Re-igniting Windrush folk song and stories to improve African-Caribbean mental health disparities

重新点燃 Windrush 民歌和故事，改善非洲和加勒比地区的心理健康差异

• 批准号: AH/X012387/1
• 负责人: Myrtle Emmanuel
• 金额: $ 5.12万
• 依托单位: University of Greenwich
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FX012387%2F1
• 关键词: Re; igniting; Windrush; folk; song

The project aims to explore how African-Caribbean (A-C) folk stories and songs from the Windrush generation can be re-ignited to support mental health and wellbeing of today's A-C community in the UK. This work takes place within the boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham since they have the fastest growing Caribbean communities in London and, as such, offer us an opportunity to investigate these mental health concerns.The work is driven by the need to bring together different generations of A-C people to find culturally appropriate ways to support mental health within this community. We will use folk stories and songs as a way into discussing cultural perspectives both, shared and unique generational experiences, to create a culturally appropriate mental health toolkit. Folk stories and songs are passed down generationally and shared between members of the community. This supports identities, positive mental health and well-being within A-C communities in the UK (Arthur & Whitley, 2015; Joseph, 2020). There is evidence suggesting that A-C folklore, defined as traditional beliefs, practices, stories and songs passed down generationally, have been used to promote mental health and well-being with A-C communities (see Joseph, 2020). Yet, little attention is given to the utility of how A-C folklore songs and stories can be used as an empowerment tool to enhance the mental health and well-being of the A-C diaspora in the UK. A-C first generation (Windrush) people came to the UK with their own pre-migration identities and were able to reflect on their memories of their home country, cultural values, beliefs and practices. This informed new, post-migration identities (Bogac, 2009). Second and third generation A-C people however do not have the same connection to Africa or the Caribbean. These generations often struggle with 'developing notions of place, identity and citizenship' (Lorick-Wilmot, 2014:74) and this may have detrimental effects on their mental health. Over the past 50 years, mental health research in the UK has consistently shown that A-Cs are more likely to be diagnosed with mental health issues compared to other ethnic minorities or white groups (see Edge et al., 2020). A-C communities are 40% more likely than white-British people to come into contact with mental health services and, as such, an appropriate toolkit for health professionals and community leaders is necessary. Moreover, people from A-C heritage are more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act reflecting a stark historical pattern of structural racism and its ensuing health inequalities within the mental health system (Vige, 2019). Additionally, access to mental healthcare services are limited as a result of institutional, cultural and socio-economic exclusion factors related to BME groups (Memon, et al., 2016). In regards to mental healthcare practice, the field of clinical psychology often 'assumes a deficit-based-approach' (Renkly & Bertolini, 2018) to the mental health of those minoritised by society. This model is problematic with those from A-C groups because it places emphasis on the individual rather than systems of oppression and ignores the ways cultural traditions and communities create supporting mechanisms for mental health (McCormack et al., 2017).

该项目旨在探索如何重新点燃非洲-加勒比（A-C）民间故事和歌曲，以支持当今英国A-C社区的心理健康和福祉。这项工作在格林威治和刘易舍姆区进行，因为它们是伦敦发展最快的加勒比社区，因此，为我们提供了一个调查这些心理健康问题的机会。推动这项工作的是需要将不同世代的A-C人群聚集在一起，寻找文化上适当的方式来支持该社区的心理健康。我们将利用民间故事和歌曲作为一种方式，讨论文化观点，共同和独特的代际经历，以创建一个文化上合适的心理健康工具包。民间故事和歌曲代代相传，并在社区成员之间分享。这支持了英国A-C社区的身份认同、积极的心理健康和福祉（Arthur & Whitley, 2015; Joseph, 2020）。有证据表明，被定义为世代相传的传统信仰、习俗、故事和歌曲的A-C民间传说已被用于促进A-C社区的心理健康和福祉（见Joseph， 2020年）。然而，很少有人关注如何将A-C民间歌曲和故事用作增强在英国的A-C侨民的心理健康和福祉的赋权工具。A-C第一代（Windrush）人带着他们自己的移民前身份来到英国，能够反思他们对祖国的记忆、文化价值观、信仰和习俗。这为移民后的新身份提供了信息（Bogac, 2009）。然而，第二代和第三代A-C人与非洲或加勒比地区没有同样的联系。这几代人经常与“发展中的地方、身份和公民身份观念”作斗争（Lorick-Wilmot, 2014:74），这可能对他们的心理健康产生不利影响。在过去的50年里，英国的心理健康研究一直表明，与其他少数民族或白人群体相比，a - c更有可能被诊断出患有心理健康问题（见Edge等人，2020）。非裔美国人比白种英国人接触心理健康服务的可能性高40%，因此，为卫生专业人员和社区领导人提供适当的工具包是必要的。此外，根据《精神卫生法》，来自a - c血统的人更有可能被拘留，这反映了结构性种族主义的鲜明历史模式及其在精神卫生系统中随之而来的健康不平等（Vige, 2019）。此外，由于与BME群体相关的制度、文化和社会经济排斥因素，获得精神保健服务的机会有限（Memon等人，2016年）。在心理保健实践方面，临床心理学领域通常对社会少数群体的心理健康采取“基于缺陷的方法”（Renkly & Bertolini, 2018）。这种模式对于来自A-C群体的人来说是有问题的，因为它强调个人而不是压迫系统，忽略了文化传统和社区为心理健康创造支持机制的方式（McCormack等人，2017）。