Attend Thinking Ahead conference
On 29th March 2010 we brought together members of the Black community, mental health professionals, ministers of religion, social workers, volunteers, support workers and service users to explore religious and cultural differences and how they can impact on mental health services.
Aim of the day
We wanted to allow everybody to share their attitudes, skills and knowledge with each other to create new understanding and empathy for each other's beliefs and experiences.
Research, such as the Count Me In report, suggests that Black people are significantly more likely to be turned away from statutory mental health services, are more likely to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, held in seclusion and restrained than any other ethnic group. The Thinking Ahead conference intended to explore some of the reasons and solutions to this imbalance.
What happened on the day
Expert speakers gave presentations and ran discussion workshops throughout the day exploring the cultural, medical, religious and psychological perspectives on mental health. They all gave their time voluntarily.
The Presentations
Mark Greenwood of SEVA, replaced Dr Mathe, the Community Psychiatrist,who was unable to attend. He spoke about the SEVA project which is a partnership between the African Caribbean Mental Health Services (ACMHS), Wai Yin Chinese Women Society and Pakistani Resource Centre(PRC). He explained that they provide culturally sensitive mental health services to a wide range of ethnic minority groups in Manchester. Mark spoke about the value and role of faith and belief in improving people's mental health and general wellbeing.
Father Pat Deegan, a priest from Moss Side, talked from a Christian perspective. He clarified the difference between Diamonic (strong feeling from within you) and the Demonic. He expressed his view that if mental health issues are not dealt with, he believed that they could lead to people being open to demonic possession. He suggested that we are relational beings and that lack of love and faith can make people vulnerable to mental health issues. He pointed out that parents and care givers had a crucial role in giving children love. Some of these views were challenged by the mental health professionals and service users in the audience and alternative views shared.
Pauline Clear of the African and Caribbean Mental Health Services (ACMHS) described the work of the organization within the African and Caribbean community. Part of the SEVA project, ACMHS specializes in working with people with mental health problems from African and Caribbean backgrounds. Their work encompasses much social work. They believe that housing, unemployment, social exclusion or uncertainty about immigration or asylum status can have an impact on a person's mental health. Their work has changed and expanded dramatically in recent years with people coming to Manchester from all over the African continent. This has set new challenges as some of the 'new' Africans are not English speaking.
The Workshops
The workshops gave a chance to look more closely at some of the issues raised by the speakers.
Demonic possession - Father Deegan outlined that many cultures and religions believe in the existence of Demons and evil spirits. Father Deegan described some Bible stories depicting Jesus performing exorcisms, casting out 'unclean spirits' on people who would now be considered to be ill rather than possessed. He explained that epilepsy, for example, was once thought to be demonic possession. He pointed out the need for care when discerning presenations as demonic. He pointed out the dangers of performing deliverance on a person with an illness, but it is his belief that for some, it is a demonic influence rather than an illness and that deliverance prayer and the laying of ancestors spirits to rest before God, have all been used by him to 'heal' people in mental distress. He clarified that healing is not necessarily getting rid of an issue, but can be a matter of enabling a believer to manage and live with an issue.
Alcohol and Wellbeing - Maureen Ndlovu led a workshop on Alcohol and Wellbeing in which she highlighted one of the issues of Alcohol in the BME Community. She gave an overview of how alcohol misuse can impact on the individual at four different levels; physical, psychological, social and financial before focusing the BME community. She went on to present findings from studies conducted to date. The emerging picture suggested that alcohol misuse may be on the increase within the diverse BME community, with a few studies pointing to some groups being more affected than others. The studies suggest that cultural, social and religious factors could influence the amount of alcohol used.
In terms of information and treatment services, there was concern among the Workshop participants that BME individuals were underrepresented in these services. Workshop participants discussed and attempted to identify some of the barriers encountered by BME individuals when attempting to access treatment services and to come up with solutions to the problems. Participants felt BME individuals may be unaware of what services were available in the community to help them address alcohol issues. There was a suggestion that cultural and religious prescriptions such as, feelings of guilt and bringing shame to the community, could prevent people from accessing services even if they were aware of their existence.
The workshop concluded that in order to address these problems, there is a need for effective engagement with BME to educate, provide information and raise awareness of alcohol misuse. Services may need to be redesigned so that they are responsive to the needs of BME people. The workshop participants called for a national research study to be conducted in order to provide a clearer picture of what is happening given that majority of the studies conducted so far have been localized in focus.
