The Board received a presentation from Shakila Ali (Women’s Inclusive Team); Safia Jama (Women’s Inclusive Team); Jamie Stafford (East London NHS Foundation Trust); and Phil Warburton (Rethink Mental Illness & Citizens UK) on the Adult Mental Strategy 2019-2024 that has identified three themes:

1. To raise awareness and understanding of the importance of mental health and wellbeing
2. To ensure early help is available particularly in times of crisis
3. To ensure the provision of high-quality mental health care and treatment

The main points of the discussions on this presentation may be summarised as follows:

The Board:

v  Noted that the pandemic has impacted adversely on levels of mental health issues in the Borough.

v  Noted details of the Community Connector programme commissioned by East London Foundation Trust from the Women’s Inclusive Team as an example of the strategy in action.

v  Noted that Community Connectors provide person-centred support, working alongside clinical and other statutory and voluntary sector services to support people in achieving better mental health and wellbeing.

v  Noted that the service cross cuts all three themes of the adult mental health strategy and is presented as a case study of an approach to addressing health inequalities through the engagement of local people to improve access to mental health services and achieve better outcomes.

v  Agreed that to refer to people from ethnic minorities as Black, Asian, or Minority Ethnic (BAME) does not fully do justice to the diverse range of cultural experiences like fear, stigma and lack of culturally sensitive treatment can function as barriers to accessing mental health care for people from BAME backgrounds (e.g., parents claiming that their children have been possessed as opposed to admitting that they have mental health issues)

v  Agreed that there is no 'one size fits all' when talking about race and identity as group labels bundle many identities and experiences together. This obscures the fact that people in these groups do not all have the same experience of race and they do not all face the same challenges.

v  Commented that (i) residents from a BAME background, may experience different rates of mental illness than the rest of the population; and (ii) mainstream mental health services are not equipped to fully understand the needs of BAME groups due to a lack of training and a lack of staff diversity.

v  Felt that there was a lack of lack of knowledge about different cultures that was thought to perpetuate stereotypes and reduce compassion and empathy. That can potentially marginalise people from mental health services (e.g., staff do not take the time to ask about people about their culture and traditions).

v  Agreed that whilst it is a very difficult thing to achieve it was important to move towards a culture of care where referrals to mental health services are an important part of the continuum of mental health services.

v  Agreed that when staff members are proactive about referral processes, it can lead to consistent access to and use of services that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3