No / Black and minority ethnic (BME) communities continue to experience inequalities within the U.K. mental health system despite major government policy initiatives. The authors examined the literature for causal factors for continued mental health inequalities facing BME groups and potential solutions. The authors selected 53 articles from 1991 to 2012 based on inclusion criteria encompassing all major policy initiatives and relevant literature detailing explanations of mental health inequalities. Although ethnic inequalities in mental health have been of concern for decades in the United Kingdom, a still‐significant gap exists between policies and methods of implementation. In comparison to White people, more BME people are diagnosed with mental health issues every year. BME communities are also facing barriers in terms of accessing culturally appropriate services, including lack of cultural understanding, communication issues, and where and how to seek help. Service providers need to work closely with people from BME communities prior to service design and delivery. Information should be made available in appropriate languages to support understanding about their illnesses and how they can seek help. Frequent reviews may further help assess BME communities' needs and make required changes and implementations.

No / Palliative care for minority ethnic groups remains a poorly accessed and limited area in district nursing. This article outlines a hospice apprentice programme that aims to promote and expand the use of specialist palliative and end of life care services for a South Asian community through increasing access and referrals, improving services by making them more culturally appropriate for black and minority ethnic (BME) people, involving BME people in the delivery of services, and creating better relationships between BME communities and providers

Yes / In response to the need for improved access to dementia services for minority ethnic communities, the Alzheimer’s Society piloted, in 2014, the Information Programme for South Asian Families (IPSAF), an adapted version of its existing course for carers. It delivered this in partnership with local black and minority ethnic community and faith organisations, a new approach for the Alzheimer’s Society. In most cases, the partnerships formed were strong and effective, and have given rise to ongoing plans for joint working that bring benefits to both the local organisations and the Alzheimer’s Society. However, the current realities of UK voluntary and community sector dynamics raise questions of ownership and issues around how to establish genuine partnerships. In this article, we reflect on what the IPSAF experience indicates about the potential for equitable partnerships between small and large organisations, and draw out lessons for building effective, mutually beneficial relationships.

This thesis focused on the impact of racism and new managerialism on Black female academics in English post-1992 universities. The study explored the extent to which the changing environment of higher education institutions (HEIs) and the ethos and practice of new managerialism had affected the professional lives of Black academic females and how the consequences of new managerialism were being experienced in their daily academic lives. Semi-structured interviews were used to obtain qualitative data about the experiences of seventeen African and Caribbean participants in English post-1992 universities, mainly from business schools or health and social-sciences faculties. The critical race theory conceptual framework was used as an analytical and interpretive structure for understanding their experiences. The findings revealed that new managerialism changes contributed to increased levels of racism encountered by these Black female academics. Racism was endemic and embedded within their HEIs and demonstrated in overt and subtle ways, using micro-aggressions, micro-politics and varying agents, ensuring that racism remained rooted and positioned at different levels. Race was more prevalent in these women’s’ experiences than they had expected. The study discovered that these Black female academics perceived their progression and development as being negatively affected because of new managerialism practices and the inability of their respective HEIs to formulate and implement effective policies of equality and diversity. The HEIs’ neo-liberal policies of fairness, neutrality and meritocracy were experienced as rhetoric rather than practice and as not beneficial to those needing protection. The findings suggest that HEIs and human resource (HR) departments need more effective equality and diversity policies which incorporate a community diversity mind-set, influenced by the ethical codes of their professional HR body. There is also a need for HEI staff across all ethnic groups to be engaged in conversation, information-sharing and communication about racial issues so that Black female academic racialised work experiences can be improved.

No / The article shows that community initiatives take different forms and are the outcome of a broader interplay of factors between workers’ interests, representation, and the strategies of unions and broader coalitions that are mobilized in specific communities. Drawing from three case studies on black and minority ethnic (BME) workers and trade unions in the UK the article looks at how the rhetoric of community unionism has been adopted in an uneven manner by trade unions: the article suggests that: (a) community initiatives are variable, (b) they lack a structure and clear vision, (c) the question of BME engagement is rarely central in many projects, and (d) the ambivalent role of the state is a significant factor in many of these initiatives. This state role is downplayed in much of the literature, thus raising dilemmas in terms of community initiatives.

No / Interest in third sector organisations (TSOs) is growing as their role in addressing social regeneration, especially in urban environments, is regarded as crucial by governmental and supra-governmental organisations. The challenge is increased in multicultural environments, where those from ethnic minorities may struggle to participate in the mainstream economy and society more broadly. There is an assumption that TSOs make a positive contribution to the social good of the diverse communities and client groups that they serve. However, although there have been many studies of ethicality in commercial and public sector organisations, few focus on TSOs. Furthermore, black and minority ethnic (BME) TSOs, in particular face specific pressures, caught between the high expectations of their capacity to engage with diverse communities where the public sector has failed and, in common with all TSOs, the struggle to secure the resources necessary to manage their organisations and deliver front-line services. In this article, we investigate how implicitly ethicality is constructed in TSOs, including those with a primary mission to provide support for and services to BME communities. Building on information obtained for 305 TSOs in a post-industrial city we develop a structural equation model (SEM) in order to evaluate the relationships between elements that we argue comprise ethicality. We then assess the manner in which TSOs generally, and BME TSOs specifically, vary in the manner in which they communicate their ethical purpose and the outcomes of their actions.

