Tackling race inequalities: community development, mental health and diversity
| Date | 01 June 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17465729200600014 |
| Published date | 01 June 2006 |
| Pages | 13-19 |
| Author | Philip Thomas,Patience Seebohm,Paul Henderson,Carol Munn‐Giddings,Salma Yasmeen |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
This paper describes some findings from an evaluation of the effectiveness of a community
development project that aimed to overcome inequalities in mental health care experienced by
members of the local black and minority ethnic (BME) communities. A participatory action research
design was used, involving people from BME communities who had experienced mental health
problems and external stakeholders.The study relied largely on qualitative methodology. Findings
reported here indicate that par ticipants in the project valued the culturally and spiritually relevant
support they received, but felt that more opportunities were needed for training and employment,
greater representation on the project’s management committee, and greater awareness of the project
in the community.External stakeholders felt that the project gained credibility from its community
base and valued its ability to work across faith traditions and cultures. It was also seen as successful
in acting as a bridge between the communities and statutory ser vices,although there were concerns
about the project’s relationship with frontline services.The paper proposes two models of community
development that primary care tr usts may wish to adopt – radical or consensus, or a mixture of both
–in order to address inequalities in mental health service provision.
Tackling race inequalities:
community development,
mental health and diversity
Philip Thomas
Senior lecturer
Centre for Citizenship
and Community Mental
Health
Patience Seebohm
Independent researcher
Paul Henderson
Visiting professor
de Montfort University,
and community
development consultant
Carol Munn-Giddings
Reader in participative
inquiry
Institute of Health &
Social Care
Anglia Ruskin University
Salma Yasmeen
Focused
implementation site
project manager
Bradford Teaching
Primary Care Trust
Key words
mental health
services
black and minority
ethnic communities
health inequalities
community
development
participatory action
research
RESEARCH
13
It is widely accepted that people from black
and minority ethnic (BME) communities are
more likely than their white counterparts to
have negative experiences when using mental
health services (Walls & Sashidharan, 2003;
Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, 2002). The
Department of Health (DH) is committed to
rectifying this situation, and has published an action
plan (DH, 2005) to appoint over 500 community
development workers. This raises many questions.
Can people from BME communities have a say in
the sort of help they feel they need? Do they need
help currently unavailable within mainstream
provision? If so, can community development help
commissioners understand and respond to these
views? These questions are important, given that
many commissioners have little experience of
community development (CD). If DH policy is to be
effective, then stakeholders must be clear about the
role of CD in improving the mental health of people
from BME communities.
Although relatively little is known about the use
of CD in mental health, some of its key features
suggest it has the potential to be a useful tool in
health and social services (Armstrong &
Henderson, 1992; see table 1). It has been used to
promote community participation in community
care (Barr et al,2001) and to develop the capacity of
local communities to respond to their own support
needs (Quilgars, 2002). This paper describes a
participatory action research (PAR) study within a
CD project working with Bradford’s BME
communities. Sharing Voices Bradford (SVB) was
set up in 2002, funded by Bradford City teaching
Primary Care Trust. Established on the principles of
CD and a critical perspective on mental health
theory (Bracken & Thomas, 2005), it works with
statutory,voluntary and community sectors to tackle
inequalities in mental health services for people
from BME communities. People who have
experienced mental health problems play a key role
in its activities, including peer support, public
journal of public mental health
vol 5 • issue 2
©Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) Ltd
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