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蜜桃直播淚 have a passion for mental health. It started from my first day as a student nurse,蜜桃直播� says Dr Ann Mitchell, chair of the newly established ethnic minority subgroup of the RCN蜜桃直播檚 Mental Health Forum. 

Dr Ann, who has been an RCN member since 1988, was born in Guyana and came to England in the 70s to pursue a nursing career. She has contributed extensively to mental health nursing as a practitioner, educationalist and in more recent years as a researcher, making her well placed to lead the subgroup.

In January 2021, Dr Ann joined the RCN Mental Health Forum Committee. She wanted 蜜桃直播渢o give something back to mental health蜜桃直播� and says she has 蜜桃直播渁 lot of knowledge and skills to help progress the aims of the forum蜜桃直播�.

Shaping the RCN蜜桃直播檚 response to the government蜜桃直播檚 consultation on Reforming the Mental Health Act (MHA) was one of the forum蜜桃直播檚 main projects in 2021, in part informed by the independent review of the MHA in 2018. The final report of that review highlighted how ethnic minority groups are at a greater risk of compulsory detention than white majority groups. Black people in particular are four times more likely to be detained under the MHA.

There needs to be a shift in addressing inequality and health outcomes

However, the government蜜桃直播檚 2021 follow-up consultation on reforming the MHA in England did not ask specific questions about the impact of the proposed changes on people from minority ethnic communities, Dr Ann explains.

蜜桃直播淚t was a huge report to look at, but one of the things that stood out to me that hadn蜜桃直播檛 been addressed was mentions of cultural diversity and the mental health issues facing ethnic minority groups,蜜桃直播� she says.

The RCN, in its consultation response, highlights the need to focus on racial inequalities in MHA reforms.

The ethnic minority subgroup was born out of multiple drivers, including the Mental Health Forum蜜桃直播檚 MHA reform consultation work. 蜜桃直播淭his played a core part in officially setting up the subgroup, as it showed the need for a shift in addressing inequality and health outcomes,蜜桃直播� she says.

Another driving force came from RCN members, who have raised their concerns around the equal opportunities for training and leadership skills for ethnic minority mental health nurses over the past few years. 

Launching the new subgroup

The subgroup has been in the making for many years behind the scenes, but came to fruition in October 2021 at an RCN event with actor David Harewood. He spoke about his experience in the mental health system and attendees also heard from black health care professionals about their experiences. There was also a discussion around what needs to be done to impact change in the system. 

This was the biggest RCN library event to date in terms of attendance, showing the appetite for the topic and issues raised.

Dr Ann describes hearing about Mr Harewood蜜桃直播檚 journey as 蜜桃直播渆arth shattering蜜桃直播� and says: 蜜桃直播淚 couldn蜜桃直播檛 believe what I was hearing, the lack of empathy and understanding he experienced was truly shocking.蜜桃直播�

She believes that the subgroup is a space for like-minded ethnic minority individuals to come together to force change. 蜜桃直播淲e needed a group to look specifically at the care and issues ethnic minority people face in mental health care,蜜桃直播� she says. 蜜桃直播淭he change isn蜜桃直播檛 going to happen overnight, though蜜桃直播�. 

Aims of the group

蜜桃直播淔irstly, we want to achieve membership in the group across the four countries of the UK. It蜜桃直播檚 got to be UK-wide and ethnically diverse,蜜桃直播� she says. 蜜桃直播淪econdly, the focus is on hosting biannual events to highlight mental health issues within the ethnic minority community.蜜桃直播�

The next event the subgroup is organising is a panel discussion on developing resilience and mental wellbeing among ethnic minority groups in preparation for later life. This is a collaboration with the Centre for Ageing and Biographical Studies, which is part of the Open University, and will take place on 14 March.  

蜜桃直播淭his group will also raise the profile of mental health nursing as a career and promote good mental health care in the nursing profession. That is so important. We need more mental health nurses,蜜桃直播� Ann says. 蜜桃直播淲e will also support the Mental Health Forum committee to develop, lead and disseminate related projects.蜜桃直播�

Bridging the gap

One project might be influencing the training given to nursing staff to help them bridge the gaps in mental health outcomes for people from ethnic minority backgrounds. 蜜桃直播淭raining must incorporate how to identify and tackle all forms of bias and the impact this has on service delivery,蜜桃直播� she says.

蜜桃直播淭raining should also develop cultural knowledge. The RCN has some wonderful resources and programmes on this already that should be referred to.蜜桃直播� For example, the RCN and the RCN Cultural Ambassador Programme. 

Culturally sensitive and tailored care is vital when treating people from diverse backgrounds, having a range of traditions, languages, faiths, and cultural norms around mental wellness and ill health that differ from the majority perception. 蜜桃直播淲e cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach to care,蜜桃直播� Ann says.

Nursing staff have great communication skills and this can help them find out more about the person they蜜桃直播檙e caring for

Dr Ann understands that this is not a quick win and that nursing staff can蜜桃直播檛 know everything about other cultures, but they should be making an effort to do so. 蜜桃直播淣ursing staff have great communication skills and this can help them find out more about the person they蜜桃直播檙e caring for.蜜桃直播�

She also believes that there should be a programme of study on caring for people from different cultures, starting in pre-registration nurse training.

蜜桃直播淭here should  be explicit reference to intersectionality in training,蜜桃直播� Ann explains. This is the view that an individual can face multiple causes of discrimination and disadvantage when their protected characteristics and other identities,  such as race, disability, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity, overlap.

蜜桃直播淭his is central to developing transcultural and culturally sensitive care. The MHA reform would be significantly strengthened too if the act was more explicit in how it intended to identify mechanisms to tackle this.蜜桃直播