-COVID infection wave (8 December 2022 to 7 January 2023), focusing on adaptation mechanisms, resource mobilisation, protective behaviours and medicine access, using real-time social media data to capture these dynamics.

This cross-sectional study analysed all geotagged COVID-19-related posts on Sina Weibo—China’s largest public microblogging platform—collected from a megacity in eastern China with over 10 million residents, covering 8 December 2022 to 7 January 2023. Posts were obtained through a data purchase agreement with Sina Weibo and comprised publicly available content. Machine learning and natural language processing were applied to classify posts across four dimensions: content, responder, response type and time. Community resilience was assessed using the community-level response ratio, response speed and sentiment expressed in interactions related to medicine-seeking posts.

26 973 posts were analysed, of which 12 152 (45.05%) were help-seeking. Among these help-seeking posts, 11 236 (92.46%) specifically sought COVID-19 medicine, of which 8495 (75.61%) of these medicine-seeking posts received community support. Over 4 weeks, community responses comprised >70% of all replies (the rest were from market-based responders, government and NGOs). More than half of the community responses occurred within an hour, and the emotional state at the community level was the most stable and consistently positive, indicating a high level of prompt community engagement.

Communities in the sample area consistently exhibited prompt and proactive responses during the health crisis, with community responses accounting for the majority of interactions on medicine-seeking posts. The power of community mutual aid can significantly enhance responsiveness to public health emergencies. Such insights suggest that strengthening community resilience is crucial in designing more effective disaster response strategies.

Ethnic disparities in reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health (RMNCH) persist in Latin America, rooted in structural racism and colonial legacies. Evidence on the temporal evolution of these disparities and the impact of policies targeting Indigenous populations remains limited. Following the 2000 economic crisis, Ecuador showed the region’s largest ethnic gaps in intervention coverage and social determinants. Since 2008, inclusion policies have advanced. This study analysed trends in RMNCH coverage, social determinants and their potential association with policies and strategies over 14 years.

Using a mixed-methods design, we analysed three nationally representative surveys (2004, 2012 and 2018) to assess changes in social determinants and the coverage of six RMNCH services; defined as the proportion of women and children receiving essential health services across the continuum of care, including family planning, antenatal care, skilled birth attendance and child immunisation, stratified by ethnicity (Indigenous women and children, Afro-Ecuadorian populations and Mestizo and White populations). We estimated absolute inequality measures and adjusted coverage ratios using Poisson regression models. Through a literature review and temporal graphs, we analysed plans, policies and strategies in health, education and ethnic inclusion during the same period to estimate potential impact.

By 2018, Indigenous populations doubled their representation in the highest wealth quintiles (10% to 20%) and increased secondary education attainment (25% to 45%), with slower progress in rural areas. RMNCH coverage, including prenatal care, institutional deliveries and professional-assisted births, rose significantly (27% to 75%) among Indigenous populations. Afro-Ecuadorians also experienced improvements in RMNCH coverage and social determinants, though progress was less pronounced compared with Indigenous groups. Although ethnic gaps persisted, inequalities declined over the study period. These reductions coincided with increased social investment in rural health and education, constitutional recognition of plurinationality, and policies promoting intercultural health practices. However, gaps in monitoring and impact evaluation were evident.

Ecuador demonstrates that inclusive and integrated policies, leadership, social participation and sustained social investment can reduce ethnic inequalities, promote the integral development of society and strategies that should be maintained. Temporal studies based on routine surveys are crucial for monitoring the impact of such policies. These findings provide a pre-pandemic benchmark and serve as a reference for countries aiming to improve health outcomes among Indigenous and Afro-descendant populations and advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

Three-quarters of mental health problems start before the age of 25. However, young people are the least likely to receive mental healthcare. Some young people (such as those from ethnic minorities) are even less likely to receive mental healthcare than others. Long-term impacts of mental health problems include poorer physical health, relationships, education and employment. We aim to elicit the views, experiences and needs of diverse young people (aged 16–24 years), to better understand (1) their experiences of under-representation, mental health and coping, (2) mechanisms that shape mental health trajectories and (3) how online arts and culture might be made engaging and useful for young people’s mental health. We also aim to do this with autistic young people.

Narrative inquiry will be employed as a tool for gathering young people’s perspectives for an iterative analysis. The narrative method proposes that critical insights and knowledge are distributed across social systems and can be discovered in personal stories and that knowledge can be relayed, stored and retrieved through these stories. Data will be transcribed and explored using a combination of thematic and intersectional analysis. Young people will be core members of the research team, shape the research and be involved in the coding of data and interpretation of the findings.

This study (IRAS project ID 340259) has received ethical approval from the HRA and Health and Care Research Wales (REC reference 24/SC/0083). The outputs will identify touch points and refine the logic model of how online arts and culture might support the mental health of those from under-represented backgrounds. We will share knowledge with young people, policy makers, health professionals, carers, teachers, social workers and people who work in arts and culture. We will produce research papers, blogs, newsletters, webinars, videos and podcasts.