South Yorkshire CentreBME Health Improvement and Independent Advocacy
SYCIL has a Health Improvement and Independent Advocacy Worker (Elaine Kee) for people from Doncaster's Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Communities who are disabled or who have a long term health condition. BME communities include asylum seekers, refugees, Gypsies and Travelers and emerging communities in Doncaster.
Advocacy Support
Disabled people from BME communities can face many barriers to accessing services. These may include limited access to information if English is a second language or culturally appropriate services.
Elaine will work with members of BME communities on a one to one basis to help them access the services they need and to make informed choices about their Health and Social Care. Examples of support include:
- Help with form filling
- Making referrals to Social Services for a Needs Assessment
- Personal support at appointments
- Sign - posting to other services, including other services provided by SYCIL
Health Improvement
The things that make us healthy or unhealthy such as what we eat, whether we exercise, smoke, use drugs or how much alcohol we drink are the same whatever community we come from, however some long term conditions are more common in some BME communities. For example Type 2 diabetes is up to six times more common in people who come from South Asian countries and they are also more at risk of suffering heart disease than the general population. Stroke is a very serious problem for African- Caribbean people in Britain. African-Caribbean's are estimated to be twice as likely to have a stroke as Europeans.
Jane will work with members of the BME communities to make sure they have access to information which will help enable people to lead healthy lives and make them less likely to suffer chronic disease. She will:
- Find translated health information where possible for individuals
- Give presentations on health to BME groups
- Act as a supportive link between individuals and health care
Partnership working
Elaine is a member of the BME Workers Network that meets every two months in various venues around Doncaster. The Network is open to all service providers who work with BME communities in either a paid or voluntary capacity in order for them to share good practice and promote partnership working.
Health Events
Elaine works with partners (including Dial, Women's Aid, NHS Doncaster and Doncaster Focus Group) to provide health events for BME communities throughout the year. Examples of previous events include 'Living with Joint Pains' that SYCIL and Dial took a lead on or the 'Heart and Mind' event that Community Development Workers from NHS Doncaster organised at The Point. The events aim to raise awareness of health issues and healthy living and to enable BME communities to make contact with service providers in both the voluntary and statutory sector.
Please contact Elaine by telephone on 01302 892944 or email elaine.k@sycil.org for more information.
Health Information in different languages
The Stroke Association
Diabetes UK
Epilepsy Action
You can also access a translation service to obtain information on epilepsy, diabetes and stroke by ringing the following help lines:
Epilepsy Helpline: 0808 800 5050
Diabetes Helpline: 0845 120 2960
Stroke Helpline: 0845 303 3100
Further information:
You can access information in different languages from the following websites:
If you know someone who may benefit from this service please use this Referral Form to pass their details on to us.