The Lack of Uptake of Services by Black and Ethnic Minorities and Older People - Dissertation Example

Racial stereotypes are present everywhere and more so among the black and Ethnic Minority (B&EM) The primary aim of this research is to investigate factors affecting the take-up of services among the elderly of the B&EM and try to analyze the reasons as to why they face problems when it comes to accessing health and community care services. Using secondary data, the research project will address the reasons why B&EM older people are liable to suffer significant disadvantage in gaining access to health and community care services and consider the extent to which this is compounded by racial stereotypes and discrimination and segregation.

The research will seek to provide critical analysis of what is the present state of services and the extent to which they have been developed in the light of previous research projects published in the 1980s and 1990s. The research has been interpreted and evaluated in order to provide recommendations for improving the accessibility of health and social services proposed, which may assist in promoting more equitable services for B&EM older people.Access to health provisions and social care services is acknowledged to be an important factor in determining health status.

Yet evidence suggests there is a low take-up of services regarding the black and ethnic minority (B&EM) older people in general. The poorer uptake of health provision and social care services by B&EM older people cannot necessarily be attributed to better health or lack of need (Lindsay et al, 1997). On the contrary, evidence suggests that B&EM older people experience poorer health than their white counterparts, although there are significant variations within these groups (Evandrou, 2000).

 Instead, B&EM older people are liable to experience significant disadvantage in gaining access to community care services for various different reasons which includes - Lack of awareness/information, communication differences and inappropriateness of services in meeting specific cultural needs are some of the key barriers in accessing services.