Exploring the contribution of general practice to the mental well‐being of black men

Abstract

Despite contemporary concerns arising from high levels of serious mental illness in this group, there is no convincing evidence that the mental well‐being of black men is generally poor. The potential for general practice to influence mental well‐being derives from the totality of its services to patients. Black and minority ethnic (BME) users report lower levels of satisfaction with general practice services than the population as a whole. A review of evidence indicates poorer access to effective care in general practice by BME users. For general practice to become a service that is culturally competent for multicultural communities the setting of consultations and skills‐employed need to maximise patient enablement, and patient profile data, including self‐ascribed ethnicity, needs to be developed and utilised for routine race equality audit.

Citation

Williams, R. (2008), "Exploring the contribution of general practice to the mental well‐being of black men", Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 67-70. https://doi.org/10.1108/17570980200800011