JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

A recent review in England revealed that CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) are still not responsive to the specific needs of Black young people and other minorities even in areas with ethnically diverse populations. They found that commissioners and service planners failed to engage with these young people and their families to understand their needs and expectations. Direct engagement with ethnic subgroups is a gap in knowledge that this study aims to address.

Objective:

The purpose of this study is to engage NAGYP (Nigerians and Ghanaians young people) with experiences of care for common mental disorders in London to increase understanding of their needs and to give voice to their views and preferences. Their parents, carers and practitioners’ views will also be sought for service improvement.

Methods:

Three combined contemporary complementary methodologies - Thematic Content Analysis, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, and Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis will be utilised across three comprehensive phases: (1) A scoping review where relevant themes will be critically analysed and will inform further phases of this study. Detailed mapping of community and mental healthcare services in 13 inner London boroughs to investigate what professionals actually do rather than what they say they do; (2) Scrutinises mental healthcare legislations, policies and procedures to undertake intersectionality multileveled analysis of power, models of care and constraints; (3) Representative n = 30 NAGYP participants aged 16 – 25 years old, n = 20 parents or carers, and n = 20 practitioners will be engaged.

Results:

The study has been approved by UCL Institute 0of Education Research Ethics Committee Z6364106/2022/02/28 (health research) and recruitment has begun in the 13 inner boroughs of London. Data collection through semi-structured interviews and focus groups are expected to be finalised by early 2024 and publish the study by early 2025.

Conclusions:

Combining multiple qualitative methodologies and methods will enable rigorous investigation into the lived experiences of NAGYP of care received for common mental disorder in London. Findings from this study may provide insight into what might contribute to reducing the negative connotations and harmful superstitions of mental health related issues, elicit evidence-based interventions, and preventive or early access to interventions. It could positively impact and might free-up some social resources that could be used to deal with problems resulting from mental illness such as school dropout, anti-social behaviours, knife crime, and juvenile detention centres