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NHS Evidence – ethnicity and health
AA service supplied to NHS Evidence by CEEHD
Newsletter 14
March 2011
The newsletter highlights news and developments in ethnicity and health, lists additions to our collection and provides information on forthcoming events. Please feel free to distribute this newsletter to any interested colleagues, friends and relevant e-mail networks.
News
Our final issue
In view of the transfer of specialist collections to a new service this May, this will be our final issue of the ‘NHS Evidence – ethnicity and health’ newsletter.
New service to replace specialist collections
As you know, CEEHD (the Centre for Evidence in Ethnicity, Health and Diversity) provides the specialist collection in ethnicity and health collection and specialised information to NICE (NHS Evidence).
From May 2011, NICE (NHS Evidence) will launch its new specialist evidence service that incorporates most references from, and replaces, both the ethnicity and health collection and the other 29 specialist collections.
NHS Evidence will continue to identify significant new evidence and will disseminate this quality assured, significant, new evidence via its monthly Eyes on Evidence bulletin. The bulletin will provide a link to new, significant evidence for that month. Later in the year a personalised update function will be introduced which will allow you to specify exactly what you wish to be notified about. You can sign up to Eyes on Evidence here.
The new service will be easy to search and provide access to a much wider choice of quality specialist evidence content. Users will be able to browse new clinical and public health topic pages – developed by experts - which will bring together the latest guidelines, high quality patient information, ongoing trials and other selected information including access to NICE pathways. NICE Pathways will allow users to easily visualise and browse associated NICE products online, guided through supporting documents making NICE guidance easier to navigate.
Members of the CEEHD team will continue their involvement with the new service.
Our thanks to you
The team at ‘NHS Evidence – ethnicity and health’ has always valued the contact and contributions from our users, and we thank you. We’d also like to thank especially the specialist collection’s Board of Advisors and those who contributed articles to our National Knowledge Weeks and Annual Evidence Updates.
See you at CEEHD
The Centre for Evidence in Ethnicity, Health and Diversity (CEEHD) will continue to publish information that complements NHS Evidence on the CEEHD website. The website will undergo improvements and changes starting in April and we hope you will visit.
Academic performance related to ethnicity?
A new systematic review has found that “UK trained doctors and medical students from minority ethnic groups tend to underperform academically compared with their white counterparts”. However, this cannot be attributed to examiner bias or communication skills as similar results are found in machine-marked assessments. The authors conclude that this complex issue can only be resolved by detailed data collection and further research into root causes.
New Additions
The following resources have been added to the ethnicity and health specialist collection during the past three months.
Cancer:
This is one of the first studies to examine cancer mortality among south Asian migrants in England and Wales by generation of migration.
A report of a project using a participatory action research approach to investigate how the risks and benefits of existing breast and cervical screening programmes are understood by health professionals, minority ethnic groups and those on a low income and to determine methods in which risk information can be communicated effectively enough to facilitate informed choice.
While inequalities in uptake of cancer screening by ethnic minority groups is well documented, previous studies have concentrated on a single cancer. This paper reports on a study comparing breast and bowel cancer screening uptake by a cohort of south Asian women invited to take both and investigates the same women's cancer (breast) screening behaviour over the past 15 years.
This guidance is intended to support health promoters such as practice nurses, general practitioners, health visitors, midwives and community health educators to facilitate informed choice about cancer screening in diverse communities.
Using self-assigned ethnicity this study examines patterns of incidence, stage, treatment and survival in patients with prostate cancer in South-East England.
The influence of deprivation and ethnicity on the incidence of esophageal cancer in England
The incidence of esopageal cancer (EC) particularly esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) has been rising dramatically. Studies in the US have found that esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is associated with deprivation and black ethnicity, while EAC appears to be more common in white ethnic groups. This study, the first of its kind, measures the influence of social deprivation on EAC and ESCC in England.
Cardiovascular Disease:
The development, validation and evaluation of a new QRISK model to estimate the lifetime risk of developing cardiovascular disease is described in this article.
An excessive risk of mortality and morbidity from cardiovascular disease is faced by people of south Asian origin. This study examines the effect of ethnicity on known risk factors and analyses the risk of cardiovascular events and mortality in UK south Asian and white European patients with type 2 diabetes over a two-year period.
Coronary heart disease amongst globally dispersed migrant groups from the Indian Sub Continent is exceptionally prevalent, but the contribution of dyslipidaemia to this increased risk remains poorly defined.
Client Groups:
A comparative study of traditional postpartum practices and rituals in the UK and Taiwan
Using convenience sampling, this study compares the postpartum practices of women in the UK and Taiwan within three months of delivery.
