Improving GP delivered cross-cultural mental health care: A qualitative study.

Conference:

SAPC ASM 2023 - Brighton

Talk Code:

1D.4

Presenter:

Aaron Poppleton

Twitter:

@aaronpoppleton

Co-authors:

Lisa Dikomitis, Caroline Sanders, Tom Kingstone, Carolyn A. Chew-Graham

Author institutions:

(AP, TK, CCG) School of Medicine, Keele University; (LD) Kent and Medway Medical School, University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University; (CS) School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester

Problem

Over 2 million Central and Eastern Europeans (CEEs) live in the United Kingdom (UK). Published literature suggests UK-CEEs have high levels of unmet physical and mental health needs, and low levels of general practice (GP) service use. Central and Eastern Europeans have described challenges in access to, and frustration at care received from, general practice in the UK. This has been affected by Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the conflict in Ukraine. We explored: 1. Central and Eastern Europeans’ perspectives of accessing primary care, perceived quality of care, and mental health; and 2. General practice staff members’ experiences of providing healthcare for CEEs within the UK.

Approach

A qualitative study, conducted with patient and public involvement of UK-CEE individuals and primary care staff (GPs, nurses, AHP, receptionist, others). CEEs and general practice staff were invited to be interviewed through community organisations, social media and snowballing, with purposive sampling to support diverse representation. Semi-structured interviews were in-person, by telephone or video call, using a literature-informed topic guide. Accredited translation was offered (if required). Data were analysed thematically using a constant comparison approach. University research ethics approval (MH-210208).

Findings

Recruitment and analysis are ongoing. Preliminary themes include: CEE concerns around quality and relevance of primary care services; GP consultation availability/format. Primary care staff members’ describe difficulties developing therapeutic partnerships with CEE individuals and managing their expectations. Data are being mapped onto a health beliefs framework which will be presented, with discussion of its potential role in culturally adapting general practice service provision and consultation styles for people from Central and Eastern Europe living in the UK.

Consequences

We present a culturally-informed framework to adapt primary care for Central and Eastern Europeans within the UK. This is intended to improve access to, and quality of, primary care mental health for Central and Eastern Europeans within the UK.

Submitted by:

Aaron Poppleton

Funding acknowledgement:

I gratefully acknowledge funding received from the Wellcome Trust for the above project