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

The way that some voluntary sector projects ‘networked’ at the community level, sharinginformation about what they offered through avenues used by young people such as localclubs, was also thought to be important in giving young people the confidence to use them.! Staff skills, training and confidence to deliver services to young peoplefrom Black and minority ethnic groupsThere were mixed views with regard to whether staff had sufficient knowledge and skills toaddress the mental health needs of young people from Black and minority ethnic groups.Some services, where they had managed to attract staff from different ethnic backgrounds andwhere they were able to offer support in a range of different languages, felt reasonablyconfident but highlighted that:“Individual teams are at different stages in their capacity to meet the needs of minority ethnicgroups.” (CAMHS respondent)This imbalance could make referring young people on to other services or teams problematic.Where staff did not feel that they had adequate skills, limitations in existing training werenoted, in particular that professional mental health training remains very Eurocentric and doesnot sufficiently address cross-cultural contexts. What little that is offered was described as‘very basic’ and was not offered on a regular basis. Other staff said they had received notraining specific to the needs of Black and minority ethnic groups and one reason for this was alack of relevant organisations with the appropriate knowledge that could provide training. Itwas also pointed out that attending conferences and workshops is:“not the same as being immersed in a culture. The more distant the client’s culture from theclinician’s the more difficult it becomes to understand the client’s needs and provide effectiveinterventions. This is why it is so important to have minority ethnic group staff…” (CAMHSrespondent)A common theme in the responses to questions exploring what training staff had received wasthat they had learnt ‘on the job’ or were ‘doing their best’ in an area that is not given priorityor sufficient time. A number described acquiring their knowledge through their own initiative,by talking to colleagues or staff in other services:“Most learning comes from this informal route, by discussing with other colleagues in the samesituation and sharing ideas and concerns…” (CAMHS respondent)Another important point raised by a number of respondents was that it is difficult tobenchmark what is ‘sufficient’ in terms of skills and training. There is also a danger in staffassuming they have become ‘experts’ in an area where there needs to be ongoing learning indeveloping relevant knowledge and skills, including in understanding the subtleties of crossculturalcommunication and inter-generational variations in views towards mental health. Itwas also emphasised that staff attitudes and approach to working with young people fromBlack and minority ethnic groups are at least as important as acquiring relevant knowledgeand skills and that there is a difficult balance between acquiring the latter while refraining fromcreating or applying stereotypes.Training needs of staff in voluntary sector projectsAlongside the many comments about deficits in CAMH staff skills and training in understandingcultural and religious diversity, another important area of concern emerged in the datagathered. This related to the knowledge and understanding of mental health amongst staffworking in voluntary sector projects with young people. A number of respondents from thissector highlighted that they needed more training so that they would be able to identify mentalhealth difficulties in the young people they were working with, and thus would be able tosupport them appropriately, including where necessary, referring them on to specialist CAMHS.Staff support in working with young people from Black and minority ethnic groupsAgain, there were mixed views about this issue that highlighted the different levels of capacityfor working with this client group amongst CAMHS across the country. Some staff stated thatMinority Voices Research Report35