This article presents findings from a study measuring the acceptability of the extra-care housing concept of supported independence within a community of the British Jewish population, particularly in terms of Jewish cultural requirements and expectations of amenity, service and social cohesion.
Good practice in social care for asylum seekers and refugees
Refugees and asylum seekers have complex interwoven social care needs mainly as a consequence of the adversity they face before, during and after arrival to the UK. This good practice guide presents a number of findings from research that will aid those providing social care services for refugees and asylum seekers.
Cultural Competence:
Examining the role of religion in the patterning of health inequalities and how this relates to ethnicity and socioeconomic status is the purpose of this study.
Diabetes:
This study looks into the impact of quality improvement initiatives on ethnic disparities in diabetes management in the UK.
This is an investigation into levels of physical activity and their association with health in a white European and south Asian population.
This review focuses on the prevention of pre-diabetes in adults from black and ethnic minority (BME) groups. An assessment of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of UK based population-level interventions that aim to raise awareness and reduce the risk of pre-diabetes is included along with, the promotion of health lifestyle behaviours among BME adults aged 18-74 years, and an assessment of barriers and facilitators to any interventions that may be initiated.
Risk assessment scores are used to identify those at high risk of impaired glucose regulation and type 2 diabetes; this study developed a risk assessment score for use by lay people in multiethnic populations in the UK.
Although there is a relationship between depression and diabetes, the directionality of this relationship remains unclear with little research available that has considered multi-ethnic populations. This study aims to determine the prevalence of depression in white European and south Asian populations attending a community diabetes screening programme, and explores the association of depression with type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose regulation.
Infectious Diseases
The flow of migrants from HIV prevalent regions in sub-Saharan Africa to western countries is changing the profile of the disease in these host countries, with the majority of heterosexual HIV cases being from new migrants from this region. Using in-depth qualitative methods, this study explores the knowledge and practices concerning HIV amongst Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants in the West Midlands, UK.
One of the consequences of policy regarding health care for foreign nationals has been the impact of charges on the uptake of health services for this group. This study measures the impact of these charges on the uptake of testing and treatment for HIV among recently arrived migrants to the UK.
Mental Health:
This systematic review collates evidence of prevalence and predictors for older African-Caribbean people with dementia or relative cognitive impairment and provides a comparison with white older people.
An exploration into how authors of medical articles wrote about different symptoms and expressions of depression in men and women from various ethnic groups and the meaning of gender and ethnicity for expression of depression.
Neurological Disorders:
A qualitative study exploring the experiences of African-Caribbean informal stroke carers in the UK
This study uses qualitative methodology to explore the experiences of African-Caribbean informal stroke carers in the UK.
South Asian strokes: lessons from the St Mary's stroke database
South Asians are known to have an elevated risk of stroke. This study examines data from the St Mary's stroke database to analyse differences in stroke subtype and risk factor profile between south Asian and white stroke patients.
Oral Health:
An exploration into the oral health knowledge and beliefs of Jewish mothers and their access to health care in a culturally distinct Orthodox Jewish community in North London.
Reproductive Health:
The number of new European migrants giving birth in Lothian increased twelve-fold between 2004 and 2007. This study audits obstetric care standards in Lothian for new migrants and recommends service improvements.
Even though people of Chinese origin are a growing population group in western countries, they remain relatively under-researched when compared to other ethnic groups living in these countries. This systematic review investigates the sexual attitudes and behaviours of ethnic Chinese young people (aged 13-25 years) living in western countries.
Service Delivery:
With the diversity of service users gaining increasing consideration in health and social work, higher education may represent an opportunity to educate students to engage in cultural competent practice in health and social care. This paper summarises a study that explored pedagogical approaches to diversity (including 'interactional’ diversity) as forming an integral part of professional training for health and social care professionals.
A systematic review and meta-analysis to determine whether the ethnicity of UK trained doctors and medical students is related to their academic performance.
The awareness and views of the ethnic minority community towards interpreting services provided by primary care practices in two localities in Hertfordshire are explored in this study.
A population-based cross-sectional analysis to determine whether new programmes developed to widen access to medical courses in the UK have led to a more diverse student population.
Forthcoming Events:
May:
Different strokes for different folks?
This conference aims to facilitate discussion on the protection of black and minority ethnic children by professionals whose role it is to support their care and welfare.
The validity, diagnosis and management of depression in different cultures need an extensive re-examination according to this event taking place in May.
Click the link to see the web version of this Newsletter on our website and for access to past newsletters.
Formerly known as the Specialist Library for Ethnicity and Health