Minority voices: Research into the access and acceptability of ... - MMC

Staff: The interview schedules for staff covered many of the above areas. In addition, theysought information on:• The range of services provided by the organisation; how the service was targeted orpromoted to young people from Black and minority ethnic groups; how staff thoughtservices could be promoted more effectively.• Staff knowledge and skills to address the mental health needs of young people fromBlack and minority ethnic groups, including their views about available trainingopportunities, their suggestions for improving training and whether they felt sufficientlysupported in their work.• Whether and how staff thought the physical space of their service reflected a multiethniccontext.• The systems in place to enable effective communication with young people and theirfamilies/carers (including access to interpreters and translated materials).• Whether and how young people and other members of local Black and minority ethniccommunities were involved in the planning of services.Data collectedIn mapping services working with young people from Black and minority ethnic groups,information was received about nearly 300 services. On checking it was often found that theservices were for adults or were not particularly focused on minority ethnic groups. Worryingly,a number of services were also found to have recently closed due to funding difficulties.Questionnaires were returned from 22 PCTs, 32 from LAC teams, 21 questionnaires fromConnexions services, and 37 from the YOTs. Overall, the information gathered revealed a verymixed picture of activity, with an impression of clusters of services in some parts of thecountry, whereas other areas had little or no specific provision.In the in-depth part of the study 76 young people were interviewed or took part in a focusgroup discussion. They were drawn from a range of ethnic and religious backgrounds, with anumber of young people specifying that they had no religion; 24 were refugees. Most were inthe age range 16-18 and some were looked after by social services. Forty-four staff, from arange of professional backgrounds, were interviewed.Data analysisInformation gathered from the interviews and focus groups was analysed using thematicanalysis. The prominent themes emerging from the data were considered by the four membersof the research team independently, with the team then agreeing the key findings and theissues to be presented in the research report.Consideration of the views and experiences of both young people and staff with regard toareas of unmet need, service barriers and the factors that promote service acceptability andaccessibility, together with the background literature, formed the basis for the discussion andexamples of ‘good practice’ in this field of mental health service provision.Data limitationsThe response rate to the postal questionnaires sent to Connexions teams, Looked AfterChildren teams, Youth Offending teams and Primary Care Trusts was quite low and only limitedconclusions can be drawn from the data collected.Considerable problems were encountered during the study in making contact with youngpeople from Black and minority ethnic groups. This was particularly true for those withexperience of actually using statutory mental health services. As such, whilst the study didMinority Voices Research Report18