TITLE PAGE

STUDENT NUMBER: 3819549

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: “Black mental health does not matter until the access to mental health
treatment, experience of care and quality of outcomes are
equitable”

MODULE NUMBER: TOT_7_016

MODULE TITLE: Contemporary Issues in Occupational Therapy

MODULE CO-ORDINATOR: Sarah Maris-Shaw

An assignment submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the

MSc / Pg Diploma Occupational Therapy

I am registered with DDS as having a specific learning difficulty (for example, dyslexia, dyspraxia,
dyscalculia, ADHD). I have support arrangements in place for this and I would like the marker to be
aware that they should follow the University’s DDS Marking Policy.

Write YES in this box if this applies to you:

I understand that it is an academic misconduct offence to claim support if I am not entitled to

it.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: [ 23/04/2021]

WORD COUNT: [ 238]

Department of Allied Health Sciences

School of Health and Social Care

London South Bank University

TOT_7_016
Abstract Submission
Student ID: 3819549

Title: “Black mental health does not matter” until the access to mental health treatment,

experience of care and quality of outcomes are equitable.

Abstract: (Max 250 words)

After the brutal killing of George Floyd, there was a rise in the Black Lives Matter Movement's

social justice protests in the UK. As a result of these protests, the Black community began to speak

up about their experiences of the difficulties in accessing mental health services and their

treatment once in the mental health pathway (Jaye, 2020). Research into mental health has

typically focused on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) experiences of access and treatment

in mental health services. It has shown that Black people experience more difficulty accessing

mental health services (Department of Health and Social Care, 2021). Categorising diverse groups

of people into this umbrella term minimises people's individual experiences and does not help

create solutions to improve access.

Lack of access is a significant factor leading to health disparities in the black community, affecting

occupational opportunities and resulting in occupational injustice. This should be a prompt for

occupational therapists to examine how their practices and larger healthcare structures and

policies contribute to this injustice (Mahoney and Kiraly-Alvarez, 2019). There are opportunities

for occupational therapists to work within primary care services to improve access earlier in the

pathway (Orman, 2018) and also co-produce and re-design with service users from this

community to achieve mutual trust (Turk et al., 2021) by promoting cultural humility within the

profession. Actively tackling inequalities in mental healthcare provision will enable us to assert

that "Black mental health matters" confidently.

Word Count: 238

References: (No more than 5)

Department of health and social care. (2021). Reforming the mental health act. Available
at:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-the-mental-health-act/reforming-
the-mental-health-act. (Accessed 20 March 2021).

Jaye, L. (2020). ‘Why race matters when it comes to mental health’.BBC Future. Available at:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200804-black-lives-matter-protests-race-mental-health-
therapy. (Accessed 9 April 2021).

Mahoney, W. J. and Kiraly-Alvarez, A. F. (2019) Challenging the status quo: Infusing non-
western ideas into occupational therapy education and practice, The Open Journal of
Occupational Therapy, 7 (3), pp. 1-10. DOI: 10.15453/2168-6408.1592.

Orman, K. (2018). ‘Primary care – why the push from RCOT?’ OT News. Available at:
https://www.rcot.co.uk/file/3117/download?token=vW3P2EaA (Accessed 7 April 2021).

Turk, E., Durrance-Bagale, A., Han, E., Bell, S., Rajan, S., Lota, M. M. M., Ochu, C., Porras,
M. L., Mishra, P., Frumence, G., McKee, M. and Legido-Quigley, H. (2021) International
experiences with co-production and people centredness offer lessons for covid-19
responses, BMJ (Online), 372 , pp. m4752. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.m4752.