Hussain, Basharat
(2015)
Bringing cultural changes to mental health services through organisational development: an instrumental case study of how a mental healthcare trust in England responds to race-related equality policy in the provision of mental health services.
PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
Abstract
This thesis presents an instrumental case study of a National Health Service (NHS) mental healthcare trust in relation to race related equality policy in the delivery of secondary mental healthcare in England. The study takes a constructionist ontological position, and an interpretivist epistemology. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the 20 participants working at three different levels of the organisation. These include strategic leaders: Chief Executive Officer, Operational Director, Director of Nursing Quality and Patient Experiences, Director of Learning and Development, Head of Human Resources, Equality and Diversity Lead; service level middle managers: General Manager, Modern Matron, Team leader, Manager of the Recovery College; and frontline practitioners: clinical directors, psychiatrist, occupational therapist, staff nurses, community psychiatrist nurse, Recovery College instructor, all working in an adult mental healthcare setting of the organisation. Narrative interviews were also conducted with eight members of the Pakistani community living in the local service area to gain their perspectives on mental illnesses and mental health services.
The study was conducted because national race equality policy expects NHS mental healthcare organisations to change their culture and deliver equitable, culturally appropriate and satisfactory mental health services to all members of society, including those who identify themselves as ‘BME’ groups. However, there is evidence in the policy and research literature of inequalities in mental healthcare experienced by service users who identify themselves as being from ‘BME’ groups in England.
This study, therefore, explores how a NHS mental healthcare Trust is trying to bring about cultural changes in order to meet the expectations of policy as well as meeting the needs of service users of ethnic background. For example, on the organisational side, the study explored vision and strategy as well as interventions for bringing about organisational change and the views of the participants on this change. The views from the members of the Pakistani ethnic group highlight how mental illnesses are perceived and responded to within this ethnic group.
Data obtained from the staff group were analysed using a thematic framework approach. Resultant themes include: interpretation of racial equality policy in the organisation; organisational vision and strategy for change; and the challenges, barriers and facilitators to achieving the stated vision on racial equality in the service provision, especially for people of Pakistani ethnic group. The analysis benefited from the organisational development literature in analysing the data.
Data obtained from the members of the Pakistani community were analysed using a thematic narrative approach. This data reflected ways in which mental health/illness is perceived and responded to within this group including: the social identity claims that people of Pakistani ethnicity make when perceiving and responding to mental illnesses; the extent to which they associate themselves with western and/or eastern models of mental illnesses; and their identification as an ethnic group with diverse and multiple social identities. Social identity literature is used to analyse and interpret this data. The relationship between the organisational data and the ethnic group data is discussed, and a way forward is suggested for bringing about the expected cultural change to the organisation in order to meet the mental health needs of ‘BME’ groups in England.
The instrumental organisational case study, along with perspectives of the service users, have served to underline the challenges for the organisation on a day-to-day basis as they attempt to meet the expectations of policy, as well as the views and expectations of people of Pakistani ethnicity.
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