Beyond the barriers: South Asian women's experience of accessing and receiving psychological therapy in primary care

Title: Beyond the barriers: South Asian women’s experience of accessing and receiving psychological therapy in primary care
Abstract:
Objectives: A number of initiatives have been developed to ensure easy access to
mental health services for Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) is a service that delivers first
line interventions for South Asian women; however, little is known about what makes
IAPT accessible for this population. This study aims to explore South Asian women’s
experiences of accessing psychological therapy and whether therapy within IAPT
helps individuals to re-frame their experiences within their own cultural context.
Design: A qualitative approach was used.
Method: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with South Asian women who
accessed IAPT. Ten participants took part in the study and interviews were analysed
using Thematic Analysis.
Results: Six themes were identified; access, experience, cultural framework,
therapist characteristics, expectations and ‘sticking with it’. Having a good
therapeutic relationship with the therapist was key. Whilst Cognitive Behavioural
Therapy (CBT) enabled clients to manage their symptoms, manualised CBT led to a
sense of dissatisfaction for some. Clients spoke of having to make a forced choice to
either deny their culture or leave their culture at the door in order to access therapy.
Cultural and religious exclusion had a negative impact on therapy particularly for
those whose difficulties were related to their cultural or religious context.
Conclusion: Culture and religion continues to be excluded from psychological
therapy for South Asian Women. A cultural shift is required from within IAPT services
in order to maintain engagement for this group. Clinical implications are discussed.
Keywords:
South Asian Women, CBT, IAPT, Culture, Religion.