Volunteer Befriender Training session - Manda Ncube ran a taster of what is usually a two-day session as part of the Attend Thinking Ahead project. The project runs training specifically aimed at volunteers from the Black community and Churches in how to befriend and support someone from the congregation and community with a mental health issue. The workshop focused on exploring Cultural Scripting and Cultural Adaptation. Manda explored the idea that certain beliefs are 'taught concepts of life', learned and inherited from key care givers and the community in general. The participants in the workshop discussed the factors they believe can impact on a person's mental health and ways in which they can offer support along side the medical or specialist attention.
Challenges of Faith and Psychosis - Jonathan Clark from Premier Lifeline/Mind and Soul examined the different views around hearing voices. He explored schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations. He discussed how in the past and in some current belief systems people think they are hearing the voice of God or other spiritual beings.. Jonathan also discussed how some people have religious experiences, which are not pathological.
Jonathan talked about Perception Disorders and the difficulties associated with diagnosing someone correctly. He said that people with a Perception Disorder can often have disordered thoughts which makes it difficult for them to communicate what they are experiencing.
Feedback on the day
Throughout the day the atmosphere was supportive, allowing people to have stimulating debate and share their experiences and differing views.
It also left delegates with an appetite for more opportunities to explore the issues raised.
Overall feedback was positive as demonstrated here in the analysis of evaluation forms completed by the delegates.
Mark Greenwood – Speaker: SEVA and the importance of culturally sensitive services.
SEVA (Say-va) is a Hindi word meaning 'Selfless Services', 'Willingness to perform any task for a greater cause without prospect of recognition or reward'.
The SEVA Development Project is a partnership between the African Caribbean Mental Health Services (ACMHS), Wai Yin Chinese Women Society and Pakistani Resource Centre(PRC).
www.sevamanchester.com
Father Pat Deegan – Speaker and Workshop leader: Demonic vs. Daimonic
Pat is parish priest of Our Lady and St. Alphonsus parish in Moss Side and Old Trafford. He was ordained in 1990 and obtained a Master's degree in Counselling and Community Mental Health from the Franciscan University, Steubenville, Ohio, USA in 1996. He also obtained post graduate certification in Formative Spirituality from the Epiphany Association, Pittsburgh, USA, in 1998. From 1996-2002 Pat was Spiritual Director, counsellor, and lecturer in psychology and spirituality at Ushaw College in Durham. He has been living in Moss Side since 2002.
Pauline Clear, African and Caribbean Mental Health Services
The African and Caribbean Mental Health Services (ACMHS) is a local organisation working with African and Caribbean people with mental ill-health in and around Manchester. They promote mental health issues in the community, help individuals make informed decisions about their care and to encourage and assist local statutory agencies to develop culturally appropriate and sensitive services.
ACMHS leaflet |
Referal Form for ACMHS |
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Maureen Ndlovu – Workshop leader: Alcohol and Well-being
Maureen is a qualified mental health professional who has worked extensively in the substance misuse sector for over five years in different roles; Maureen is a registered Mental Health Nurse and has qualifications in Social Sciences, Social Work, Addiction and Counselling.
Through her experience, she has gained practical and theoretical knowledge as well as understanding of working with those individuals affected by substance misuse. In the past, Maureen has delivered in house training to colleagues on the subject matter and to clients to increase their understanding of impact of substance misuse on their lives.
Maureen is passionate about community development and, in the last eight years she has been involved with a local community organisation, Nia Kuumba that works with Black African, African Caribbean and Dual Heritage children and their families. It was through her voluntary work that she developed an interest to educate and raise awareness of drugs and alcohol misuse in the community and small voluntary sector organisations as these are often overlooked by statutory and non statutory substance misuse services.
Manda Ncube – Workshop leader: Thinking Ahead volunteer training taster session
Manda has been in working as a Psychotherapist and Counsellor (part-time) in a private practice in Cheshire for the past 7 years. She has worked professionally in the mental health field since 1980. She is a Registered Mental Health Nurse. She is also a Trainer with a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Certificate (CTP).
Manda also carries out assessments for other professionals and authorities (such as Social Services, Solicitors, Courts and Tribunals) including situations where there may be a cultural and/or language specific need.
She works multiculturally on a daily basis and has an empathetic and positive approach to peoples’ personal, cultural and religious traditions. She is a Community Chaplaincy Volunteer with Greater Manchester Chaplaincy Collaborative.
Over the years, Manda has worked in various setting in the NHS and Private sector, including in General Psychiatry Units, Out Patients, Specialist Eating Disorders Units, Addiction Units, Adolescence Units, Community Mental Health Team for People with Serious and Enduring Mental Illness (SMI).
She is fluent in English, SiNdebele, Zulu, Xhosa and Swati. She works with people from diverse cultures and religious backgrounds.