A RECENT study by Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) has revealed that members of black and minority ethnic (BME) groups are facing barriers to mental health services because of a communication breakdown between healthcare users and providers, along with cultural factors, such as an inability to accept mental health problems and stigma.
This study was led by Professor Anjum Memon, who said that mental health services are not meeting the needs of BME communities. "Our study has identified a number of barriers that these groups are facing – both from within their community and through the service provision process. Until barriers such as stigma, communications problems and discrimination are counteracted, BME communities will continue to miss out on mental health support.”
The qualitative study was conducted to determine perceived barriers to accessing mental health services among people from BME backgrounds to inform the development of effective and culturally acceptable services to improve equity in health care.
[For more of this story, written by Leah Sinclair, go to http://www.voice-online.co.uk/...ntal-health-services]
Comments (2)