WIRRAL ETHNIC HEALTH ADVISORY GROUP (WEHAG) INFORMATION & RESOURCE FILE For use by all workers in health & social organisations in Wirral (statutory, voluntary and community) 2nd Edition – January 2009 WEHAG website address: www.wehagwirral.nhs.uk Chair of WEHAG: Dr Shyamal Mukherjee MBE Deputy Chair: Simon Barrigan Administrator: Carol Davies (Email: [email protected]) Copyright protected WEHAG 2003 – 2009 CONTENTS Introduction & Foreword by Dr Shyamal Mukherjee...................................p.4 • Disclaimer .............................................................................................p.6 Mission Statement & Current Vision of WEHAG .........................................p.7 Guide to Using Resource File.......................................................................p.8 Advice for Health & Social Care Professionals.........................................p.10 1. Ethnic Minority Groups on Wirral • History & Background..........................................................................p.11 • 2001 Census Data ..............................................................................p.12 2. Cross Cultural Communication & Consent Issues ...............................p.14 • How to contact trained interpreter or translation services....................p.16 3. Aspects of Culture – key points in the life cycle • Black Caribbeans ................................................................................p.17 • Rastafarians ........................................................................................p.19 • Black Africans .....................................................................................p.21 • Somalis ...............................................................................................p.22 • Black British ........................................................................................p.24 • Chinese...............................................................................................p.26 • Vietnamese-Chinese...........................................................................p.31 • South Asians Indians......................................................................................p.34 Bangladeshis............................................................................p.35 Pakistanis .................................................................................p.36 Muslims of South Asia ..............................................................p.37 Hindus ......................................................................................p.44 Sikhs.........................................................................................p.49 • Irish & Irish Travellers..........................................................................p.52 • Kosovan ..............................................................................................p.57 • Kurdish................................................................................................p.58 • Polish ..................................................................................................p.60 • Somali .................................................................................................p.63 • Yemeni................................................................................................p.65 4. Aspects of Faith .......................................................................................p.66 • Baha’I.............................................................................................p.67 • Buddhism.......................................................................................p.69 • Christianity .....................................................................................p.72 • Christian Scientists ........................................................................p.76 • Hari Krishna ...................................................................................p.78 • Hinduism........................................................................................p.79 Page 2 of 152 2nd Edition – January 2009 Copyright protected WEHAG 2003 – 2009 • Islam – Muslim...............................................................................p.82 • Jehovah’s Witnesses .....................................................................p.86 • Judaism .........................................................................................p.88 • Morman..........................................................................................p.91 • Quakers – Religious Society of Friends.........................................p.93 • Rastafarianism...............................................................................p.94 • Romany Origin...............................................................................p.97 • Seventh Day Adventists...............................................................p.101 • Sikh..............................................................................................p.102 Calendar of Religious Festivals................................................................p.105 5. Asylum Seekers and Refugees • Asylum Seeker Information & Support Group (Wirral).......................p.108 6. Gypsy Travellers ....................................................................................p.115 7. Practical Resources • Interpretation and Translation Services.............................................p.117 • Websites ...........................................................................................p.118 • Other resources ................................................................................p.119 • Support Groups/Useful Contacts.......................................................p.120 8. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 & Wirral Ethnic Health Strategy 2003..............................................................................................p.125 9. Organisations’ Own Information • Merseyside Police – Wirral Community Relations Unit .....................p.127 • Wirral Citizens Advice Bureau...........................................................p.130 • Forum Housing Association ..............................................................p.131 • Wirral Stop Smoking Service.............................................................p.132 • Wirral Drug & Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) ......................................p.133 • Wirral African Organisation ...............................................................p.134 • Wirral Black & Racial Minority Partnership (WBRMP).......................p.135 • Wirral African & Caribbean Community Voice...................................p.136 • Wirral Council BME Support Service.................................................p.137 • Wirral Refugee Action .......................................................................p.138 10. Examples of Good Practice • Wirral Council...................................................................................p.139 11. Acknowledgements .............................................................................p.151 Page 3 of 152 2nd Edition – January 2009 Copyright protected WEHAG 2003 – 2009 INTRODUCTION The Wirral Ethnic Health Advisory Group (WEHAG) has re- launched itself with a vision for this century. Building on the great work started by Lord Chan in 1995, the WEHAG will carry forward the legacy started by him. The WEHAG remains committed to work with all BME communities, agencies in the voluntary sector and corporate bodies to help develop an overarching strategy to identify and address health and social needs of the Wirral ethnic groups. The Information & Resource file is the culmination of a lot of hard work and will bring to us detailed information of different ethnic groups on the Wirral. It will become a great information source for professionals and others involved in patient care. I feel very privileged to be chairing this extraordinary group of dedicated people who remain committed to addressing health and inequality issues affecting the BME groups. I am extremely thankful to the BME groups, voluntary agencies and the corporate bodies without whose commitment this vision would remain unfulfilled. Dr Shyamal Mukherjee MBE Medical Director, NHS Wirral Chair of WEHAG Original Foreword by Lord Chan of Oxton, Founder member and Chair Person of WEHAG The Wirral Ethnic Health Advisory Group was formed when a needs survey of Asian communities, Chinese and Vietnamese in 1995 showed the need for trained interpreters in order for older people and new arrivals to access the NHS and statutory services. Two part-time trained interpreters with the appropriate language skills were employed in 1996 on a grant from the Wirral Health Authority to be link workers with the Bangladeshi and Chinese - Vietnamese communities. A new survey to locate ethnic minority groups who are new to Wirral is now being conducted by a project Page 4 of 152 2nd Edition – January 2009 Copyright protected WEHAG 2003 – 2009 team at the Wirral Multicultural Centre. With the legislation of the Race Relations Amendment Act in 2000 requiring all public bodies including the NHS and other statutory bodies to promote have race equality schemes, the Wirral Ethnic Health Advisory Group decided to introduce an ethnic health strategy for Wirral. This was launched in March 2002 and all NHS bodies signed up to it. Since then, the Wirral Ethnic Health Advisory Group has extended its membership to these organisations and others such as St John's