Externally peer reviewed: Yes
Evidence type: Literature review
Subjects: People
UNDER STRICT EMBARGO
19:00 hours [UK GMT] / 14:00 hours [US ET] Tuesday 13 December 2022
[Animation of key findings available: see notes to editors]
The experiences of people from ethnic minority groups with NHS mental healthcare are being seriously undermined by failures to consider the everyday realities of people’s lives in services in the UK, reports a new study led by researchers at the University of Bristol and Keele University. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded study is published in PLOS Medicine today [13 December].
The research team carried out a comprehensive synthesis of existing evidence to explain the under-use of primary care mental health services by people in ethnic minority groups and their over-use of crisis care pathways and involuntary admissions to hospital.
The new work is ambitious as it sets out to explain why these inequalities continue to persist despite over five decades of established evidence and government initiatives in this area.
The findings show that prevailing biomedical models of healthcare which centralise a ‘European’ and ‘white’ experience, to the exclusion of alternative ideas of mental health and healthcare are major barriers to equitable care.
Participants in the studies included in the review report being reduced to ‘labels and symptoms’ in their interactions with health services, with little acknowledgement of social, racial, religious, and cultural aspects of illness and how these work together to produce particular experiences of illness or expectations for treatment.
A specific concern was a failure of services to recognise the influence of social factors, particularly racism, both as a cause of mental ill-health and as a driver of poor treatment within health services. This lack of meaningful engagement and a fear that they would experience racist, oppressive, and stigmatising treatment caused people to disengage from statutory health services.
A sense that the benefits of help-seeking did not outweigh these risks, meant services were only used as a last resort. Similarly, mental health professionals with ethnic minority backgrounds feel unable to challenge racist practice when it occurs or to introduce approaches to healthcare which would be more meaningful and appropriate to their diverse patient group.
Relatedly, the lack of progress in tackling ethnic inequalities in the UK is attributed to failure to ensure authentic community coproduction; and a reluctance to fully implement community recommendations within statutory services and address the dominance of ‘white’ middle class decision-makers and implementers who are perceived to have little understanding of the needs of people from ethnic minority groups.
Dr Narinder Bansal, the study’s lead author and Honorary Research Fellow at Bristol’s Centre for Academic Mental Health, said: “The delivery of safe and equitable person-centred care requires a model of mental healthcare that is better aligned with social and anti-racist models of care. Assessment and treatment should always consider the intersections between experiences of racism, migration, complex trauma, and religion.
“We found that addressing the overlapping experiences of oppression, such as those related to racism, migration, complex trauma, and English language literacy, is more relevant than approaches based on crude ethnic group classifications in understanding and reducing ethnic inequalities in access, experiences, and outcomes of mental healthcare.
“While epidemiological and other data has highlighted ethnic inequalities in mental healthcare in the UK over the past 50 years, the reasons behind these inequalities continue to be under dispute. We found that community voices are not listened to and community recommendations for reducing the adverse experiences are rarely implemented as they are seen as too radical for services. Although service providers recognise the importance of coproduction, we found that attempts at coproduction are experienced widely as superficial, tokenistic and the failure to implement it authentically creates more frustration and further disengagement.
“Our findings call for clear strategies and plans to address individual, systemic, and structural obstacles to authentic and meaningful coproduction and implementation of existing community recommendations in mental health services.”
This study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) programme [NIHR201058]. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Paper
‘Understanding ethnic inequalities in mental healthcare in the UK: A meta-ethnography’ by Narinder Bansal et al. in PLOS Medicine
. . . ENDS
Notes to editors:
A copy of the paper is available on request.
Once the embargo lifts, the paper will be available at: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004139
An animation summarising key findings is available to download from: https://vimeo.com/776884875
Advice and support for people with mental health concerns
- NHS mental health information and support, see: www.nhs.uk/mental-health/
- MIND: Infoline 0300-123-3393, provides an information and signposting service, open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (except for bank holidays)
- The Samaritans: freephone number 116123 available for anyone in distress
- Shout: Text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258, a 24/7 text messaging support service
- The Black, African and Asian Therapy Network, see www.baatn.org.uk/
For further information or to arrange an interview with the researchers please contact Joanne Fryer [Mon to Wed], email joanne.fryer@bristol.ac.uk, mobile: +44 (0)7747 768805 or email press-office@bristol.ac.uk, University of Bristol Media & PR Team
and
Keele University Press Office, email news@keele.ac.uk.
About the National Institute for Health and Care Research
The mission of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research.
We do this by:
- Funding high quality, timely research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care;
- Investing in world-class expertise, facilities and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services;
- Partnering with patients, service users, carers and communities, improving the relevance, quality and impact of our research;
- Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges;
- Collaborating with other public funders, charities and industry to help shape a cohesive and globally competitive research system;
- Funding applied global health research and training to meet the needs of the poorest people in low and middle income countries.
NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. Its work in low and middle income countries is principally funded through UK Aid from the UK government.
Issued by the University of Bristol Media Team
