Barriers to accessing perinatal mental health services and suggestions for improvement: qualitative study of women of Black and south Asian backgrounds
Jovanović, N., Packer, K. C., Conneely, M. , Bicknell, S., Copello, A., McCabe, R. 
ORCID: 0000-0003-2041-7383, Dirik, A. & Janković, J. (2024).
Barriers to accessing perinatal mental health services and suggestions for improvement: qualitative study of women of Black and south Asian backgrounds.
BJPsych Bulletin,
doi: 10.1192/bjb.2024.82
Abstract
Background
Maternity outcomes for women from certain ethnic groups are notably poor, partly owing to their not receiving treatment from services.
Aims
To explore barriers to access among Black and south Asian women with perinatal mental health problems who did not access perinatal mental health services and suggestions for improvements, and to map findings on to the perinatal care pathway.
Method
Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2020 and 2021 in the UK. Data were analysed using the framework method.
Results
Twenty-three women were interviewed, and various barriers were identified, including limited awareness of services, fear of child removal, stigma and unresponsiveness of perinatal mental health services. Whereas most barriers were related to access, fear of child removal, remote appointments and mask-wearing during COVID-19 affected the whole pathway. Recommendations include service promotion, screening and enhanced cultural understanding.
Conclusions
Women in this study, an underrepresented population in published literature, face societal, cultural, organisational and individual barriers that affect different aspects of the perinatal pathway.
| Publication Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. |
| Publisher Keywords: | Perinatal, psychiatry, mental health services, access, barriers, ethnic and racial minorities |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine |
| Departments: | School of Health & Psychological Sciences School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Healthcare Services Research & Management |
| SWORD Depositor: |
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
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