How can mental healthcare services meet the needs of people from ethnically diverse groups? – Alert by the NIHR

This new alert from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) summarises recent research where evidence was explored about how ethnic inequalities are created and sustained in mental healthcare. The review is based on 66 studies on ethnic minority groups’ and mental health professionals’ perceptions and experiences of mental health services.

Key findings include that people from ethnic minority groups experienced services as predominantly white and structurally racist (for example, in terms of leadership and knowledge systems) and wanted a ‘whole person’ approach to assessment and treatment that takes into account relevant social, psychological, spiritual, and economic factors.

Recommendations made include that mental health services should overcome practical barriers to access by creating non-stigmatising wellbeing centres, staffed by local people and that they should train clinicians and trainees on providing person-centred care for people from diverse ethnic groups.

It is important to note that more than half of the studies analysed in this research were published before 2013. So it may be that there has been improvement since then, however the alert also states that existing research indicates that there has been little progress in tackling ethnic inequalities over the past 50 years.

Read the alert on the NIHR website.