Ethnic mental health inequalities and mental health policies in England 1999-2020

Hussain, Basharat; Hui, Ada; Timmons, Stephen; Nkhoma, Kennedy

Abstract

Background: Despite many policy initiatives in the last two decades, ethnic mental health inequalities have persisted in England.

Aim & method: This paper presents a thematic synthesis of mental health policies published in England from 1999 to 2020. We specifically focus on ethnicity-related mental health issues highlighted in policies, policy recommendations and performance measurements of policy implementation.

Findings: Findings from this synthesis demonstrate that ethnic mental health inequalities remain comparable over the last two decades. Ongoing issues include a lack of data on the ethnicity of mental health services users. Where data is available, these highlight ethnic inequalities in access to, experiences of, and outcomes of mental health services, as well as a lack of cultural capability in healthcare professionals. Policy recommendations have also remained the same during this time, and include: collecting data on the ethnicity of service users, raising awareness of the cultural needs of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) populations amongst healthcare professionals, recruiting BME staff into mental healthcare services and improving community engagement. The synthesis identified poor indicators of performance measurement on policy implementation and weak monitoring regimes.

Policy/practice implications: The synthesis discusses the challenges of policy implementation using literature from the field of organizational behaviour.

Citation

Hussain, B., Hui, A., Timmons, S., & Nkhoma, K. (2022). Ethnic mental health inequalities and mental health policies in England 1999-2020. Journal of Public Mental Health, 21(2), 162-173. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-06-2021-0080

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 20, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Mar 24, 2022
• Publication Date: Mar 24, 2022
• Deposit Date: Feb 21, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 25, 2022
• Journal: Journal of Public Mental Health
• Print ISSN: 1746-5729
• Electronic ISSN: 2042-8731
• Publisher: Emerald
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 162-173
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-06-2021-0080
• Keywords: Mental health policy, Mental health inequalities, minority ethnicity, National Health Service (NHS), Policy implementation, Organizational behaviour.
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7501059
• Publisher URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JPMH-06-2021-0080/full/html