Staff Awareness of Race-Related Trauma Experienced by Service Users v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring UK mental health practitioners’ awareness of race-related trauma, and their experiences of attending to this when working with service users from Black and Asian minority ethnic backgrounds.
IRAS ID
266617
Contact name
Sade King
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Essex
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 30 days
Research summary
Trauma is broadly defined as “actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violence”, with common symptoms including flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts (American Psychiatric Association, APA 2013). Race-related trauma generally refers to the experience of racism as psychologically traumatic and distressing (Carter, 2007). This can include both obvious acts of racism (such as racially motivated hate crimes), or subtler forms (such as colour blindness or exclusion).
Currently, there is little research which explores how the effects of racism are addressed in UK mental health services. This study aims to fill this gap by seeking to answering this question: How much awareness do UK mental health practitioners have about race-related trauma, and, what are their experiences of exploring this when working with service users from Black and Asian ethnic minoritiy backgrounds?
Fifteen NHS mental health staff members working in community mental health services will be interviewed about their experiences of working with Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) service users, focusing particularly on the impact of racism on the mental health of these service users. This will take place in Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) services and Community Recovery Teams (CRT) across North East London NHS Foundation Trust; in Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge and Waltham Forest. Interviews will last approximately 45-75 minutes. Data will be transcribed and analysed using Thematic Analysis, a method which involves identifying, analysing and reporting themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Results from the study will be shared with the NHS services involved to inform how they work with BAME service users.
This study is being conducted as a thesis, for the requirements of the Chief Investigator's Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. The full study will last until April 2021.
REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A