COVID BAME highlight: A collaborative approach to understand and remediate the impact of COVID19 on mental health in BAME communities: A pilot study

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The COVID19 Pandemic has exacerbated societal differences, with its greatest negative impact on vulnerable groups, including people from a BAME background. Among other challenges, this population, and especially children and young adults, experiences mental health difficulties to a greater degree than people from white background and faces significant difficulties in accessing mental health services. This project will use a collaborative approach that will involve members of BAME communities, including people with mental health difficulties, mental health professionals and members of charities. The project aims are: (1) to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and service access in families of children/young adults from BAME backgrounds using qualitative methods, and (2) to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an online carers' skill-based training to improve mental health wellbeing in families from BAME backgrounds. It is acknowledged that there is great heterogeneity among BAME communities and therefore this pilot study will focus on adults of black ethnicity, with the longer-term goal of replicating findings in other ethnic minority groups. The output of aim 1 will be improved knowledge about the effects of COVID19 on mental health among adults of black ethnicity. The output of aim 2 will be the understanding of how an online carers' skill-based training could be adapted to the needs of this population to promote mental health wellbeing in families.