Barriers to accessing mental health support in Tower Hamlets

Healthwatch Tower Hamlets undertook research to understand people's experiences of mental health services since the pandemic and what services could do to better meet local people's needs. They wanted to specifically target people over the age of 65 and people from minoritised ethnic communities who based on current data from mental health services in the borough, are less likely to access mental health services when needed.  They gathered data via a survey and face to face engagement.  A total of 99 people shared their feedback.

In general, people were most likely to describe good mental health as being happy, optimistic, and positive. There were slight variations when comparing descriptions from the three target groups: People from Asian and Black backgrounds were most likely to describe it as being happy, optimistic, or positive whereas people aged 65 or older associated it with being able to cope with everyday life. 

In terms of poor mental health, people used negative feelings such as feeling sad, angry and worried to describe it. While people from Asian backgrounds were most likely to use words like depression, anxiety and stress to describe poor mental health, people from Black communities were most likely to relate it to struggling with everyday life as did people aged 65 or over.

The large majority of the participants said they would contact their GP for mental health support. People told us they would contact a GP because they are the first point of contact for health-related matters or because a GP can refer or signpost them to the right service. However, people from Asian and Black communities were less likely to contact a GP for mental health support.

Almost a third told us not knowing who to contact could prevent them from accessing mental health support. In addition, just under a quarter of respondents said they would not know where to find information about mental health support. For people aged 65 or older, the main barrier was online access, while people from Asian backgrounds said they would be afraid that someone they know would find out. People from both Asian and Black backgrounds mentioned language as a barrier to accessing mental health support.

Over a third of people told us that they had heard of Mind in Tower Hamlets which was the most out of all the services listed. However, 1 in 5 said they had not heard of any mental health services before.

Almost half of the participants said that they did not think this would make accessing mental health support easier for them. The majority of these respondents explained that it would not make it easier for them because they do not have the skills to use online tools for support or they prefer to talk to someone face to face. Some respondents said they would struggle to explain their situation properly online. People aged 65 or over and people from Black ethnic backgrounds were most likely to say digital access would not make it easier for them, while 2 in 5 respondents from Asian backgrounds said it would not make it easier.

Overall, when asked what could improve access to mental health, 1 in 5 told us that it would be easier for them to speak to services and explain their situation if there was someone who spoke the same language as them. Respondents also said that information provided in their language would make it easier for them to know where to go for help. This was most important to people from Asian backgrounds.

The majority of people who told us they have accessed a mental health service in the past said they had been referred to the service by their GP. People aged 65 or over were most likely to have been referred to the service by their GP, while this was true for two-thirds of respondents from Asian backgrounds and only 1 in 3 people from Black ethnic backgrounds.

When asked what worked well with the mental health service they had used in the past people told us that they had received the help and the care needed and having a diagnosis made them feel better. They also specifically mentioned that talking to someone made them feel better. 

When asked what did not work so well one person told us they felt they needed more help so it would have been useful to have a follow-up appointment or be signposted to other services. Another person echoed this by saying they felt that they did not have enough time or sessions with the service