An overview of Health Briefing 19...

Title:
Health and access to health care of migrants in the UK

Author:
Hiranthi Jayaweera, May 2010

Key messages:

1. The growing size and diversity of the proportion of the UK population who were born overseas have important implications for meeting health needs and for planning and delivering health services
2. As part of a commitment to reducing inequalities in access and in health outcomes, government policy has focused largely on addressing ethnic inequalities in health. Less emphasis has been placed on the possible impact for migrants of factors such as country of birth, language and length of residence and immigration status in the UK
3. Although there is some research focus on the health needs of specific groups of migrants, such as refugees and asylum seekers, there have been relatively few attempts to gather evidence on health outcomes, needs, care and barriers to care of broader categories of migrants, including those who come to study, to work or for family reasons, and more established groups
4. There is particular evidence of barriers to health care arising from restricted entitlement for some vulnerable migrants. Political concern over ‘health tourism’ negatively affects the delivery of, and access to, health care for migrants. These issues require further research and the implementation of specific policies and good practice.

Sections:

1. The size and diversity of the UK population born overseas
2. The need to move beyond a limited focus on ethnic inequalities in health
3. Evidence on the health of migrants
4. Entitlement to free health care

About the author:

Hiranthi Jayaweera is a Senior Researcher at the ESRC Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, University of Oxford. Her academic background is in quantitative and qualitative sociology and she has a long-standing interest in the area of health and access to health care among migrants and minority ethnic populations in the UK.

An overview of Health Briefing 18...

Title:
Effective methods of engaging black and minority ethnic communities within health care settings

Author:
Saima Latif, March 2010

Key messages:

1. Evidence shows that poor engagement with black and minority ethnic communities in health care still exists, resulting in unequal access and care
2. Barriers to effective engagement with black and minority ethnic communities include those of language, communication and culture, as well as a lack of diversity in the health care workforce
3. A range of methods exists that can be utilised to enhance engagement with black and minority ethnic communities
4. Practical considerations also need to be addressed when using engagement methods with black and minority ethnic communities
5. The existence of good practice is illustrated by examples from London, Leeds and Bradford

Sections:

1. Poor engagement with black and minority ethnic communities
2. Barriers to effective engagement
3. Methods of effective engagement
4. Engagement methods: practical considerations
5. Examples of ‘good practice’

About the author:

Saima Latif is a Research Fellow in the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work at the University of Manchester. Her academic career has involved researching black and minority ethnic communities and their experiences of education, employment and health care. Her expertise lies in qualitative research and South Asian communities. Saima has also worked as an independent freelance consultant. She is a registered clinical hypnotherapist and chartered psychologist.

An overview of Health Briefing 17...

Title:
The social consequences of sickle cell and thalassaemia: improving the quality of support

Authors:
Karl Atkin and Elizabeth N. Anionwu, February 2010

Key messages:

1. Greater understanding of sickle cell and thalassaemia is an important starting point in developing more appropriate and accessible care
2. Sickle cell and thalassaemia disorders are one of the most common genetic inherited conditions in the UK. The genetic nature of the two conditions raises the potential for screening interventions, which identify healthy carriers of the trait. Such interventions are increasingly common in the UK. Facilitating ‘informed choice’, however, is sometimes difficult to achieve in practice
3. Despite improvements in clinical management, poor service support remains a long-standing difficulty. The problem reflects a broader failure to engage with the social consequences of the conditions
4. Examples of good practice, in both health and social care, do exist. The potential of such interventions, however, is rarely realised and lessons remain poorly disseminated.

Sections:

1. Improving understanding
2. Screening policy
3. The social consequences of sickle cell and thalassaemia disorders
4. Improving care

About the authors:

Karl Atkin holds a personal chair in the Department of Health Sciences, University of York. He is a medical sociologist with an interest in chronic illness and health inequalities. He is also editor of Ethnicity and Health and currently Chair of Public Outreach, a sub-committee of the National Screening Committee for Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia.

Elizabeth N. Anionwu was the first haemoglobinopathy nurse counsellor to be appointed in Britain and was Head of the Brent Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Centre from 1979 to 1990. She is a member of the NHS Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Implementation Programme Steering Group and a Patron of the Sickle Cell Society and the Sickle and Thalassaemia Association of Counsellors (STAC).

An overview of Health Briefing 16...

Title:
Ethnicity and coronary heart disease: making sense of risk and improving care

Authors:
Felicity Astin and Karl Atkin, February 2010

Key messages:

1. Cardiovascular disease, such as coronary heart disease, has significant consequences for individuals, their families and health care organisations. It is predicted that cardiovascular disease will become the dominant cause of death and disability across the globe over the next decade and beyond
2. Five coronary risk factors contribute to 80 per cent of coronary heart disease cases. Less is known about why such risk factors vary in their potency across different ethnic groupings. A better understanding of the influence of social context is fundamental, especially when developing interventions aimed at reducing the risk of coronary heart disease
3. People from minority ethnic groups living in the UK seem to differ from the general population in their susceptibility to cardiovascular disease. Ethnicity is recognised as a risk factor for developing coronary heart disease, although the evidence suggests that the relationship between the two is complex
4. There is a need to develop culturally appropriate services to increase people’s awareness of coronary risk factors and to support people to live a healthier lifestyle. Understanding the complex dynamic of service delivery is the challenge facing policy and practice

Sections:

1. The burden of cardiovascular disease
2. Understanding risk factors for coronary heart disease
3. Ethnicity as a coronary risk factor
4. Making changes for life

About the authors:

Felicity Astin is a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Healthcare, University of Leeds. She is interested in health inequalities among people and their families living with cardiovascular conditions. She is also a Trustee of Heart Care Partnership (UK), a charity that represents patients and carers within the process for cardiac service improvement.

Karl Atkin holds a personal chair in the Department of Health Sciences, University of York. He is a medical sociologist with an interest in chronic illness and health inequalities. He is also editor of Ethnicity and Health and Chair of East Leeds Health for All, a charity committed to improving health among disadvantaged populations.