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

8. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSThe overall pictureThe findings of the Minority Voices study paint a very mixed picture of progress in developingservices that are accessible and acceptable to young people from Black and minority ethnicgroups, and whilst clearly there are pockets of targeted, innovative practice, as evidenced bythe findings of the mapping, these are few and far between. Furthermore, developments inthis area appear to have been badly hampered by funding instability, competing agendas, thegeneral overload on many CAMHS (which is adversely impacting on inter-agency andpartnership working) and priorities for service development lying elsewhere.The areas of unmet need identified by both young people and staff, were wide-ranging but inparticular, as a starting point, highlight a need to more effectively disseminate informationabout what is meant by ‘mental health’ and what statutory mental health services do, sincewithout this information young people’s fears and limited awareness of the help that isavailable - and that of their parents - will persist. However, as the staff interviews revealed,this is by no means straightforward since many CAMHS and, increasingly it seems, somevoluntary sector projects, are not promoting or targeting their provision due to feeling that thisis inappropriate since they cannot accept self or new referrals.The barriers facing young peopleIn addition to the capacity issue just mentioned, which is encouraging ‘gate-keeping’ in CAMHSand other services struggling to meet demand, the findings from the mapping and the in-depthfieldwork data suggest that some of the key barriers facing young people from Black andminority ethnic groups are as follows:• The patchy geographic spread of services, meaning that in some parts of England andWales there is only limited local provision. The need to travel some distance may poseparticular problems for those unable to speak English, including young refugees andasylum seekers unfamiliar with the UK and the transport system.• The lack of staff from Black and minority ethnic groups - and the predominantly WhiteBritish staff groups - in many CAMHS, and the lack of staff able to speak differentlanguages and with awareness of different cultural and religious needs.• The lack of, or limited availability of, interpreter support.Other barriers, which have been widely recognised to apply to all young people, were alsonoted including long waiting times, a lack of staff continuity, a lack of age-appropriateresources (especially for the 16-18 age group) and services only being available at times thatwere difficult for them (for example, clashing with school or college times).The implications for ‘good practice’ in working with young peoplefrom Black and minority ethnic groupsThe data gathered reveal a complicated range of issues that need to be addressed if servicesfor the mental health of young people from Black and minority ethnic groups are to be bothaccessible and acceptable - two key dimensions identified in the analysis of good quality inservice provision, set out by Maxwell. 93Despite some important geographic variations, and some issues that are specific to youngrefugees and asylum seekers, a striking feature of the information gathered has been theconsistency between young people’s perspectives and those of staff in a number of key areas.These provide a good starting point for considering how practice might be developed andinclude:Minority Voices Research Report42