Birmingham has one of the largest diversity
of cultures and after completing a mapping of our users we identified
that Eastern Birmingham had the largest percentage of people
from minority ethnic groups, but found that people from many
other areas were not accessing our services. It is for
this reason that we set up a special BME Service to try and ensure
we meet the needs of people from different cultures and that
we are pro-activie in ensuring these communities are aware of
the help available.
Barriers faced by people from
BLACK & MINORITY ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS
People
do not access the services & receive the specialist support
because:-
Some cultures see disability has an embarrassment and
so it is hidden away and dealt with by the family. External
help is considered weak
Some cultures perceive help as being invasive and interfering
Language barriers
Cultural needs & beliefs may not be acknowledged
by services
Lack of people from the same culture
Information may not get across
Services have been created
to break down some of these barriers
and we now have 21% of our total users from BME groups. We
are keen to develop services according to needs identified
by users and will be happy to discuss your needs.
CURRENT SERVICES INCLUDE:-
Lanuguage support - we can provide a translation service
in 5 asian languages and will seek interpretors in other
languages as required.
