Exploring perspectives on how to improve psychological treatment for women from minoritised ethnic communities: A qualitative study with service users.
Laura-Louise C ArundellRob SaundersPhoebe BarnettJudy LeibowitzJoshua Ej BuckmanStephen PillingPublished in: The International journal of social psychiatry (2024)
Findings showed that cultural sensitivity and awareness are important to minoritised ethnic women receiving therapy. Challenges included access difficulties and limitations of treatment options offered, alongside personal challenges of engaging in therapy. Facilitators of good treatment experiences and outcomes included flexibility on the part of the service, as well as therapist-related factors such as identity characteristics (age, gender and culture of therapist), a good therapeutic relationship and the therapist's ability to deliver person-centred care. Improvements included ensuring care is culturally sensitive, reducing waiting times or providing better support for people on waiting lists, providing a flexible service that takes individual needs into account, increasing workforce diversity and reaching out to underserved communities. Many of the suggested improvements are generalisable to underserved minoritised ethnic groups, regardless of gender and could be applied to other psychological therapies services other than NHSTTad.