Black African Caribbean Hertfordshire Community Experiences of IAPT
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Black African and Caribbean Hertfordshire Communities Experiences of Accessing and Engaging with NHS IAPT Primary Care Mental Health Services.
IRAS ID
296980
Contact name
Christopher Coffey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme is an National Health Service (NHS) initiative which began in 2008, transforming the treatment of adult depressive and anxiety conditions by allowing for quick and easy access to short-term talking therapy with a mental health professional (NHS England, ND).
Research indicates a range of structural and systemic barriers to Black and Minority Ethnic service users accessing mental health care, some of which includes stigma (Knifton et al, 2010), fear and mistrust (Keating et al, 2002), and lack of user representation in service development (Beck et al, 2019). To meet the baseline requirements to support minority ethnic groups, Beck and Naz (2019) emphasise a need to understand how minority populations use mental health services as well as how to involve these populations in service development. Within ethnic minority groups, the experiences of mental health services from Black and African Caribbean community has been poorly investigated (Keating et al., 2002), with most of the limited available research focused on secondary care or inpatient services (e.g. Hunter, Craig, & Shaw, 2019; Subramaniam et al., 2000).
Therefore, our novel research aims to identify and explore barriers and facilitators of accessing and engaging with cognitive behavioural therapy in primary care for Black African and Caribbean people living in Hertfordshire. The research will interview approximately 25 people from Black African and/or Caribbean backgrounds living in Hertfordshire, asking questions about their experiences of using IAPT services. The research will recruit participants from local community groups and advertise the study through posters displayed in local community spaces.
This study is funded internally by Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation Trust.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NW/0210
Date of REC Opinion
29 Dec 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion