More innovative approaches need to be used to communicate the benefits of regular physical health checks for people with severe mental illness (SMI) from Black African and Caribbean communities, a report has suggested, yet at the same time ignoring the possible expertise that occupational health practitioners could bring to the table.
Annual health checks are a key resource, which should be offered by the NHS, to people who have schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or psychosis.
However, a report from the Race Equality Foundation has found poor communication, a lack of engagement from health professionals, and lack of funding often meant patients were either missed for follow-up or failed to engage with or take-up the offer of a physical health check (PHC).
Cultural barriers could also get in the way, with fears of being sectioned sometimes meaning people were apprehensive about using services, the report ‘Addressing health inequalities’ argued.
Failings within primary care were potentially another factor, the report highlighted. “From the initial analysis of the one-to-one consultations, it seemed primary care services were not using every opportunity to talk about PHCs. However, upon further investigation following the focus groups, discussions revealed this may be because there is a lack of regular engagement with African and Caribbean people with SMI living in the community,” it stated.
“A number of challenges were raised around accessing primary care services and the uptake of PHCs for these people; not least the GP booking system and substance use,” the report added.
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The report called for more proactive promotion of PHCs, particularly via visual methods such as flyers and social media. Better community engagement could also help, for example health professionals coming into the community to give talks.
Reminders, the offer of a ring-and-ride service and avoiding early morning appointments could all help support and boost attendance, the report recommended. Giving staff in voluntary organisations extra skills to carry out some elements of the checks in their organisations, people’s homes or places they knew to find people could also help.
“People said it is important for them to know exactly what to expect during the appointment to reduce anxiety, so detailed information about what the appointment will include is useful,” the report argued.
However, the report failed to consider whether these were potentially areas where occupational health practitioners could help, perhaps where people are being proactively supported to stay in work, even with their condition. This could especially be the case where OH teams have built up good levels of trust and collaborative engagement with Black African and Caribbean workers or employee groups.
Indeed, while it argued there was a “need to adopt innovative ways of working, which are co-produced with African and Caribbean people with SMI”, it then caveated this as being something solely needing to be “delivered in collaboration with voluntary organisations.”
It added: “For example, outreach funding could be used to commission African and Caribbean-led voluntary organisations to do work engaging their communities and train statutory services on how to better reach and engage with them.”
The report concluded: “These findings suggest that there are approaches which can be taken to increase awareness of PHCs among Black African and Caribbean people with SMI which we think are important to take forward.
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“With the right resourcing, Black, Asian and minority ethnic-led voluntary organisations supporting Black African and Caribbean people with SMI, who have expert knowledge and experience, are well placed to implement some of the above measures.”
The Race Equality Foundation created the report in partnership with Sandwell African Caribbean Mental Health Foundation in West Bromwich, African Caribbean Mental Health Services in Manchester, and Sheffield African Caribbean Mental Health Association in Sheffield.
