ethnicity online

cultural awareness in healthcare

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                                                                                                                                                home :: about us

about us – credits | site news | aims

credits

We would like to thank the following people and organisations, without whose help and support the creation of this site would not have been possible:

For funding the project

• NHS Workforce Development Confederation (WDC) for Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire

For hosting the site

• CSITSS – Clinical School IT SUpport, Cambridge University

Our Advisory Group (who edited and reviewed content, provided suggestions and support and oversaw the pilot project)

• Dr David Stone – Joint Chair (Medical Director, Papworth Hospital NHS Trust)
• Mr Cliff Walker – Joint Chair (Lay Member, South Peterborough Primary Care Trust)
• Ms Julia Bielicki (Phase III clinical student, Cambridge University)
• Dr Huw Jones (Postgraduate Dean, Eastern Deanery)
• Dr Tessa Muncey (Course Director, Homerton School of Health Studies)
• Dr John Perry (Director of Studies, General Practice and Primary Care Research Unit)
• Mr David Wherrett (Director of Workforce Development, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire WDC)
• Mr Andy Yacoub (Diversity Manager for Suffolk County Council)

The people who agreed to be interviewed to bring you real-life experience of the issues covered on the site

• Dr David Stone
• Mr Babulal Sidhpura
• Mrs Suman Sund
• Ms Arani Chandrakumar
• Padmajata from the Cambridge Buddhist Centre

With thanks for reviewing information on the website

• Padmajata from the Cambridge Buddhist Centre
• Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli (Muslim section)
• Debashis Haldar from Cambridge University Hindu Cultural Society
• Bhupinder Singh from sikhspirit.com (Sikh introduction page)

Those people who very kindly agreed to using some of their ethnicity training materials on this site

• Mrs Geeta Pankhania (Ethnicity and Equality Manager, Greater Peterborough Primary Care Partnership)
• Ms Tehmina Hammad (Equality Project Manager, Addenbrooke's NHS Trust)
• Mrs Janet Martin (Associate Director, Employment, SCOPE, NHS)
• Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Network

Suffolk Inter-Faith Resource (SIFRE) for kindly reviewing faith/religion information on the site

The BBC for agreeing to the inclusion of its health-related news box on the home page

latest site additions and news stories

17 Dec. 04:

New 'Patient information' section added – also available in PDF in these languages:

• Bengali/Sylheti  —  
• Farsi  —  
• Mandarin Chinese  —  
• Portuguese  —  
• Urdu  —  
  

15 Dec. 04:

New Buddhist Social work student video added

28 Oct. 04:

New sections entitled 'Communication between cultures' and 'Translation and interpretation' added

15 Oct. 04:

New sections on Catholics, Christian Scientists, Church of England and Jehovah's Witnesses

07 Oct. 04:

Hinduism section completed

06 Sep. 04:

Buddhism section completed

19 May. 04: Ethnicity Online officially launched

Ethnicity Online was officially launched at the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Diversity Network Annual Conference 2004, held on 19 May, 2004, at Chilford Hall, Linton, Cambridgeshire.

Delegates were treated to a day of glorious sunshine, pleasant surroundings and inspirational talks and workshops, including a moving keynote speech by Michael McGrath – the first person with a disability to reach both the North and South Poles.

Dr David Stone and Mr Cliff Walker, the Joint Chairs of our Advisory Group, were present to give their support, and Dr Stone took to the stage to officially launch the site with a presentation on the history, content and usage patterns of the site. The Ethnicity Online project team were on hand to demonstrate the site, hand out publicity material and answer queries from delegates. The day was a great success and a wonderful opportunity to meet some of the people who use the site in training programmes and their everyday work.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our Advisory Group for their help, advice and support during the past year, the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Workforce Development Confederation (NSCWDC) for having the vision to fund the project and the numerous individuals who have made suggestions and encouraged us with their feedback.

We are also happy to announce the start of a second phase of development, again kindly funded by the NSCWDC. This second phase will allow the team to refine current content and add more information and resources to the site between April and September 2004.

New content currently in development includes:

• a comprehensive review of Christianity and the specific healthcare needs of some Christian denominations,
• a section on interpreters, interpretation and translation (in conjunction with CINTRA),
• a user guide to the site, helping you to find information quickly,
• translations of selected site content into other languages, making the site accessible to an even wider audience,
• more resources, links and books.

With the recently secured funding, the project team has been able to regroup, and two new faces have joined the team. Anna Skilbeck joins as a new part-time administrator, while Sue Wells-Martin will be researching and writing content for the site.

As ever, we are keen to hear your views on the site and welcome any additions that you might suggest. You can contact us by email or use the site's feedback form.

From left to right: Original Ethnicity Online team members Sue Danson, Helen Burchmore, Dr David Stone (Joint Chair of Advisory Group), Karen Wells and Rosemary Boddington standing in front of some the Ethnicity Online publicity material.

Dr David Stone talking to another exhibitor at the conference.

Helen Burchmore (left), Rosemary Boddington (middle) and Karen Wells (right).

previous news stories

• Ethnicity Online is demonstrated at Fifth NSCWDC Stakeholder Event (2 Apr)
• Ethnicity Online team give presentation at BME Network meeting (16 Dec.)
• Ethnicity Online featured in Independent diversity supplement (28 Nov.)
• Video interviewing of volunteers continues for Ethnicity Online (10 Sep.)
• Dr David Stone visits the Ethnicity Online project team (29 Jul.)
• Advisory Group 'appointed' for ethnicity website project (30 May)
• Ethnicity Online's project manager visits BME Network (20 May)

aims

This website aims to provide a resource for the multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural healthcare community that will facilitate people's understanding of, and involvement in, cross-cultural issues affecting the giving or receiving of healthcare.

We aim to bring together members of the healthcare profession from every level and every discipline to learn about ethnicity. This resource will also form a training tool for the healthcare teams of the future.

We explore how perceptions of health and illness vary within our diverse society, and how treatment needs to be tempered with an understanding of all the issues – including faith and cultural background.

In short, we aim to:

• provide information about several ethnic groups

• provide information about cultural issues that might arise in everyday healthcare situations

• inform and educate people about the cultural background of these issues

• provide advice on addressing these issues

• provide links to groups where further help, support and advice can be found

• support and encourage cross-cultural dialogue on the issues raised

• provide an information and education portal for ethnicity issues and their effect on healthcare provision

• bring the factual content to life by including video interviews of people describing their personal experiences