Psychological Therapy in Secondary Mental Health Care: Access and Outcomes by Ethnic Group

To explore the differences in access to, and outcomes of, psychological therapy for different ethnic groups across a South London Mental Health Trust.

This study used Trust data to explore the proportions of ethnic groups accessing psychological therapy as a proportion of all patients supported by the Trust, as well as their outcomes within broad diagnostic clusters.

Compared to proportions in the local population, there were significantly more White/White British patients and significantly fewer patients from 'other ethnic groups' in the Trust (p < .05). There was also significantly greater proportion of Black/Black British patients with schizophrenia diagnoses compared to the proportion of Black/Black British people in the local population (p < .001). Of those accessing psychological therapy, there were significantly more White/White British and 'other ethnic group' patients and significantly fewer Black/Black British patients (p < .05). For schizophrenia diagnoses, significantly fewer Black/Black British and 'other ethnic group' patients were accessing psychological therapy (p < .05); however for behavioural and emotional disorders, there were significantly higher proportions of 'other ethnic group' and White/White British patients. Outcomes varied by diagnosis; Black/Black British patients experienced significantly higher distress scores at the beginning of therapy for depression and neurotic diagnoses (p < .05), with the latter persisting at the end of treatment.

Across the Trust, there were significant differences in the proportion of ethnic groups in accessing psychological therapy, as well as in outcomes. More research is needed to understand the factors that may underlie these disparities.