Welcome to Our Website

Welcome to the Ethnicity Online website, created between May 2003 and September 2005, to address the need for a better understanding of ethnic differences in healthcare.

latest news: second phase of development now complete

As our second phase of NSCWDC funding has come to an end (site credits and previous news), we would like to advise visitors that regrettably no further development of the website will be possible for the foreseeable future. However, we hope existing users will continue to use the site and that new visitors will take the time to explore the wealth of information it contains.

Sections of the site that users have said they find particularly useful include:

• the ethnic / religious groups section, which provides summaries of the beliefs and customs for these groups plus relevant healthcare-related advice;
  
• the good practice guidelines, which offers advice on providing a culturally aware service for patients, their family and staff members;
  
• the video interviews with a patient and healthcare workers from different ethnic backgrounds;
  
• the guidelines on working with translators and interpreters and information on communication between cultures;
  
• the 'Patient information' section, which has been translated into Bengali/Sylheti, Farsi, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese and Urdu, and includes information on registering with a doctor, finding a dentist and accessing interpretation services.

ethnicity online

A major challenge facing many in the National Health Service is to understand how ethnic differences affect the perception of illness, the intimate personal interactions necessary for clinical practice and the delivery of healthcare.
This online resource is intended to help broaden awareness of the needs of ethnic groups using healthcare services - as well as the needs of healthcare staff from ethnic minorities.

Ethnicity is...