A conference to explore culturally specific services for the Irish in Britain will take place in London next month.
The Federation of Irish Societies and London Irish Centre, in partnership with The Afiya Trust and Voice4Change, will host a national health and social care Conference on July 5 at London Irish Centre.
The conference, Alternative Perspectives: Exploring the Case for Culturally Sensitive Services, comes at a timely point for many Irish health and social care agencies as they continue face challenges in presenting the case for culturally specific services under the new commissioning systems.
The day will attract commissioners, policy-makers and wider non-Irish BME providers to explore the need and potential delivery models for minority community services.
CEO Federation of Irish Societies Jennie McShannon said: “We have been having many discussions with Irish welfare providers over the last year about the challenges they face – not only with the changing funding climate but the impact the changes in commissioning of services is having on their delivery.
With an increasingly ageing Irish population, as well as influx of new migrants, the culturally sensitive services provided by our Irish community organisations are more important than ever in providing a pathway to support and healthcare.”
Research has shown Irish service users often feel that mainstream services are inappropriate for their needs and that in most cases Irish people have a preference for culturally sensitive services.
