Integration Index – Health and Wellbeing: do black men talk about their health?

Healthwatch West Sussex produced a Health and Care Experience profile about black men with a number of health needs including recent experience of cancer.

This was part of a project led by Healthwatch England and NHS England to develop a qualitative methodology as part of the Local Integration Index. Eight local Healthwatch piloted this methodology by focussing on particular local groups with experiences of care across several health and care services. This methodology can be used to ensure people’s experiences of integration are used by local systems to track how services are working together locally.

In this report, Healthwatch West Sussex look at local data, including their own, on this topic.  They also engaged with local community leaders in Crawley to reach Black African men. They had detailed conversations with 4 men.

Whilst all 4 would access NHS care, three said they would look at alternatives first, including private medicine, waiting it out, self-medicating, faith and the healing power of prayer and a negative experience with a doctor.