A collaborative exploration of the reasons for lower satisfaction with services among Bangladeshi and Pakistani social care users

Abstract

This study explored underlying reasons for the expression of dissatisfaction with services among Bangladeshi and Pakistani social care users in England and investigated, using a collaborative approach, how these could be addressed.  In-depth interviews were conducted in Birmingham, Leeds and London during 2012-13 with 63 Bangladeshi, Pakistani and white British service users and 24 social care managers, social workers and care workers. A further 34 cognitive interviews were conducted within the same study. Following data analysis, three collaborative workshops involving service users and providers were held to validate the findings and to draw out policy and practice recommendations.  Analysis of the cognitive interviews showed that higher dissatisfaction amongst Bangladeshi and Pakistani service users reported in social care surveys was not due to questionnaire design. Instead in-depth interviews showed that dissatisfaction across all three groups was expressed along the social care journey, including accessing care, communication with social workers and, the nature of care received. Whilst many issues were common to all three groups, cultural differences also emerged as affecting experiences of social care. These included misunderstandings about family roles in care; gender issues, especially relating to women; language and communication barriers, alongside the need for a more nuanced approach to ethnic ‘matching’; and continuing limited cultural understanding among care workers. The collaborative workshops identified practical actions that could address some of the issues identified. These covered raising awareness of services within communities; improving support for informal carers; service user input to assessments; consistent and on-going sharing of information; improving access; and more efforts to diversify and appropriately train the social care workforce.  In conclusion, the paper presents reality of dissatisfaction among these groups and argues for more action involving communities and service providers to address these persistent issues collaboratively.