1. Involving the Black
communities in
Mental Health
services

2. Why ?
♦ Ownership
♦ Relevance
♦ Source of knowledge
♦ Addresses the underlying contributing
factors

3. Be creative about who you
listen to..
♦ Hairdressers and Barbers
♦ Street Cleaners
♦ Churches, Mosques, Gudwaras’
♦ Noise Nuisance – Environmental Health
officers
♦ Shops who sell direct to the community

4. Design – form and function
♦ If we are still designing the same services in
2004 that we were in 1974 something must
be going wrong
♦ Communities have changed – Communities
needs have changed
– The mistake of the Blenheim project
– Mellow, creative entertainment
– Oremi, working with children in care
– Fanon Care, becoming a landlord

5. Delivery – what’s in it for the
community ?
♦ Our buildings stand empty, and
mystified
♦ People always looking for venues for
Births, Marriages and Deaths
♦ ‘Venues that are known and used by
the community are not feared by the
community’
♦ Get to know family, friends and peers –
invite them to your events

6. Review – who’s the piper ?
♦ We are in a highly regulated industry
♦ Invite community to tell you how you are
doing… but only if you are going to act
on what they say
• Open lunches
• Entertainment events with feedback
• Paid rota visits by members of the community
• Committee of elders

7. Critical Questions
♦ What are you doing to prevent family
breakdown ?
♦ How are you responding to exclusions
form schools ?
♦ How are you preventing substance
use/abuse ?
♦ How do you help service users find and
maintain partners ?