Yes / In the past ten years or so there has been a growing concern that the treatment needs of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) sex offenders in prison are not being appropriately met. Underpinning this concern is the continued under representation of BME sex offenders on the Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP). Although some research has been undertaken into how BME prisoners experience the SOTP and in to its ostensible effectiveness with BME sex offenders, little is known about why the take-up of the SOTP is poor with this group. In this paper we first consider some specific demographic issues that need to be understood in order to reflect more widely on the BME sex offender in prison. We then summarise what is currently known about effective practice with this group, thereafter we consider, in turn, current provision for BME sex offenders in England and Wales and suggestions for developing practice with this group of men. However, before we turn to these issues, it is important to consider briefly issues of terminology. Terminologies in relation to ethnicities and race are fraught with conceptual difficulties. Aspinall has highlighted the limitations of `pan-ethnic¿ groups, such as `BME¿; such groupings are `statistical collectivities¿ and `the groups thus defined will be nothing more than meaningless statistical collectivities that do not represent any of the constituent groups within the term.¿ . However, at the outset of this paper we use the collective term BME - this term is currently used by a number of Government Departments in the UK, including the Prison Service. Later we suggest that a more sophisticated understanding of ethnic cultures may be necessary to develop practice with BME sex offenders.

No / The National Health Service (NHS) has historically undertaken initiatives to promote equality in employment as well programmes to develop and promote Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) staff. However, discrimination remains a feature of NHS employment practices and may help to explain the lack of BME staff at senior levels in the service. Despite having many initiatives BME staff are underrepresented in NHS senior management and at the top of each organisation, the management is almost always white. This paper will present findings from a case study on the experiences of corrective action by BME staff in senior/middle management positions. The paper will outline key messages and good practice to inform policy and practice.

Yes / Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities suffer from disproportionately poorer health than the general population. This issue has been recently exemplified by the large numbers of infection rates and deaths caused by covid-19 in BAME populations. Future research has the potential to improve health outcomes for these groups. High quality research priority setting is crucial to effectively consider the needs of the most vulnerable groups of the population. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify existing research priority studies conducted for BAME health and to determine the extent to which they followed good practice principles for research priority setting. Method: Included studies were identified by searching Medline, Cinnahl, PsychINFO, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, as well as searches in grey literature. Search terms included “research priority setting”, “research prioritisation”, “research agenda”, “Black and minority ethnic”, “ethnic group”. Studies were included if they identified or elicited research priorities for BAME health and if they outlined a process of conducting a research prioritisation exercise. A checklist of Nine Common Themes of Good Practice in research priority setting was used as a methodological framework to evaluate the research priority processes of each study. Results: Out of 1514 citations initially obtained, 17 studies were included in the final synthesis. Topic areas for their research prioritisation exercise included suicide prevention, knee surgery, mental health, preterm birth, and child obesity. Public and patient involvement was included in eleven studies. Methods of research prioritisation included workshops, Delphi techniques, surveys, focus groups and interviews. The quality of empirical evidence was diverse. None of the exercises followed all good practice principles as outlined in the checklist. Areas that were lacking in particular were: the lack of a comprehensive approach to guide the process; limited use of criteria to guide discussion around priorities; unequal or no representation from ethnic minorities, and poor evaluation of their own processes. Conclusions: Research priority setting practices were found to mostly not follow good practice guidelines which aim to ensure rigour in priority setting activities and support the inclusion of BAME communities in establishing the research agenda. Research is unlikely to deliver useful findings that can support relevant research and positive change for BAME communities unless they fulfil areas of good practice such as inclusivity of key stakeholders’ input, planning for implementation of identified priorities, criteria for deciding on priorities, and evaluation of their processes in research priority setting. / This work was supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Yorkshire and Humber in the form of Ph.D. funding to HI [NIHR200166], the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) in the form of funding to JW and RM [MR/S037527/1], the NIHR Clinical Research Network in the form of funding to JW, and the NIHR ARC Yorkshire and Humber in the form of funding to RM.

This mixed method study explored the perceptions of African Caribbeans towards choosing careers as counselling psychologists. 131 (N = 131) African Caribbeans aged 16-55 contributed to this study. Firstly, an online and paper survey questionnaire was designed and administered to (N =121) participants. This comprised of (N = 41) parents; (N = 41) undergraduate psychology students and (N = 39) 16-18 year olds. An ANOVA Test indicated a significant effect between participatory groups. Semi structured interviews were carried out to explore these identified differences. 4 parents; 4 16-18 year olds; and 2 undergraduate psychology students were interviewed. Qualitative data was analysed using Braun & Clarke (2006) thematic analysis. Themes identified as significant across all groups were centred around participants’ perception of psychology; interest or otherwise in studying psychology and choosing it as a career option; knowledge about counselling psychology and choosing it as a career; the participants’ experiences of school; the attraction of particular careers such as sports and music for 16-18 year olds when compared to counselling psychology; the importance of support; attitudes towards mental health and the importance of having role models from the community that are counselling psychologists. Recommendations for the Division of Counselling Psychology, BPS, training and future research are outlined.