Anyone can suffer from mental illness, but current mental health services may not be appropriate for the whole population. People from black and minority ethnic groups may have different requirements, and this guide aims to help commissioners reduce inequalities by procuring good health care for all. This guidance has been produced by the Joint Commissioning [read the full story…]
The impact of ethnicity on treatment and engagement with mental health services is well documented. John Baker’s recent Mental Elf post highlights the damning evidence behind murmurs of institutional racism within the NHS that just won’t go away: certain ethnic groups consistently experience lower quality care and poor outcomes across a wide range of health [read the full story…]
It is well documented that there are differences in how patients are treated, depending on their ethnicity. Previous inquiries in the UK have suggested that the NHS is institutionally racist (Blofeld et al, 2003). Some groups, for example those from African Caribbean or Aboriginal descent, experience more coercive care and poor outcomes, including higher doses of [read the full story…]
Historically, eating disorders have been discussed in a very black and white fashion; either you do or you don’t have one. Whilst this may be beneficial in terms of research and diagnosis, it isn’t particularly helpful for those that sit in the grey area between the two. People in this grey area are often referred [read the full story…]
Tobacco use is the single most important preventable cause of mortality and morbidity in developed countries. However, what is less widely appreciated is that as the overall prevalence of smoking has declined, tobacco use has become an increasingly important driver of health inequalities. For example, the prevalence of smoking in the United Kingdom has declined [read the full story…]
This paper reports the findings of a study exploring a new approach to treating the symptoms of depression in older African Americans. This a group of the population with very high levels of general health care needs – the result of a combination of factors including the USA’s political and social history but also modern [read the full story…]
Recent adult mental health policy initiatives, such as the Delivering Race Equality programme (PDF) show the increasing recognition of racial discrimination in NHS mental health services. In 2012 the NHS Confederation issued guidance on achieving race equality in mental health, which was summarised on the Mental Elf a while ago. These UK policy developments on [read the full story…]
Introduction This briefing has been prepared for clinical commissioners, commissioning managers, and everyone who works with multi-ethnic populations. It combines the findings from the Sheffield Hallam University project “Evidence and Ethnicity in Commissioning (EEiC) with other research, and practical experience. The aim of the Briefing is to demonstrate how health organisations can improve commissioning for [read the full story…]
When the ‘Valuing People’ white paper was published in 2001, there were a series of supporting papers that were published at the same time covering in more detail, issues that were pertinent to developing and delivering person centred services. One of these looked at ethnicity and people with learning disabilities. The issue was also clearly [read the full story…]
The notion of double discrimination, where ethnicity and disability can form a double barrier to those seeking support, has long been recognised. Indeed, there was a clear requirement in the Valuing People strategy to identify resources to address these issues through work streams in local partnership boards. A recent report by the Foundation for People [read the full story…]
