Improving pathways into mental health care for black and ethnic minority groups: a systematic review of the grey literature.
Black and ethnic minorities show different pathways to care services and different routes out of care. These often involve non-statutory sector services. In order to improve access to services, and to develop appropriate and effective interventions, many innovations are described but the knowledge about how to improve pathways to recovery has not been synthesized. Much of this work is not formally published. Hence, this paper addresses this oversight and undertakes a review of the grey literature. The key components of effective pathway interventions include specialist services for ethnic minority groups, collaboration between sectors, facilitating referral routes between services, outreach and facilitating access into care, and supporting access to rehabilitation and moving out of care. Services that support collaboration, referral between services, and improve access seem effective, but warrant further evaluation. Innovative services must ensure that their evaluation frameworks meet minimum quality standards if the knowledge gained from the service is to be generalized, and if it is to inform policy.
Moffat
Joanne
J
Centre for Health Improvement in Ethnic Services (CHIMES) at Centre for Psychiatry at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine Barts and The London School of Medicine & Dentistry Queen Mary University of London, UK.
Sass
Bernd
B
McKenzie
Kwame
K
Bhui
Kamaldeep
K
D044383:Black People; D019091:Critical Pathways / Q000592:standards*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D005006:Ethnicity; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D008913:Minority Groups; D054525:Minority Health / Q000208:ethnology*