InPsyTe HIT looks back at 2021-22

Despite suspending some of our programme due to the pandemic, we have continued to meet regularly as a core group representing the Psychological Therapies in Primary Care (InPsyTe) HIT, to plan and prepare our work with under-represented communities.

We have successfully launched our outreach project about talking therapies for common mental health conditions to reach under-represented ethnic minority communities, and improve access and acceptability. This project aimed to explore barriers to accessibility in under-represented communities; to increase the awareness of primary care mental health (IAPT) services amongst underrepresented communities in Bristol; and to assess the cultural suitability of IAPT services and their pathway, making adaptations where appropriate.

We have agreed on the best approach to implement and evaluate the project with IAPT Service Partnership Liaison Officers, Greg Juckeston and Aimee Wray, and our newly recruited Outreach Researchers and Evaluators, Sangeetha Kaur and Jasmyne Wilkinson.

By collaborating with well-established community hubs such as the Malcolm X Centre, Wellspring Centre, Easton Community Centre and faith-based buildings, with input from InPsyTe HIT, Sangeetha and Jasmyne have held informal conversations and interviews with communities about accessing IAPT services – preconceptions, barriers, resistances, and stigmas – answered questions, listened to concerns and fed these back to the wider project team.

The information from these interviews will be analysed and fed back to IAPT Service Transformation Lead, Rick Cooper, who will cascade to the Senior Management Team. The gathered information will also be used to co-produce IAPT information sessions to ensure we are meeting the needs of our priority groups. We also aim to spread the impact of our work and engage in greater collaboration in a wider context of mental health support network, such as the Integrated Care Partnership (ICP), in line with the NHS Long Term Plan.