Review of disparities in the mental health care of ethnic minority patients.

Lepièce, Brice [UCL] Zdanowicz, Nicolas [UCL] Jacques, Denis [UCL] Reynaert, Christine [UCL] TORDEURS, David [UCL]

Due to demographic changes, Western societies are increasingly multicultural and diverse. These changes lead to the issue of the equity of care for all groups of society, particularly for ethnic minorities. Within the context of medicine, it has been proven that doctors are sensitive to patient ethnicity, and that this in turn affects doctors' decision-making and the quality of their relationship with the patient. This leads to reduced access and quality of care for ethnic minority patients, which in turn magnifies ethnic inequalities in health care. Little is known about the extent of this issue within the specific field of mental health care.