Think Ahead student on meeting the religious and cultural needs of BAME mental health inpatients

Posted on 16 July 2020

A research paper on ‘Experiences of inpatient staff meeting the religious and cultural needs of BAME patients detained under the Mental Health Act’ has been published by a recent SPSW student and her supervisor.

One of our Think Ahead participants who graduated with an MA in Social Work Practice in 2019 has published a paper in the Mental Health Review Journal.

Kuldip Kaur Kang undertook the research during the second year of her MA after qualifying as a social worker specialising in mental health. Under the supervision of Dr Nicola Moran, Lecturer in SPSW, Kuldip completed nine interviews with inpatient staff in psychiatric wards in one NHS Trust in England.

The study identified that inpatient staff lacked the knowledge and confidence to identify and meet the religious and cultural needs of BAME inpatients, in particular those from smaller ethnic groups and newly emerging communities. Concerns were raised about the lack of training and no specific assessment tool to identify and record religious and cultural needs. Further, staff struggled to identify whether presentations of unusual beliefs or practices represented religiosity or delusions. Staff noted that family members often had a role in assisting staff to identify and understand religious and cultural needs, explain religious and cultural beliefs and practices, and that psychoeducation for families could be helpful in encouraging patients to adhere to treatment. The paper also set out implications for practice. For further information please contact kkkang@hotmail.co.uk or nicola.moran@york.ac.uk.

Full reference

Kang, K.K. and Moran, N. (2020) Experiences of inpatient staff meeting the religious and cultural needs of BAME informal patients and patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, Mental Health Review Journal, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print: https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-11-2019-0041.