Exploring the experiences of young people from an ethnic minority background in accessing and engaging with CAMHS.

Introduction: Research studies have found that there are inequalities in health services, particularly mental health services, for people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds in the UK. Studies providing this evidence have mainly been in relation to adult services. Children and young people (CYP) from BAME backgrounds represent a significant, and growing, proportion of CYP in the UK (Department of Health, 2004). It is argued that child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) do not currently meet the needs of BAME CYP with mental health difficulties (MHD) and that there is a lack of necessary research in this area (Fatimilehin, 2007). It is therefore necessary that research is conducted with YP from a BAME background to examine their experiences within CAMHS. This study, therefore, aimed to explore the experiences of YP from an ethnic minority background in their experiences of their MHD and accessing and engaging with CAMHS.

Method: This study aimed to explore these experiences using a qualitative methodology. Participants that had been discharged from two local CAMHS services were recruited. Four female YP between the ages of 16-18 years were interviewed using semi-structured interviews and data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith et al., 2009). Firstly, individual interviews were analysed and superordinate and subordinate themes were developed for each participant. These individual themes were then used to develop the group themes to capture similarities and differences of experiences across participants.

Results: An overview of some key individual themes for each participant were presented. Three superordinate and eight subordinate themes emerged from the data in the group analysis. The superordinate themes were ‘difficulties speaking out’, ‘confusion: navigating different perspectives’ and ‘evolving sense of self and experiences’.

Discussion: The key findings from the study are discussed in relation to the wider literature. This study adds to the limited literature around experiences of CYP from ethnic minority backgrounds around their MHD and accessing MH support for these. Strengths and limitations of the study are discussed. Finally, potential implications including areas for future research are presented.