- Conference
- 2024 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 12 September 2023
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference notes barriers faced by Black people when accessing information and treatment for mental health care. Black communities are more likely to experience stigma and shame due to negative stereotyping and attitudes of rejection around mental health awareness.
In our region, Black individuals are significantly affected due to racism, discrimination and cultural insensitivity. Work-related stress may increase a person’s risk of mental health illness. Recent research has uncovered that there is institutional racism in the treatment of ethnically diverse individuals experiencing a mental health illness1.
Black minorities have the same right to access mental health services and treatment, yet research shows failure to recognise they have a mental illness is mainly due to stigma and never being able to talk about it. Mental health illness is often misunderstood and mislabelled as being aggressive in minorities. Black people are 4 times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act2. Black men are more likely to experience psychosis3. Older South Asian women are part of an at-risk group for suicide4.
Mental health issues also impact people differently based on gender and even place of residence. 1 in 5 women report experiencing symptoms for mental health problems compared to 1 in 8 men5. 35.2% men and 51.2% women think they had a diagnosable mental health condition at some point in their life6.
Considering the lack of ethnic monitoring in Northern Ireland, health services cannot adequately monitor communities at risk. Northern Ireland has the highest prevalence of mental illness in the UK, with psychiatric morbidity 25% than in the rest of the UK7.
1 Race Equality Matters (2023) Mental Health Awareness Week, Race and Inequalities: Is Mental Health In The Workplace A Race Issue Too? 2 NHS Digital (2021) Mental Health Act Statistics, Annual Figures 2020-21 3 NHS Digital (2016) Mental Health and Wellbeing in England, Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014 England 4 Mental Health Foundation (2021) Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities 5 NHS Digital (2014) Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey: Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, England, 2014 6 Ibid. 7 O’Neill, S. and Rooney, N. (2018) Mental health in Northern Ireland: an urgent situation The Lancet Psychiatry 5(12), p. 965-66
Conference calls on the NBMC to work with relevant UNISON structures to:
· Run media and social media campaign flagging the issues our members are facing at work and campaign for change.
· Develop a toolkit for activists and members to equip them with the knowledge and understanding of cultural barriers that face Black workers.
· Work with Learning and Organising Services to develop support packages to support the mental health and wellbeing of activists, training on how to deal with sensitive matters and how to refer for additional support.
· Campaign for clear guidelines and evidence-based, culturally sensitive care, including cultural competency training.