scholarly journals Ethnic Minority Groups’ Experiences of Suicide Bereavement: A Qualitative Exploratory Study

Author(s):  
Pauline Rivart ◽  
Verity Wainwright ◽  
Sandra Flynn ◽  
Isabelle M. Hunt ◽  
Jenny Shaw ◽  
...  

It is estimated that between 36,000 and 360,000 people are affected by suicide every year in the UK, and a proportion may develop depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, or engage in high-risk behaviours. Recent systematic analyses have revealed a clear gap in research on suicide bereavement in minority ethnic groups. This study aimed to understand the experiences and support needs of individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds bereaved by suicide and was the first in the UK to investigate this matter. The study was a secondary analysis of data. Participants were 7158 people residing in the UK who completed an online survey about their experiences of suicide. Free-text qualitative responses of 227 participants who did not identify as White British were analysed using thematic analysis. Four themes were identified: maladaptive coping strategies, emotional processes following suicide, lack of support from agencies, and the importance of mental health awareness. Ethnic minority groups reported a lack of support despite attempts to engage with services, noted the prevalence of stigma within ethnic minority groups, and expressed a need to tackle this. These preliminary results suggest that ethnic minority individuals require visible and accessible services that can successfully engage with and support them.

2021 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2021-003083
Author(s):  
Sabrina Bajwah ◽  
Jonathan Koffman ◽  
Jamilla Hussain ◽  
Andy Bradshaw ◽  
Mevhibe B Hocaoglu ◽  
...  

ObjectivesTo develop insights into response of palliative care services caring for people from ethnic minority groups during COVID-19.MethodsCross-sectional online survey of UK palliative care services response to COVID-19. Quantitative data were summarised descriptively and χ2 tests used to explore relationships between categorical variables. Free text comments were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.Results277 UK services responded. 168 included hospice teams (76% of all UK hospice teams). Services supporting those from ethnic minority groups were more likely to include hospital (p<0.001) and less likely to include hospice (p<0.001) or home care teams (p=0.008). 34% (93/277) of services had cared for patients with COVID-19 or families from ethnic minority groups. 66% (61/93) of these services stated no difference in how they supported or reached these groups during the pandemic.Three themes demonstrated impact of policy introduced during the pandemic, including: disproportionate adverse impact of restricted visiting, compounded communication challenges and unmet religious and faith needs. One theme demonstrated mistrust of services by ethnic minority groups, and the final theme demonstrated a focus on equal and individualised care.ConclusionsPolicies introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic may have adversely impacted those from ethnic minority groups making these at-risk populations even more vulnerable. The palliative care response may have been equal but inequitable. During the para-COVID-19 period, systemic steps, including equality impact assessments, are urgently needed.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. e041102
Author(s):  
Cleo Baskin ◽  
Geiske Zijlstra ◽  
Mike McGrath ◽  
Caroline Lee ◽  
Fiona Helen Duncan ◽  
...  

ObjectivesUndertake a scoping review to determine the effectiveness of community-centred interventions designed to improve the mental health and well-being of adults from ethnic minority groups in the UK.MethodsWe searched six electronic academic databases for studies published between January 1990 and September 2019: Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, Scopus, CINAHL and Cochrane. For intervention description and data extraction we used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist and Template for Intervention Description and Replication guide. Quality was assessed using Cochrane risk of bias tools. Grey literature results were deemed beyond the scope of this review due to the large number of interventions and lack of available outcomes data.ResultsOf 4501 studies, 7 met the eligibility criteria of UK-based community interventions targeting mental health in adults from ethnic minority populations: four randomised controlled trials, one pre/post-pilot study, one cross-sectional study and one ethnographic study. Interventions included therapy-style sessions, peer-support groups, educational materials, gym access and a family services programme. Common components included a focus on tackling social isolation, using lay health workers from within the community, signposting and overcoming structural barriers to access. Four studies reported a statistically significant positive effect on mental health outcomes and six were appraised as having a high risk of bias. Study populations were ethnically heterogeneous and targeted people mainly from South Asia. No studies examined interventions targeting men.ConclusionsThere is a paucity of high-quality evidence regarding community-centred interventions focused on improving public mental health among ethnic minority groups. Decision makers need scientific evidence to inform effective approaches to mitigating health disparities. Our next steps are to map promising community activities and interventions that are currently being provided to help identify emerging evidence.


Author(s):  
Valeriya Azorina ◽  
Nicola Morant ◽  
Hedvig Nesse ◽  
Fiona Stevenson ◽  
David Osborn ◽  
...  

People bereaved by suicide have an increased risk of suicide and suicide attempt, yet report receiving less support than people bereaved by other sudden deaths. Reductions in support may contribute to suicide risk, yet their nature is unclear. We explored the impact of suicide bereavement on the interpersonal relationships of young adults in the UK using an online survey to collect qualitative data. We conducted thematic analysis of free-text responses from 499 adults to questions capturing the impact of bereavement on relationships with partners, close friends, close family, extended family, and other contacts. We identified four main themes describing the changes in relationships following the suicide: (1) Social discomfort over the death (stigma and taboo; painfulness for self or others to discuss; socially prescribed grief reactions); (2) social withdrawal (loss of social confidence; withdrawal as a coping mechanism); (3) shared bereavement experience creating closeness and avoidance; (4) attachments influenced by fear of further losses (overprotectiveness towards others; avoiding attachments as protective). These findings contribute to understanding deficits in support and pathways to suicidality after suicide bereavement. Such disrupted attachments add to the burden of grief and could be addressed by public education on how to support those bereaved by suicide.


