Islamophobia, PREVENT and mental health support

In this step, Dr Ahmed Hankir shares his view that Islamophobia is a “formidable barrier” to mental health care services for Muslims with mental health problems.

Dr Hankir is an Academic Clinical Fellow in Psychiatry with King’s College London and Senior Research Fellow with the Centre for Mental Health Research in Association with Cambridge University.

In this video he focuses on the impact of Government policies on mental healthcare in the NHS.

Dr Hankir describes the “securitisation” of mental healthcare through the PREVENT programme, part of the UK Government’s counter-terrorism policy and presents research evidence on what mental health support providers working in the NHS think about the effect of PREVENT on their work.

Signposting

Take a look at the Guardian article by Dr Adrian James, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, mentioned by Dr Hankir: ‘I’m a doctor, not a counter-terrorism operative. Let me do my job.’ The Guardian: 21st March, 2018.

Over to you

Please read the Guardian article by Dr Adrian James and share your thoughts with other learners below.