Enhancing pathways into care (EPIC): community development working with the Pakistani community to improve patient pathways within a crisis resolution and home treatment service.

摘要

Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities receive different pathways into mental health care with BME service users often presenting in crisis. This is associated with both an over representation of such groups in psychiatric wards and people avoiding mainstream services altogether. The Sheffield Crisis Resolution Home Treatment (CRHT) created the Enhancing Pathways Into Care (EPIC) project, which initially focused on engagement with the Pakistani community (the largest BME group in Sheffield). The project aimed to empower the Pakistani community to seek mental health support earlier within their own community, build up trust in mainstream services and enhance the clinical pathways within services to provide more culturally appropriate care. CRHT joined with the local Pakistani Muslim Centre (PMC) to work in partnership. The PMC had existing links with the Pakistani community and provided a range of social, respite and occupational opportunities. The partnership created an innovative new role: the Pakistani link worker. The EPIC partnership strengthened the PMC's influence and raised awareness of mental health issues in the community. Through integration of the link worker within the everyday practice of clinicians, pathways of care showed evidence of positive change including more referrals to the PMC from psychiatric services. The EPIC project piloted a model of partnership working that is effective and transferable.