Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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The dilemma of intervention
- Author:
- JERVIS Margaret
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work Today, 7.12.89, 1989, p.22.
- Publisher:
- British Association of Social Workers
The disturbing circumstances in which Beverley Lewis died might not have been allowed to continue for so long had her mother been white - the mental health system is continuing to discriminate against black people.
Reframing the links: Black and minoritised women, domestic violence and abuse, and mental health – a review of the literature
- Author:
- WOMEN'S AID
- Publisher:
- Women's Aid
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Pagination:
- 64
- Place of publication:
- Bristol
This literature review is focused on three significant areas: evidence of the linkage between domestic violence and abuse (DVA) and mental health/wellbeing for Black and minoritised women; barriers facing Black and minoritised survivors attempting to access support for mental health/wellbeing in the context of DVA; support valued by survivors in the recovery of their mental wellbeing from ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised organisations and specialist women’s services. The review found that living in a racist society and experiencing racism is indivisible from understanding the impact of DVA on Black and minoritised women; the intersection of specific abuse contexts with structural inequality intensify and further nuance the experiences of mental health/wellbeing for Black and minoritised survivors; considerable tension is created by the contrast in Black and minoritised survivors’ perceptions about the causation of their mental ill-health, and the role of structural factors in compounding this; women’s recognition of their families’ and communities’ views about the stigma and shame of mental ill-health reinforces their silence; acknowledging the presence of shame within all communities (as culturally mediated) helps dismantle the influence of stereotypes; literature emphasises the implications of social and community isolation and the lack of support networks for Black and minoritised women experiencing DVA and other forms of abuse; Black and minoritised women are not served well by mainstream primary health care and mental health services; issues of mental health and wellbeing are produced, harnessed and deployed within strategies of abuse by perpetrators, including in post-separation violence; dedicated ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised VAWG services, where they exist, are highly valued and positively evaluated for understanding their abuse and intersectional contexts by Black and minoritised survivors. (Edited publisher abstract)
The impact of racism on mental health: briefing paper
- Author:
- SYNERGI COLLABORATIVE CENTRE
- Publisher:
- Synergi Collaborative Centre
- Publication year:
- 2018
- Pagination:
- 14
Summarises evidence on the impact of racism on mental health, mental illness and its relevance to ethnic inequalities in the experiences and outcomes of mental health services. It sets out evidence and explains some of the nuanced and subtle forms that racism can take, and how it affects health. The briefing discusses how both interpersonal racism and structural racism and disadvantage - such as poverty, unemployment, housing, poor neighbourhoods and schooling opportunities - can have a negative impact on mental health. It also identifies how a lack of recognition and awareness of the role of racism in mental health care can result in services being seen as unwelcoming or stigmatising and can result in people from ethnic minority groups experiencing poorer care, more coercive care, or no care. The briefing will be useful for public, patients, health staff, commissioners and policymakers. (Edited publisher abstract)
Mental illness discrimination in mental health treatment programs: intersections of race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation
- Authors:
- HOLLEY Lynn C., TAVASSOLI Kyoko Y., STROMWALL Layne K.
- Journal article citation:
- Community Mental Health Journal, 52(3), 2016, pp.311-322.
- Publisher:
- Springer
People with mental illnesses (PWMI) who are of colour and/or lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) experience mental health disparities, including within mental health treatment programs (MHTPs). Informed by a critical framework with attention to intersectionality and microaggressions, this qualitative study asked 20 PWMI and family members who also are of colour and/or LGB whether they had experienced mental illness discrimination in MHTPs, a possible factor in disparities. Participants were also asked about aspects of MHTPs that supported recovery. Participants reported that they were ignored/not listened to, not viewed as complex individuals, experienced condescension/lack of respect and violations of privacy or other rights, and were presumed to lack intelligence. In addition, identifying mental illness discrimination was complex due to intersections of identities. Despite these perceptions of discrimination, participants described supportive aspects of MHTPs. Implications for practice and research are offered. (Edited publisher abstract)
Responding to ethnic diversity: black service users' views of mental health services in the UK
- Author:
- BOWL Ric
- Journal article citation:
- Diversity in Health and Social Care, 4(3), 2007, pp.201-210.
