Guidance for commissioners of mental health services for people from black and minority ethnic communities

Author(s)

JOINT COMMISSIONING PANEL FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Publisher(s):

Joint Commissioning Panel for Mental Health

Publication year:

2014

This guide describes what ‘good’ mental health services for people from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities look like. While all of the Joint Commissioning Panel for Mental Health commissioning guides apply to all communities, there are good reasons why additional guidance is required on commissioning mental health services for people from BME communities. The document sets out the key priorities that should guide the commissioning of mental health services for BME groups. These include: supporting equitable access to effective interventions, and equitable experiences and outcomes; identifying and implementing specific measures to reduce ethnic inequalities in mental health; developing local strategies and plans for improving mental health and wellbeing amongst BME communities; making targeted investments in public mental health interventions for BME communities; involving service users, carers as well as members of local BME communities in the commissioning process; collecting, analysing, reporting, and acting upon data about ethnicity, service use, and outcomes; creating more accessible, broader, and flexible care pathways, and integrating services across the voluntary, community, social care and health sectors; ensuring every mental health service are culturally capable and able to address the diverse needs of a multi-cultural population through effective and appropriate forms of assessment and interventions; developing a number of strategies to reduce coercive care, which is experienced disproportionately by some BME groups. This guide focuses on services for working age adults. However, it could also be interpreted for commissioning specialist mental health services, such as CAMHS, secure psychiatric care, and services for older adults. It includes case-examples derived from an online survey of various BME stakeholder groups on the issue of quality in BME service provision (Edited publisher abstract)