Do Social Networks Help You to ‘Get Help'? Usage of Mental Health Services Amongst Women of Different Ethnic Groups in England, UK

The way in which people seek help and access mental health services is a complicated and varied process. Contact with, and usage of, services may occur through individual efforts, GP referrals, or informal contacts. Typically, in the UK, mental health service use has been researched within a largely individualistic paradigm, with Dixon-Woods’ candidacy model gaining increasing popularity. There has been much less consideration of the social processes involved in help-seeking. More specifically, the way in which the resources available in social networks affect usage of services (as theorised by Pescosolido in the Network Episode Model) has not been explored in the UK context.

Pakistani women in England have lower rates of usage of outpatient mental health services compared with women from White ethnic groups. Although there has been an indication that social networks may have a role to play in the usage of services, there is little robust evidence. Previous qualitative studies show that Pakistani women’s social networks can be lacking in social support, leaving women feeling socially isolated. Further, it is evident that Pakistani women’s social networks may not contain network members that facilitate or encourage access to mental health services.

This paper addresses previously unanswered questions of how the content and function of networks are each associated with the access and usage of mental health services, and how these associations may vary amongst women of different ethnic groups. Using quantitative data from an English community survey (Ethnic Minority Psychiatric Illness Rates in the Community, 2000) this paper presents statistical models of the effects of social networks on access and usage of services, and discusses how these vary between Pakistani women and women from other ethnic groups. The findings are discussed in relation to the (lack of) current UK mental health policies to address ethnic inequalities in service use.