New training materials for mental health workers treating patients from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities have been launched as part of the Department of Health’s Delivering Race Equality (DRE) in Mental Health Care programme. This is the first national training initiative to involve BME service users in its development and delivery.

The Race Equality and Cultural Capability Programme (RECC) aims to help mental health staff develop their understanding of racism, cultural difference and discrimination, develop skills to promote race equality and identify and break barriers to good communication between BME service users and mental health practitioners.

The RECC programme, which can be downloaded for free, consists of twelve 1.5 to 2 hour sessions and twelve workplace tasks, with materials having been designed for multi-disciplinary training and for staff with varying degrees of qualification. Materials were tested successfully in 4 pilot areas earlier this year.

Premila Trivedi, a service user involved in delivering the training in the pilot programmes, says: “The breadth and flexibility of the RECC materials allows each training course to be tailored to address the specific needs and concerns of local BME communities.”

Dr S S Afghan, Consultant Psychiatrist at Walsall Teaching PCT, who participated in the pilot training programme, says: “I strongly feel that if the concepts of RECC material are integrated in to mental health and psychiatry training, there are likely to be far better outcomes and satisfaction levels for BME service users.”

The materials have been developed by the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE), in conjunction with the Department of Health, as part of its Ten Essential Shared Capabilities Programme, established in 2004 to outline what is needed to achieve best practice in training for staff working in mental health services.

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For further information contact Harriet Pearce Willis at Forster on 020 7403 2230 or harriet@forster.co.uk