Ethnicities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 518-534
Author(s):  
Hella von Unger ◽  
Penelope Scott ◽  
Dennis Odukoya

Migration- and ethnicity-related categories are a core feature of public health systems internationally, particularly in health reporting on communicable infectious diseases. The specific categories and classifications used differ from country to country and are subject to controversy and change. The article compares categorization practices in health reporting in the UK and Germany with regard to tuberculosis. Tuberculosis has been framed as a ‘migrants’ disease’ in recent decades and new categories were introduced to collect and report epidemiological data. We reconstruct the genesis, change and power effects of categories related to im/migrants and ethnic minority groups. In both countries, migration-related categorizations entail constructions of im/migrants as ‘carriers of disease’. However, the categories also connect with discourses on human rights, prevention, treatment and care for migrants as vulnerable groups. While this ambivalent role of migration-related categories is not unique to health statistics, the potential contribution to processes of ‘othering’ and politics of exclusion seem particularly imminent in the context of communicable diseases such as tuberculosis. Ethnicity categories used in the UK, but not in Germany, also contribute to othering through racialization and culturalization, yet at the same time provide opportunities for community participation in the discourse.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
V Kabeya ◽  
S Puthussery ◽  
A Furmanski

Abstract Background Culturally appropriate interventions are needed to improve the uptake of genetic counselling and testing among ethnically diverse communities. This study aims to assess the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a “Health Party” intervention to increase awareness, knowledge and uptake of genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer among ethnic minority women in the UK. Methods The “Health Party” intervention will include an educational session in a party setting. Participants will be taught by professionals about genetic testing and how to access genetic testing services in the UK National Health Service. We will recruit a sample of 60 women aged 18 years and over from key ethnic minority groups in the UK (Black African, Black Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi) and will conduct four community based sessions, each with about 15 participants. The outcomes will primarily relate to recruitment and attrition rates, data collection, study resources and intervention delivery. A quantitative pre-post evaluation with measurements before, shortly after, and at 6 months following the intervention will be conducted to assess the preliminary effectiveness on awareness, knowledge and uptake of genetic testing. We will use three way mixed analysis of variance (MANOVA) to analyse changes pre- and post- intervention. The fidelity of the intervention including facilitation strategies, quality of delivery and participant response will be assessed. Conclusions Findings will establish the feasibility of the intervention and will provide insights into its effectiveness to increase the awareness, knowledge and uptake of genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer among women from ethnic minority groups in the UK. Impact: Depending on its feasibility and effectiveness, the intervention can be used to help women from ethnic minority groups to make informed choices about genetic testing and improve early diagnosis and treatment of breast and ovarian cancer. Key messages “Health Party” may be a feasible intervention for ethnic minority women in the UK. “Health Party” intervention may increase awareness, knowledge and uptake of services.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 1410-1432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Daniel ◽  
Andrew Henley ◽  
Muhammad Naveed Anwar

Purpose Ethnic minority entrepreneurs (EMEs) are traditionally associated with lower growth industry sectors. The purpose of this paper is to draw on the theory of mixed embeddedness to determine if more recent EMEs have been able to break out of lower growth sectors and if break out varies across ethnic minority groups. It also compares entrepreneurial quality in terms of weekly hours worked, weekly earnings and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative inferential statistical analysis is undertaken on data drawn from the large scale, social sciences data set for the UK, Understanding Society. Findings The study finds that break out is not associated with being a recent EME but does vary across ethnic minority groups. Break out is found to be associated with gender, education, English language proficiency and occupational status. Some variation in entrepreneurial quality is found for both recent EMEs and across ethnic minority groups. Practical implications Understanding the nature and quality of ethnic minority entrepreneurship is important since it informs public debate about migration, informs policy and shapes activities of future EMEs. Originality/value The study provides a theoretically grounded interpretation of the explanatory variables associated with EME break out and entrepreneurial quality. Second, it provides a large confirmatory study of break out and finally, it also finds an important empirical nuance to the concept of opportunity structure by identifying a variation over time in both external and socio-demographic factors.


Asian Survey ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 830-858
Author(s):  
Neil A. Englehart

Myanmar has suffered the world’s longest civil war, with continuous combat since shortly before the country’s independence from the UK in 1948. A new National Ceasefire Agreement has raised hopes that peace may finally be in sight. However, optimism should be tempered by a recognition the peace process has not built much trust, reduced the number of non-state armed groups in the country, their total size, or significantly improved their human rights behavior. This is demonstrated through an analysis of original data on the major non-state armed groups active in Myanmar between 1985 and 2017. Peace will require hard political work leading to disarmament, restraining the military, and reassuring the country’s ethnic minority groups that their rights and interests will be respected even without the threat of insurgent violence.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Lessard-Phillips ◽  
Yaojun Li

A large body of research has been conducted both on the social stratification of education at the general level and on the educational attainments of ethnic minority groups in the UK. The former has established the increasing fluidity in the class–education association, without paying much attention to ethnicity, whilst the latter has shown reinvigorated aspirations by the second generation without fine-grained analyses. This paper adds to this literature by examining the relationship between family class, ethno-generational status and educational attainment for various 1<sup>st</sup>, 1.5, 2<sup>nd</sup>, 2.5, 3rd and 4<sup>th</sup> generations in contemporary UK society. Using data from Understanding Society, we study the educational attainment of different ethno-generational groups. Our analysis shows high educational selectivity among the earlier generations, a disruptive process for the 1.5 generation, high second-generation achievement, and a ‘convergence toward the mean’ for later generations. Parental class generally operates in a similar way for the ethno-generational groups and for the majority population, yet some minority ethnic groups of salariat origins do not benefit from parental advantages as easily. An ‘elite, middle and lower’ structure manifests itself in the intergenerational transmission of advantage in educational attainment. This paper thus reveals new features of class-ethno relations hitherto unavailable in UK research.


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