Long-term ill health, poverty and ethnicity

The particular sets of circumstances that characterise the experiences of those belonging to certain ethnic groups, and the tendency for individuals to regard seeking support and services on the basis of shared ethnic identity as meaningful, suggest that the provision of interventions in ethnically specific ways is appropriate. [...] 3 The present project also has relevance for the Department for Work and Pension’s Public Service Agreement target on minority ethnic groups’ employment, and the related work of the (cross-departmental) Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force; the carers’ agenda, specifically the 2004 Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act; and the disability rights agenda and the 1995 and 2005 Disability Discrimination A. [...] The aim of this phase was to gain a broad overview of the patterns of social, economic and cultural resources available to members of the four communities as well as an understanding of how long-term ill health is perceived and the prominence it has in people’s everyday lives. [...] The qualitative and quantitative approaches were considered to be complementary (Adamson, 2005), allowing us both to explore in detail the ways in which individuals and families experience and respond to long-term ill health and also to describe the aggregate levels and differentials in access to key resources: employment, welfare benefits and social participation. [...] In contrast, although some White English respondents referred to relatives as sources of financial support and advice in times of need, the management of family resources and the long-term well-being of family members were the concern and responsibility of the nuclear family, primarily the husband–wife couple.