The Abundance Project: Enhancing Cultural & Green Inclusion in Social Prescribing in Southwest London to Address Ethnic Inequalities in Mental Health

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Context:In the United Kingdom Black, minority ethnic, and refugee communities have far poorer mental health (MH) outcomes[1] and greater barriers to professional help compared to the general population[2,3]. Over 95% of Black, minority and refugee communities reside in unhealthy urban environments[4] where city stressors such as air pollution, overcrowding, and limited access to green spaces[5] increase common mental disorders[6] and contribute to severe mental illnesses[1]. These inequalities are increased by the uneven impact of Covid-19[7,8] and increased costs of living which are 1.6 times higher than white households (New Economics Foundation data).Research shows that when people actively engage with cultural and green community assets (CGCA), such as art galleries[9,10], museums, natural spaces[11,12], and community groups, this benefits their MH and wellbeing[13,14]. Social prescribing (SP) may help to direct underserved groups to CGCAs, which could reduce MH disparities[15,16]. Challenge:Black, ethnic minority and refugee communities, who live in poorer South West London boroughs (and other cities across the UK) are at greatest risk of poor MH but they are the least likely groups to engage with CCGAs or SP systems[4,17,18]. Research is needed to find ways to engage CGCAs in health systems[19] and to create more opportunities for Black, minority ethnic and refugee communities to benefit from engaging with them.