- Publisher:
- Radcliffe Publishing
UK literature on mental health services for black service users relies heavily on perceptions of professionals, carers and community representatives. This paper focuses solely on the views of service users on existing services and how they might be improved. It is based on thematic analysis of material derived from focus groups and individual interviews conducted with South Asian and African-Caribbean mental health service users within one local area. It considers the implications for the likelihood of the current UK government's initiative Delivering Race Equality achieving significant improvement in services for black service users. The analysis highlights the role of socio-economic exclusion in shaping black service users' experiences of mental health problems and that this is a barrier to achieving a reduction in black and ethnic minority hospital admissions. Cultural and institutional exclusion compound this, leading to continuing insensitivity towards the needs of black service users within both hospital and community based services. The participants supported many of the initiatives outlined in Delivering Race Equality and wanted to see more culturally appropriate services for recovery; further development of the cultural competence of staff within mainstream services; and educational programmes about mental health directed at minority communities. It was a source of particular disquiet to participants that they perceived so little response by mental health services to their consistently expressed views about what was needed. The paper concludes that more systematic consultation with black service users and a commitment to change within mainstream services is essential, or insensitivity to ethnic diversity will remain a defining characteristic of UK mental health services.
Counting heads
- Author:
- JACKSON Catherine
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Today, February 2006, pp.8-9.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
The national census of psychiatric inpatients carried out on 31 March was published in December 2005. The author looks at some of the findings and discusses what they show about race equality.
Removing the straight jacket of racism
- Author:
- FERNS Peter
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 28.1.99, 1999, pp.6-7.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
Not only are black people over-represented in the mental health system but they have more chance of being subjected to control and incarceration than white people. Puts the case for an approach to black people's mental health that aims to overcome this discrimination.
Racial disparities in mental health: literature and evidence review
- Authors:
- BIGNALL Tracey, et al
- Publisher:
- Race Equality Foundation
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Pagination:
- 60
- Place of publication:
- London
A literature and evidence review drawing on research from the last five years together with insights from two events and conversations across the sector. The review identifies persistent racial disparities in mental health, covering the areas of: prevalence, access, assessment, treatment, and recovery. These include overrepresentation in detained settings, experiences of psychosis in African Caribbean men, and the poor experiences of care across black and minority ethnic communities. The review also found underrepresentation in OCD services, poorer rates of long-term recovery, the importance of faith and a more intersectional approach. It includes examples of practice that could help to address racial disparities and improve outcomes for black and minority ethnic people. (Edited publisher abstract)
Race, mental health and criminal justice: moving forward
- Authors:
- NACRO, CLINKS, ASSOCIATION FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS, RACE EQUALITY UNIT
- Publisher:
- Clinks
- Publication year:
- 2017
- Pagination:
- 9
- Place of publication:
- London
This joint briefing from Nacro, Clinks, Association for Mental Health Providers, and the Race Equality Foundation explores the challenges in providing effective mental health support for people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities that have contact with the criminal justice system. It looks at how services can be more effectively integrated to provide appropriate support and how to address disproportional access to mental health services and how to ensure that mental needs of BAME people are effectively met. The briefing and its recommendations are based on analysis of existing research, and workshops with people with lived experience from BAME communities and voluntary sector practitioners. The recommendations focus on addressing disproportionate access to health services in the justice system in the areas of: providing appropriate services; using data; involving people with lived experience; workforce and training; and integrated working. (Edited publisher abstract)
Lessons from the Mental Health Act Commission for England and Wales: the limitations of legalism-plus-safeguards
- Author:
- PILGRIM David
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Policy, 41(1), January 2012, pp.61-81.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Place of publication:
- Cambridge
The Mental Health Act Commission for England and Wales was closed down in 2009. This article uses data from its final report to provide a snapshot between social group membership and mental health status in modern society. The focus of the report was on race, gender and age in settings that have become more coercive and less therapeutic over time. This article uses some aspects of the report to discuss the implications of lawful psychiatric coercion being predicted by social group membership. The work of the Commission furnished useful information in this regard, but its framework for data collection could not illuminate a more established picture of the class gradient in mental health problems. This article considers how material adversity may explain the racial patterning of coercively detained psychiatric populations, and how normative aspects of risk-taking in the community and in hospital may explain the findings on age and gender. The article concludes by querying the ameliorative impact of government appointed ‘visitorial’ bodies. It argues that legalism-plus-safeguards is a questionable basis for meaningfully bringing discriminatory powers to book, or for reversing the differential impact of pathogenic social forces.