At the end of June Mind in Harrow’s Bridging Cultures Project in partnership with the Mosques and Imams Advisory Board held an event at the Imam Khoei Islamic Centre on ‘Well being in the Muslim Community.’ The event brought together mental health practitioners, community leaders and Imams to engage in a dialogue about supporting the emotional and mental health needs of the Muslim community. For community leaders and Imams, the event provided information on mental health diagnoses and the support that is available. For mental health practitioners, the event provided information on mental health in the Muslim family context, community perspectives on the stigma of mental health and the role of spirituality in understanding the needs of Muslim patients.
Dr Ahmed Darwish, a Consultant in Adolescent and Child Psychiatry said that poor education, poverty and high rates of unemployment are all factors that contribute to high levels of mental ill health in the Muslim community in the UK. A relatively low uptake of services due to language barriers, the stigma of mental ill health, cultural perceptions and a lack of awareness of the support available, exacerbates the problem. Dr Darwish highlighted the importance of early intervention that facilitates dialogue within the Muslim family context and establishes good parent-child relationships and caring adult role models.
Saleha Islam, Chief Executive of the national charity Muslim Youth Helpline (MYH), highlighted the impact of the current socio-political context on mental well-being. The recent increase in hate-crime targeted at the Muslim community has significantly increased the need for support services like MYH. Saleha highlighted the impact of the wider social context, particularly for young Muslims growing up in the UK by giving examples of the mental health crises experienced by Muslim youth who contact MYH. She said that in addressing this issue, it is important to understand that the Muslim community is diverse in beliefs and experiences.
In addressing these challenges, we heard from Carol Harrison-Read from Central and Northwest London (CNWL) NHS Foundation Trust and Raheel Mohammed from the charity Maslaha. Carol spoke about her work in recruiting Faith Visitors to support mental health inpatients in Northwick Park Hospital. Carol is working with Imams and community leaders to provide faith and spiritual support on the inpatient wards, acknowledging the importance of meeting a patient’s spiritual and religious needs in promoting recovery. Raheel Mohammed talked about the innovative work of Maslaha, who in collaboration with community leaders, GPs, Mental Health Practitioners and Imams have created the Talking from the Heart health resource. The resource provides information in community languages (Somali, Bengali/Sylheti and Urdu) about depression, anxiety and the support available.
Whilst discussions between delegates throughout the day highlighted some of the fantastic work that is being done, it is clear that there is still a long way to go! Tackling the stigma of mental ill health and ensuring that individuals from the Muslim community get the support they need at the right time requires open dialogue, commitment and perseverance. This dialogue must involve Imams, community leaders, service users and mental health practitioners. There is a huge amount of knowledge and wisdom within communities about how best to provide support; service providers must value this ‘intelligence’. Equally community leaders and Imams have a responsibility to their communities to engage in dialogue with service providers, in order to ensure that service provision is sensitive to the needs of their community and that community members are aware of western models of mental ill health and the support that is available.
For more information
http://www.talkingfromtheheart.org/
www.mindinharrow.org.uk
http://www.minab.org.uk/
Josie Hinton, Mind in Harrow